Noone needs to pay just to view a file in this format, and noone should need to do so. Beyond that, paid software tend to be extremely heavy, occupying much more HDD space than they actually need to. Nowadays, even some journaling apps let you read PDFs with ease. That is, you won’t have to turn off your firewall or antivirus and put your PC in risk just to be able to find cracked versions of the most known PDF readers, What’s not lacking are extremely lightweight, free versions, that you can install on your PC, on Android or iOS mobile devices or even use directly on your web browser, as you’ll see with these apps we’ve selected for this list. Keep reading down below and find out which ones are the best!
1. Adobe Acrobat Reader DC
After becoming obsolete with a heavy and slow software, that charged an astronomycal price to read PDFs, Adobe has created its own free solution that, happily, is much lighter. Adobe Reader DC is the free version of one of the best and most well known PDF readers in the world. It is one software among many that connect to a\n exclusive cloud for Adobe softwares, that’s alsao available for the photo editing app made by the company, Photoshop. All that to say: you can easily start reading a file on Android, stop and pick up where you left off on any other device. This app is one of the few that, other than letting you access and read your PDF, also has a feature that reads alout whats written, making it one of the best text-to-speech apps to read PDFs. You can follow this link to download the computer version of Adobe Acrobat Reader DC! Tip: if you want to do more than simply reading PDFs, also needing to be able to edit them or to include digital signatures to documents, Adobe Pro DC is probably a better tool for you. Follow this link and try it out FOR FREE for 7 days!
2. Opera Browser
Even though it’s not very vrequently used, Opera is a web browser that has a built-in PDF reader, which means that beyond just surfing the web, you can also use it to open up any PDF file! It’s worth mentioning that the same can be said for its mobile versions, whether it is Android or iPhone. On the other hand, it only reads the files, so you can’t annotate or edit it. You’re limited to rotating, downloading, printing, or applying zoom to the PDF. Follow this link and download it! Tip: If you want to play some of the best browser games, Opera might be the best browser to do it!
3. Microsoft Edge Browser
Even though Opera is an amazing web browser in many ways, Microsoft Edge has the upper hand when it comes to doing its job as a PDF reader, surpassing even other softwares that are specific for this function. Beyond zooming in and out and rotating your files, you can also annotate and comment on them, as if you were using a note-taking app. If you’ve updated your PC to Windows 10, Microsoft Edge is pre-installed and is the default PDF reader. If not, follow this link and install it right now.
4. Google Drive
It might seem odd to find Google Drive, one of the best cloud storage platforms, among the best free PDF readers. However, you can easily use it exclusively to read your PDFs, both on mobile and on computers. Just like on Opera, it is quite limited, so you’re only able to read, print, download, or move between folders on your device’s storage. Follow this link and use your Google account to start using Google Drive as your PDF reader!
5. FoxIt Reader
FoxIt Reader is widely considered to be one of the best free alternatives to Adobe Acrobat Reader among the PDF readers. Always free, the app comes with a similar interface to its rival, which makes the task of getting used to it much easier. It also has a self-owned cloud storage to store your files, so you can always use them in any device. You can share and manage whether or not other people can use these files, comment and send notifications about changes to the PDF to whomever can access the file. In the end, FoxIt Reader is the ideal option for those who share their PDF files with their workteam. Follow this link and download it on your PC, or go to the Play Store or the App Store!
6. Xodo PDF Reader
This is another of the best free PDF readers for Windows, Android and iOS. One of the most complete options, Xodo allows you to take notes on the documents without editing it, doesn’t have ads or even in-app purchases and lets you easily bookmark pages It is one of the few options that come with a night mode, as well as several viewing modes to help you better read your files or e-books. Learn more about Xodo PDF Reader on their official website, the Play Store or the App Store.
7. SumatraPDF
Developed as an open-source project, thsi is one of the few PDF readers that lets you customize and add new features. It is ideal for anyone who’s learning programming and software customization. In its basic version, SumatraPDF comes with several viewing modes – simple page, double page, presentation, and others – and many hotkeys so you can navigate through the documents and books that are open in the app with ease. Follow this link and download it.
8. Javelin3 PDF Reader
Even more lightweight than Sumatra, Javelin3 is another one of the best free PDF readers with a mere 2MB in file size. For that reason, it is the simplest alternative among all the options we’ve talked about in this article. It also reflects itself on its features, that are no more than the basic: reading, bookmarking the most important pages, and taking notes. All of that in an extremely simple and easy to learn interface! See mroe about Javelin3 PDF Reader by following this link.
9. MuPDF
Finishing our list, we also have MuPDF, a wonderful alternative. It is in fact one of the very few that are free to use and let you edit your PDFs! Another unusual feature is that you can convert documents into HTML, SVG, and CBZ formats – the last of which is widely used to read comic books on the internet. It is also lightweight and easy to use. Download MuPDF by following this link.
Did you already know all of the best free PDF readers?
Let us know in the comments if you’d ever used them before or if any of them was new for you. Don’t forget to also find out which ones are the best IPTV options, the video websites like YouTube, the best free PC games, and all the best ways to make money online!
