Most PDF needs fall into three levels: just reading, annotating or signing, and actually changing the text. We picked only from software already on this site, including the lightweight SumatraPDF reader, the office suites WPS Office and LibreOffice, and the often-overlooked PDF viewers built into Edge, Firefox and Chrome. Picks are judged on speed, annotation and editing ability, cost and licensing, and platform coverage across Windows, Mac and Android.
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SumatraPDF, a small, fast, free and open-source PDF, eBook and comic reader for Windows.
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Microsoft Edge for Windows, Microsoft's Chromium-based browser with Copilot and IE mode.
- 3
Mozilla's open-source browser for Windows, with built-in tracking protection, extensions and cross-device sync.
- 4
WPS Office for Windows, Kingsoft's all-in-one office suite for documents, spreadsheets, presentations and PDFs with Microsoft Office compatibility.
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WPS Office for Mac: Kingsoft's office suite with separate Apple silicon and Intel builds, Office format compatibility and cloud collaboration.
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WPS Office for Android: a mobile office suite for viewing and editing Word, Excel, PowerPoint and PDF files.
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LibreOffice for Windows, the free and open-source office suite with Writer, Calc, Impress and more.
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LibreOffice for Mac, a free open-source office suite for Apple silicon and Intel Macs.
- 9
Google Chrome for Windows, the free Chromium-based web browser from Google.
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Microsoft Edge for Mac, Microsoft's Chromium-based browser with Copilot and Microsoft account sync.
