PDF Reader what are your preferred alternatives to Adobe


Witterings

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Windows 11
I read many PDF's although in recent years they've become the default for things like internet receipts etc. and have used Adobe Acrobat free for years but they've become more and more intrusive with updates and every time seemed to be tied to trying to back door you some software like MacAfee or something.

Recently though I retired my non upgradeable Win 10 and bought a 2nd hand Win 11 PC and had an absolute nightmare trying to install Adobe ... it just didn't want to
know .... it's kind of the final straw to make me look at alternatives.

My usage is fairly basic for reading PDF's, if there's one that can easily edit as well that'd advantageous but not essential.

My Nice to Haves in order of priority:
  • Mouse scroll wheel pages down .... tried one a while ago you had to click on the right hand side of the page and it was a pain
  • Box at the top so you can jump to page number
  • Rotate page / orientation
If anybody's got any suggestions of free / opensource ones they like that are easy to use I'd really appreciate them.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo Yoga 7 Gen10
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM) Ultra 7 258V (2.20 GHz)
    Memory
    32gb
    Hard Drives
    1tb
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Optiplex 7090
    CPU
    Intel i7
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    Currently 16gb ... may upgrade to 32gb+
    Hard Drives
    NVME 512gb
    Internet Speed
    1tb
    Browser
    Chrome
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    Windows Defender
I feel your frustration, but for me the only pdf reader I've found usable is Acrobat Reader. All the rest I've tried, either are somewhat broken or are missing features I need. For basic PDF viewing I am certain there will flood in plenty of alternatives.

I am also curious if there actually exist a reader that is as feature rich without the annoyances of Adobe Acrobat Reader.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Win 11 Pro 25H2 26200.8457 / Linux Mint 22.3
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo A485
    CPU
    Ryzen 7 2700U Pro
    Motherboard
    Lenovo (WiFi/BT module upgraded to Intel Wireless-AC-9260)
    Memory
    32GB
    Graphics Card(s)
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    Realtek
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    14" FHD (built-in) + 14" Lenovo Thinkvision M14t (touch+pen) + 32" Asus PB328
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    Thinkpad / Logitech MX Keys
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    Logitech MX Master 2S
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    1/1Gbit
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    Firefox
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    SecureBoot: Enabled
    TPM2.0: Enabled
    AMD-V: Enabled
  • Operating System
    Win 11 Pro 25H2 26200.8521(RP)
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    i7-7700k @4.8GHz
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    Asus PRIME Z270-A
    Memory
    32GB 2x16GB 2133MHz CL15
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    EVGA GTX1080Ti FTW 11GB
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    Integrated
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    32" 10-bit Asus PB328Q
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    WQHD 2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    512GB ADATA SX8000NP NVMe PCIe Gen 3 x4
    PSU
    850W
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    Fractal Design Define 7
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    Noctua NH-D15 chromax.black
    Keyboard
    Logitech MX Keys
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 2S
    Internet Speed
    1/1Gbit
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    AC WiFi Card

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Win 11 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS Vivobook
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen™ 7 7730U
    Motherboard
    M1605YA
    Memory
    24GB Dual-Channel DDR4 @ 1596MHz (22-22-22-52)
    Graphics Card(s)
    512MB ATI AMD Radeon Graphics (ASUStek Computer Inc)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Generic PnP Monitor (1920x1200@60Hz) - P1 PLUS (1920x1080@59Hz)
    Screen Resolution
    1920 X 1200
    Hard Drives
    953GB Western Digital WD
    PSU
    45 Watts
    Mouse
    Lenovo Bluetooth.
    Internet Speed
    500 Mbps
    Browser
    Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender
  • Operating System
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    ACER NITRO
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 7 5800H / 3.2 GHz
    Motherboard
    CZ Scala_CAS (FP6)
    Memory
    32 GB DDR4 SDRAM 3200 MHz
    Graphics card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 6 GB GDDR6 SDRAM
    Sound Card
    Realtek Audio. NVIDIA High Definition Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15.6" LED backlight 1920 x 1080 (Full HD) 144 Hz
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080 (Full HD)
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 970 Evo Plus 2TB NVMe M.2
    PSU
    180 Watt, 19.5 V
    Mouse
    Lenovo Bluetooth
    Internet Speed
    500 Mbps
    Browser
    Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender
For its Lite and Simple (yet intuitive and practical) UI - i still prefer: Sumatra PDF reader download page - as a PDF viewer.

If i also have to edit that file - then i switch to Firefox.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    WinDOS 25H2
    Computer type
    Laptop
    CPU
    Intel & AMD
    Memory
    SO-DIMM SK Hynix 15.8 GB Dual-Channel DDR4-2666 (2 x 8 GB) 1329MHz (19-19-19-43)
    Graphics Card(s)
    nVidia RTX 2060 6GB Mobile GPU (TU106M)
    Sound Card
    Onbord Realtek ALC1220
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    1x Samsung PM981 NVMe PCIe M.2 512GB / 1x Seagate Expansion ST1000LM035 1TB
I had used Adobe Reader for a long time, and finally got sick of its massive invasion of my computers. Now I just use Windows Edge to view and to print PDF files; it is already there on install of Windows and ready to go.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 25H2
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Tower Plus EBT2250
    CPU
    Intel Core Ultra 7 265
    Memory
    32GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 6GB
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2x Dell U2419H
    Hard Drives
    NVMe Phison 521GB SSD
    Seagate 2TB HDD
    (Dell installed them RAID enabled using Intel VMD)
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 25H2
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP
    CPU
    Intel Core i5-1334U
    Motherboard
    HP 8DD7 - Intel Alder Lake-P PCH
    Memory
    8 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel Raptor Lake-U - Integrated Graphics
    Hard Drives
    512 GB
PDF-XChange Editor has a free version that works really well for reading PDFs. It scrolls smoothly with the mouse wheel, lets you jump to specific pages, rotate pages, and even do light edits like adding text or annotations.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows11
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Asus
Cheers to all .... I'll give a few of the suggested a try and see if I prefer one vs another .... much appreciated to everyone!!
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo Yoga 7 Gen10
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM) Ultra 7 258V (2.20 GHz)
    Memory
    32gb
    Hard Drives
    1tb
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Optiplex 7090
    CPU
    Intel i7
    Memory
    Currently 16gb ... may upgrade to 32gb+
    Hard Drives
    NVME 512gb
    Internet Speed
    1tb
    Browser
    Chrome
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
Bit of an afterthought, do any of them convert to Word as well?
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo Yoga 7 Gen10
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM) Ultra 7 258V (2.20 GHz)
    Memory
    32gb
    Hard Drives
    1tb
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Optiplex 7090
    CPU
    Intel i7
    Memory
    Currently 16gb ... may upgrade to 32gb+
    Hard Drives
    NVME 512gb
    Internet Speed
    1tb
    Browser
    Chrome
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
I like SumatraPDF (free)
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Win 11 Home ♦♦♦26200.8655 ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦25H2
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Built by Ghot® [May 2020]
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 7 3700X
    Motherboard
    Asus Pro WS X570-ACE (BIOS 5302)
    Memory
    G.Skill (F4-3200C14D-16GTZKW)
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA RTX 2070 (08G-P4-2171-KR)
    Sound Card
    Realtek ALC1220P / ALC S1220A
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell U3011 30"
    Screen Resolution
    2560 x 1600
    Hard Drives
    2x Samsung 860 EVO 500GB,
    WD 4TB Black FZBX - SATA III,
    WD 8TB Black FZBX - SATA III,
    DRW-24B1ST CD/DVD Burner
    PSU
    PC Power & Cooling 750W Quad EPS12V
    Case
    Cooler Master ATCS 840 Tower
    Cooling
    CM Hyper 212 EVO (push/pull)
    Keyboard
    Ducky DK9008 Shine II Blue LED
    Mouse
    Logitech Optical M-100
    Internet Speed
    300/300
    Browser
    Firefox (latest)
    Antivirus
    Bitdefender Total Security
    Other Info
    Speakers: Klipsch Pro Media 2.1
  • Operating System
    Windows XP Pro 32bit w/SP3
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Built by Ghot® (not in use)
    CPU
    AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ (OC'd @ 3.2Ghz)
    Motherboard
    ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe Wireless Edition
    Memory
    TWIN2X2048-6400C4DHX (2 x 1GB, DDR2 800)
    Graphics card(s)
    EVGA 256-P2-N758-TR GeForce 8600GT SSC
    Sound Card
    Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ViewSonic G90FB Black 19" Professional (CRT)
    Screen Resolution
    up to 2048 x 1536
    Hard Drives
    WD 36GB 10,000rpm Raptor SATA
    Seagate 80GB 7200rpm SATA
    Lite-On LTR-52246S CD/RW
    Lite-On LH-18A1P CD/DVD Burner
    PSU
    PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 Quad EPS12V
    Case
    Generic Beige case, 80mm fans
    Cooling
    ZALMAN 9500A 92mm CPU Cooler
    Keyboard
    Logitech Classic Keybooard 200
    Mouse
    Logitech Optical M-BT96a
    Internet Speed
    300/300
    Browser
    Firefox 3.x ??
    Antivirus
    Symantec (Norton)
    Other Info
    Still assembled, still runs. Haven't turned it on for 15 years?

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Win 11 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS Vivobook
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen™ 7 7730U
    Motherboard
    M1605YA
    Memory
    24GB Dual-Channel DDR4 @ 1596MHz (22-22-22-52)
    Graphics Card(s)
    512MB ATI AMD Radeon Graphics (ASUStek Computer Inc)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Generic PnP Monitor (1920x1200@60Hz) - P1 PLUS (1920x1080@59Hz)
    Screen Resolution
    1920 X 1200
    Hard Drives
    953GB Western Digital WD
    PSU
    45 Watts
    Mouse
    Lenovo Bluetooth.
    Internet Speed
    500 Mbps
    Browser
    Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender
  • Operating System
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    ACER NITRO
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 7 5800H / 3.2 GHz
    Motherboard
    CZ Scala_CAS (FP6)
    Memory
    32 GB DDR4 SDRAM 3200 MHz
    Graphics card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 6 GB GDDR6 SDRAM
    Sound Card
    Realtek Audio. NVIDIA High Definition Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15.6" LED backlight 1920 x 1080 (Full HD) 144 Hz
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080 (Full HD)
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 970 Evo Plus 2TB NVMe M.2
    PSU
    180 Watt, 19.5 V
    Mouse
    Lenovo Bluetooth
    Internet Speed
    500 Mbps
    Browser
    Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender
I briefly left FoxIt Reader but returned. Been using it for over 20 years now. Stay away from Adobe. There has been some recent interest in one called PDF Gear. PDFgear - Free PDF Editor Software & Online tools
I haven't tried it yet but looks promising. Also has a mobile phone App.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 7/10/11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Other Info
    I'm a computer enthusiast so have quite a few systems that I run. More like an advanced hobby.
PDF24 looks interesting; I'd love to be able to drop Adobe Reader. According to the PDF24 web site there's a portable version which I would prefer just to test it but when I click on the Portable Version download button it takes me to a page where the only options are .EXE and .MSI installer files. Am I missing something?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Professional 25H2
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Digital Storm VELOX
    CPU
    Intel Core i9 11900K
    Motherboard
    ASUS PRIME Z590-P
    Memory
    64GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650
    Sound Card
    Realtek onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer R221Q 21.5"
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    2 x Samsung SSD 990 EVO Plus (1 TB)
    2 x Seagate ST4000NE001 (4 TB)
    PSU
    None
    Case
    VELOX
    Cooling
    Cooler Master
    Keyboard
    Logitech
    Mouse
    Kensington trackball
    Browser
    Firefox, Chrome
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender, Malwarebytes
there are:

Multi PDF Merger (can merge multiple file types into a pdf)

*bonus (not sure if its still up to current ISOs, but heidoc has this too) Microsoft Windows and Office ISO Download Tool

and adobe has an ftp server you can download old versions from... i think its like ftp://ftp.adobe.com/pub or something similar...
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro
I briefly left FoxIt Reader but returned. Been using it for over 20 years now. Stay away from Adobe. There has been some recent interest in one called PDF Gear. PDFgear - Free PDF Editor Software & Online tools
I haven't tried it yet but looks promising. Also has a mobile phone App.

I've been using PDF Gear, locally installed, and without the AI stuff, for a few years now, and I love it.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 23H2 Current build
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HomeBrew
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 9 3950X
    Motherboard
    MSI MEG X570 GODLIKE
    Memory
    4 * 32 GB - Corsair Vengeance 3600 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti XC3 ULTRA GAMING (12G-P5-3955-KR)
    Sound Card
    Realtek® ALC1220 Codec
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2x Eve Spectrum ES07D03 4K Gaming Monitor (Matte) | Eve Spectrum ES07DC9 4K Gaming Monitor (Glossy)
    Screen Resolution
    3x 3840 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    3x Samsung 980 Pro NVMe PCIe 4 M.2 2 TB SSD (MZ-V8P2T0B/AM) } 3x Sabrent Rocket NVMe 4.0 1 TB SSD (USB)
    PSU
    PC Power & Cooling’s Silencer Series 1050 Watt, 80 Plus Platinum
    Case
    Fractal Design Define 7 XL Dark ATX Full Tower Case
    Cooling
    Arctic Liquid Freezer III 420 RGB + Air 3x 140mm case fans (pull front) + 1x 120 mm (push back) and 1 x 120 mm (pull bottom)
    Keyboard
    SteelSeries Apex Pro Wired Gaming Keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3S | MX Master 3 for Business
    Internet Speed
    AT&T LightSpeed Gigabit Duplex Ftth
    Browser
    Nightly (default) + Firefox (stable), Chrome, Edge , Arc
    Antivirus
    Defender + MB 5 Beta
  • Operating System
    ChromeOS Flex Dev Channel (current)
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Latitude E5470
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-6300U CPU @ 2.40GHz, 2501 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s)
    Motherboard
    Dell
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel(R) HD Graphics 520
    Sound Card
    Intel(R) HD Graphics 520 + RealTek Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell laptop display 15"
    Screen Resolution
    1920 * 1080
    Hard Drives
    Toshiba 128GB M.2 22300 drive
    INTEL Cherryville 520 Series SSDSC2CW180A 180 GB SATA III SSD
    PSU
    Dell
    Case
    Dell
    Cooling
    Dell
    Keyboard
    Dell
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3S (shared w. Sys 1) | Dell TouchPad
    Internet Speed
    AT&T LightSpeed Gigabit Duplex Ftth
Only Adobe has that built in as far as I know.
convert pdf to docx - DuckDuckGo searchhttps://pdf2doc.com/


Denis

I've used this site for ages and it's been brilliant it'd just be a bit more convenient to have a built in one



I did try this a while ago and tried to edit some docs and also convert to Word and didn't find it the most intuitive both with editing and it also lost the formatting too much when I tried to convert to Word .... maybe I should look at it again and just use the link I posted above for editing.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo Yoga 7 Gen10
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM) Ultra 7 258V (2.20 GHz)
    Memory
    32gb
    Hard Drives
    1tb
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Optiplex 7090
    CPU
    Intel i7
    Memory
    Currently 16gb ... may upgrade to 32gb+
    Hard Drives
    NVME 512gb
    Internet Speed
    1tb
    Browser
    Chrome
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
PdfGear works well for me both as a reader as well as an editor. Price - $0.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 7,8.1,10,11, Mint, Kde Plasma, Debian
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-6500U CPU @ 2.50GHz
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel(R) HD Graphics 520/Nvidia GeForce 930M
    Sound Card
    Intel(R) Display Audio/RealtekAudio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Generic Pnp Monitor
    Screen Resolution
    1366 X 768
    Hard Drives
    ST2000LM024-1EJ164
    Keyboard
    Eng (US)
    Mouse
    Sanwa Supply
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Avast One
    Other Info
    Too many laptops with different system specifications.
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