Sumatra PDF
A small, fast, open-source reader for PDF, EPUB, MOBI, CBZ, DjVu and other documents on Windows.
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5 more ways to get Sumatra PDF
Other download sites
Run by third parties, not by Krzysztof Kowalczyk. Prefer the official page above when it works.
Package managers
- winget
winget install --id SumatraPDF.SumatraPDF - Chocolatey
choco install sumatrapdf
About Sumatra PDF
Sumatra PDF is a lightweight document viewer for Windows. It opens PDF, EPUB, MOBI, XPS, DjVu, CHM and comic book files, starts almost instantly and is available as an installer or a portable executable. It is a reader only: it does not edit or annotate documents.
It is free and open source (GPL-3.0) and is also published in the Microsoft Store. The minimal interface and keyboard-driven navigation are the point; if you need forms, comments or editing, look at a full PDF tool.
Strengths
- Opens PDF, EPUB, MOBI, FictionBook, CBZ/CBR/CBT/CB7, DjVu, XPS, CHM, SVG and many image formats including HEIC and AVIF
- Lightweight and fast; the portable single .exe build writes nothing to the registry
- Customizable keyboard shortcuts, themes and toolbar; 32-bit, 64-bit and ARM64 builds
- Pre-release 3.7 adds sumatrapdf-tool.exe command-line tools to convert, extract, merge and search PDFs
Limitations
- Windows only (Windows 7 through 11; XP and Vista need version 3.1.2); no macOS or Linux version
- Only unencrypted EPUB and MOBI/AZW ebooks open; DRM-protected files are not supported
- PostScript (.ps/.eps) support requires a separately installed Ghostscript
- Command-line conversion tools are only in the 3.7 pre-release, not the 3.6.1 stable build
Details
- Pricing
- FreeCompletely free and open source with no ads, bundled software or subscription. No account or sign-in is mentioned anywhere on the site or docs and offline use is not explicitly stated, so account_required and offline_capable are left null. A Microsoft Store listing could not be located through the Store search API, so no store link is recorded.
- License
- GPL-3.0
- Developer
- Krzysztof Kowalczyk
- Platforms
- Windows, Command line
- How it runs
- Downloadable app
- Best suited for
- Fast, minimal reading of PDFs and ebooks on Windows
- Categories
- PDF tools
- Last verified
- Added
- Provenance
- Selected from the TechWalrus Resource Hub (Free PDF Readers); facts checked against the developer's own pages, 16 sources on file.
Alternatives to Sumatra PDF
Compare allSoftware that can replace Sumatra PDF for an important use case, and what changes if you switch.
Adobe Acrobat
Adobe's PDF software: the free Acrobat Reader for viewing and commenting, and paid Acrobat plans for editing and conversion.
Adobe Acrobat Reader is the vendor reader with forms and commenting; Sumatra PDF is faster and smaller but reads only.
Calibre
The ebook library manager: view, convert, edit and catalogue books in every major format, and talk to e-readers.
Calibre manages and converts a whole library; Sumatra just opens a file fast.
Foxit PDF Reader
Free PDF reader with annotation, form filling and signing.
Foxit PDF Reader adds free annotation, form filling and signing on Windows, macOS, Linux and mobile, but it is closed source and promotes paid products.
PDF-XChange Editor
Windows PDF editor whose free version covers most everyday tasks.
PDF-XChange Editor stays on Windows but adds a capable annotation toolset and editing in its free version, while being closed source with watermarked paid features.
MuPDF
Compact, very fast PDF and XPS viewer with a command-line toolkit.
MuPDF is another fast, minimal open-source viewer that adds macOS, Linux and mobile versions plus the mutool toolkit, though it handles fewer ebook formats.
Okular
Universal document viewer for PDF, EPUB, comics, DjVu and more.
Okular is open source on Windows, macOS and Linux, opens EPUB, comics and DjVu, and adds separate annotations, but pulls in KDE libraries.
Sioyek
A PDF reader built for textbooks and research papers, with keyboard control and quick jumps to figures and references.
Sioyek is open source across Windows, macOS and Linux with figure and reference overlays for papers, but it does not open ebook formats and has a learning curve.
Similar software
Related functionality, not necessarily a direct replacement.
Stirling PDF
A self-hosted web PDF toolkit for merging, splitting, converting, signing and editing PDFs on your own server.
PDF24 Creator
A free Windows PDF toolbox with a printer driver and dozens of tools for merging, converting, compressing and editing PDFs.
Foliate
A calm, well-made GTK ebook reader for Linux that stores your notes as plain JSON you can sync yourself.
Ghostscript
PostScript and PDF interpreter behind a great deal of other software.
Evince
GNOME's lightweight document viewer for PDF, PostScript and other document formats on Linux.
Skim
macOS PDF reader and annotator built for reading papers.
