How to Read PDF Files on iPhone

iPhone automatically opens PDF files when you use the Safari, Chrome, or Mail apps. You can save these files to the iBooks app for review at any time. You can also download PDF files from the website, save PDF files as email attachments, and sync PDF files from your computer using iTunes.

Table of Contents

Using Safari

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Click the link to open the PDF file. The PDF file will automatically open in the Safari app. When you click on the link to the PDF file, the document content will appear in the browser.

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Pinch to zoom in and out. When viewing a PDF file on Safari, you can do a pinch on the screen like you would with any website. Move two fingers apart to zoom in, and pinch closer when you want to zoom out.

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Long press to highlight text. If you want to copy text from the PDF, long press on the screen. Release your finger when the magnifying glass icon appears, then drag the handle to select the text.

Because PDF files are created in many different ways, highlighting text can be difficult or impossible.

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Send PDF files to iBooks. You can add the currently viewing PDF file to the iBooks application (or other PDF reader). This will allow you to access the PDF file at any time, even without a network connection.

Tap the PDF file you’re viewing on Safari.
Click the “Open in iBooks” button that appears. If you have another PDF reader, tap the “Open in…” button and select that app.
View PDF content on iBooks or a PDF reader. If you open a PDF file on iBooks, the file’s contents are stored in the app and iCloud storage for you to access at any time.

View PDF file attached to email

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Open the email containing the PDF attachment. Open the email to access the attachment link at the bottom of the screen.

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Click on the attached PDF file to view the content. The PDF file will open in the Mail app’s PDF reader.

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Pinch to zoom in and out. You can move two fingers apart to zoom in, or pinch them together to zoom out.

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Long press on text to highlight. Release your finger when the magnifying glass icon appears. You can customize the selection by dragging the handles at either end.

If the PDF file was created by scanning the page, you may not be able to highlight the text.

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Save PDF files to iBooks for easier access. While you can always find the PDF file again if the email is saved, sending the content to iBooks makes it a lot easier to find, and you can also delete the email if you want. ^{[1] X Research Source}

Tap the screen when viewing PDF content to display the viewer interface.
Click the Share button in the lower left corner.
Select “Copy to iBooks” from the top row of options. You may need to scroll down to find this option.
Review PDF files on iBooks at any time. After you add a PDF file to your iBooks library, the content is stored on your iPhone and iCloud library. You can read at any time, even without internet.

Transfer PDF files from computer

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Open iTunes. The easiest way to add PDF files to iPhone is to sync the content using iTunes. If you don’t have iTunes, you can download it for free at apple.com/itunes/download .

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Open the “Books” section of your iTunes library. Once iTunes opens, click the “…” button at the top of the window. Select “Books” from the menu that appears. The iTunes Book Library will open.

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Click the “My PDFs” tab. This tab will appear when you open the Books section on iTunes. The PDF files that are in the iTunes library will appear.

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Drag the PDF file you want to add from your computer and drop it into the iTunes window. Click and drag the PDF file and drop it into the iTunes window to add it to your iTunes Books library.

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Connect iPhone to computer via USB cable. Your iPhone will appear in the top row of buttons as soon as you connect. If this is the first time iPhone is connected to the computer, you will go through a short setup process and will not affect the data on the phone.

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Highlight the PDF file in the My PDFs section that you want to copy to iPhone. Select all the PDF files you want to copy in the “My PDFs” section of your iTunes Books library. You can press Ctrl / ⌘ Cmd + A to copy the whole thing, or hold down Ctrl / ⌘ Cmd and then click each file to select it.

Using iBooks

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Launch iBooks after updating to iOS 9.3 or later. iOS 9.3 is introduced with the ability to sync e-book and PDF files to iCloud Drive storage. This allows you to access all your PDF files from any connected device.

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Enable iCloud for iBooks (optional). You can choose to enable iCloud sync for the iBooks app to sync PDF files. These content will use iCloud storage. All iCloud accounts come with 5 GB of free storage, which is also used for iCloud backups. ^{[2] X Research Source}

You don’t have to have iCloud turned on to use iBooks. You still have access to all PDF files you’ve added to iBooks on your device, as well as PDFs synced with iTunes.

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Add PDF files to iBooks. You can download the PDF file using any of the methods outlined above: download from the website, send from an email attachment, or sync from your computer. All PDF files you’ve added to your iPhone will appear in iBooks.

If you have iCloud turned on for iBooks, PDF files that you add to iBooks on any device will be visible.

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Click the PDF file in the iBooks library. When the iBooks app launches, the entire iBooks library will appear. If you only want to view archived PDFs, tap the “All Books” button at the top of the screen and select “PDFs.” The view will be filtered again and show only the PDF file type.

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Swipe left and right to switch pages. When viewing a PDF file on iBooks, you can swipe the screen to go to the next page in the document.

Click on the PDF file you are reading to open the interface, a preview of all pages will appear at the bottom of the screen. When you tap a page in the preview, you’ll be immediately taken there.

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Click the Bookmark button to bookmark the current page. Click the PDF to display the interface, then click the Bookmark button to bookmark the page you are reading. You will be able to see the bookmarked pages when viewing a preview of the entire document. ^{[3] X Research Sources}

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Click the Table of Contents button to view the entire page. This button is next to the share button at the top of the screen. When you click it, a thumbnail view of all the pages in the document will appear. Bookmarked pages will have a small bookmark icon in the corner.

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Long press on text to highlight. Release your hand when you see the magnifying glass icon on the screen. You can then drag the handles at each end to adjust the highlighted selection.

If the PDF file was created from a page scan, highlighting text may be difficult or impossible.

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Download PDF files stored in iCloud. If you have iCloud turned on with iBooks, some PDF files may be in iCloud but have not been downloaded to iPhone. These PDF files will show the iCloud icon in the corner when you view them in your iBooks library. You can click the iCloud icon to download the PDF file to your iPhone.

Steps

Using Safari

View PDF file attached to email

Transfer PDF files from computer

Using iBooks

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