Top Free PDF Readers

So far, this is our third article dedicated to PDF software on the Icecream Tech Digest. Indeed, this format is always a pain in the neck to work with so we are here to help you deal with it. In our previous posts we mentioned programs that can edit, split and merge PDF files, convert them to other formats and vice versa, but we didn’t have a chance to review PDF readers. Reading the documents comfortably can also be tricky, that’s why we present you with the following list of the top free PDF readers for Windows.

Icecream Ebook Reader
Icecream Ebook Reader can not only open PDF documents, but files of such formats as EPUB, FB2, MOBI, CBZ and CBR. All the added files are arranged in the program’s library and you info about their authors and the date of addition to the software. Each file can be added to your Favorites for faster access. Password-protected files can be perfectly read in the program as well. There are 3 color modes available for the most comfortable PDF reading: Day, Night and Sepia. It’s possible to zoom in and out of the document, open the file in Full Screen or in the original file’s size and add or remove bookmarks to the PDFs. Searching within the opened file can be done by text or by page number. Also, the modern user-friendly intuitive interface is available in over 25 languages.

Foxit Reader
Foxit Reader is one of the most popular and well-known free PDF readers. With its help you cannot only open PDF documents (including password-protected ones), but edit them, print or share them. As for the viewing modes of a PDF file within this PDF viewer, you can open it in Read Mode (which is sort of a full screen mode), Text Viewer (which gives solid text with no formatting), or Reverse View (where pages go from the last one to the first one).

Sumatra PDF
Sumatra PDF is a compact PDF reader, which can be convenient for those who don’t need anything else besides opening PDF files. The interface is actually outdated, but as for the rest, it proceeds with all the most important needs – zoom in and out, printing, opening of secured PDFs, search within documents and adding pages to favorites. You can open multiple files and each of them will stay in a separate tab of a program.

Adobe Acrobat Reader DC
Adobe Reader is the most famous PDF reader and one that comes to mind first. However, if it was also the best one there would be no rivals of this program. It weighs over 180MB and doesn’t offer many free options as compared to Foxit Reader, for example, which takes a bit over 70MB of your disk space. You can highlight text and add graphic elements for free, zoom in and out, print, sign and comment on the document, and rotate pages as well as many other options available in this PDF software.

PDF-XChange Viewer
PDF-XChange Viewer is a PDF reader which offers plenty of features such as exporting settings to and from an opened file, searching within a document, adding bookmarks, rotating the document, opening files in Full Screen mode, adding comments and markups, links to tools, printing, and sending a document as an archive file. Be attentive during the installation though to make sure you don’t install offered third party software – simply uncheck those options during the custom setup process.

Soda PDF 7
Soda PDF 7 offers all the tools for working with PDF files, however all of them except for the viewer option have a trial period. You can select various reading modes – Single (only one page is shown), Continuous (pages are shown one after another), Facing (two pages are shown like in a book), Facing Continuous (you get a grid with two columns of pages shown one after another), and Fullscreen. It’s a nice looking software for reading PDF files in case you don’t need editing options that will expire.

Slim PDF Reader
Slim PDF Reader is proposed to users as the world’s smallest desktop PDF reader, which is pretty much true – it takes less than 5MB of your disk space. You can open PDF documents, zoom in and out, print and rotate them, search within the text and choose one out of three offered view modes: Fit Page (page is fitted to the size of the window of the tool), Fit Width (the same as Fit Page, but for the width) and Normal View (page is shown in its actual size).

PDF Readers we didn’t include:

Nitro PDF Reader wasn’t included as on its official website they require your first and last name plus your email address to download the program. We find it to be too much fuss.

Abdio PDF Reader‘s all four downloading links from its official website gave us Internal Server Error, so we were not even able to get it.

All the PDF readers for Windows that we listed are different and each one has its own advantages when comparing to others. Selecting the best one according to your demands will be easier with our review.