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Does anyone have any recommendations for good local PDF readers for Windows? I've been reading a lot of various papers recently, and clicking on a citation in A

Does anyone have any recommendations for good local PDF readers for Windows? I've been reading a lot of various papers recently, and clicking on a citation in Acrobat reader is very frustrating. The document scrolls to show the citation in view, but doesn't clearly show it in the long list that most papers have, and then I have to scroll up to where I was since it doesn't seem to have a working back feature.

Configure0251 3y ago
Zotero!
drmaximus 3y ago
Sioyek is a PDF viewer designed exactly for reading research papers and textbooks: https://github.com/ahrm/sioyek https://github.com/ahrm/sioyek.
- random3 3y ago
  Sioyek seems awesome, especially vim inspired features. Too bad u (undo) doesn't work and there doesn't seem to be a way to undo. Am I missing something or is it laking it?
  - severine 3y ago
    I found this related issue: https://github.com/ahrm/sioyek/issues/633 https://github.com/ahrm/sioyek/issues/633
    - random3 3y ago
      Improved over that https://github.com/ahrm/sioyek/issues/1011 https://github.com/ahrm/sioyek/issues/1011
- jacktang 3y ago
  looks cool
wslh 3y ago
I am interested in knowing why and how Google Chrome is not enough?
- somethingsome 3y ago
  Mostly too slow for a lot of content, not every content is supported, not easy to keep it open at the right page, no comments, not easy to find the right tab, etc.
mikepo 3y ago
I've been using Sumatra PDF on Windows to read papers (and as my default PDF reader) for more than a decade. Clicking on a citation takes you to the bibliography page and lands the cited paper at the top of the screen. Then Alt-leftarrow brings you back.
user- 3y ago
ive always used SumatraPDF because its super fast and free
eitally 3y ago
What you might consider if finding an ebook reader app and using that. I had a similar issue but on Android (for ebooks not in kindle format). I ended up with Librera but there are several. Turns out it's also equally great at academic or work PDFs.
somethingsome 3y ago
Just so you know: normally it scroll down so that the reference is on top of the page. But most importantly.. ALT+'left arrow' allows you to go back before you clicked on the citation! It doesn't work all the time, but usually it does after some left arrows ;) Also, in Android: you can click on the 'scrolling sign' on the right of the pdf and specify the page, or see the link to 'jump back' to before you clicked on a link! I hope that will help
abhayhegde 3y ago
Irrespective of the OS, I recommend Zotero (https://www.zotero.org/ https://www.zotero.org/).
Nicksil 3y ago
Mozilla Firefox has put a lot of time into their PDF reader. https://www.mozilla.org/firefox/browsers/ https://www.mozilla.org/firefox/browsers/
Depurator 3y ago
Zotero's V7 reader is great, built on pdfjs (Mozillas pdf reader) and adds neat things like notations and dark mode.
- random3 3y ago
  is it possible to point Zotero to a local dir with papers, or am I forced to import documents into it?
- specproc 3y ago
  I love zotero. The combination of annotation, highlights, document management and a healthy plug-in ecosystem are just killer for me. It feels a bit dated sometimes, but I'm yet to find anything that comes close.
  - kristjansson 3y ago
    It looks a lot nicer after the recent design update!
- wolverine876 3y ago
  IIRC, pdfjs is used by Google also, and was based on Foxit? ? Does anyone know?
  - Tijdreiziger 3y ago
    PDF.js came out of Mozilla, not Foxit.
    - wolverine876 3y ago
      Yes, but I think Mozilla may have started with code from Foxit.
      - thristian 3y ago
        The PDFium plugin that was part of Chrome was based on C++ code from Foxit. PDFjs was written in JS from day one, and (as far as I know) was not based on any previous PDF reader.
SkyMarshal 3y ago
Same question but for MacOS. There don't seem to be many good ones for it.
- airstrike 3y ago
  Unfortunately, Preview has been the best reader in my experience. I say "unfortunately" not because it is inherently bad, but because it is a sad state of affairs when nobody can build something better than the barebones native tool
- moritz 3y ago
  Try Skim
- SkyMarshal 3y ago
  Just found this one I hadn't seen before, free version may suffice: https://highlightsapp.net/ https://highlightsapp.net/
airstrike 3y ago
SumatraPDF if you want speed above all else DrawboardPDF if you want something more full featured and like to annotate, highlight, bookmark and whatnot, particularly if there's any chance you'll also use a stylus
Tomte 3y ago
Okular. You don’t need the rest of KDE. It has a Windows installer and I think it‘s also in the Windows Store.
aragonite 3y ago
Jumping back works in SumatraPDF (backspace). STDU Viewer might also be worth looking into. Default shortcut for jumping back is ctrl+z.

Configure0251 3y ago

Zotero!

drmaximus 3y ago

Sioyek is a PDF viewer designed exactly for reading research papers and textbooks: https://github.com/ahrm/sioyek https://github.com/ahrm/sioyek.

random3 3y ago
Sioyek seems awesome, especially vim inspired features. Too bad u (undo) doesn't work and there doesn't seem to be a way to undo. Am I missing something or is it laking it?
- severine 3y ago
  I found this related issue: https://github.com/ahrm/sioyek/issues/633 https://github.com/ahrm/sioyek/issues/633
  - random3 3y ago
    Improved over that https://github.com/ahrm/sioyek/issues/1011 https://github.com/ahrm/sioyek/issues/1011
jacktang 3y ago
looks cool

wslh 3y ago

I am interested in knowing why and how Google Chrome is not enough?

somethingsome 3y ago
Mostly too slow for a lot of content, not every content is supported, not easy to keep it open at the right page, no comments, not easy to find the right tab, etc.

mikepo 3y ago

I've been using Sumatra PDF on Windows to read papers (and as my default PDF reader) for more than a decade. Clicking on a citation takes you to the bibliography page and lands the cited paper at the top of the screen. Then Alt-leftarrow brings you back.

user- 3y ago

ive always used SumatraPDF because its super fast and free

eitally 3y ago

What you might consider if finding an ebook reader app and using that. I had a similar issue but on Android (for ebooks not in kindle format). I ended up with Librera but there are several. Turns out it's also equally great at academic or work PDFs.

somethingsome 3y ago

Just so you know: normally it scroll down so that the reference is on top of the page. But most importantly.. ALT+'left arrow' allows you to go back before you clicked on the citation! It doesn't work all the time, but usually it does after some left arrows ;) Also, in Android: you can click on the 'scrolling sign' on the right of the pdf and specify the page, or see the link to 'jump back' to before you clicked on a link! I hope that will help

abhayhegde 3y ago

Irrespective of the OS, I recommend Zotero (https://www.zotero.org/ https://www.zotero.org/).

Nicksil 3y ago

Mozilla Firefox has put a lot of time into their PDF reader. https://www.mozilla.org/firefox/browsers/ https://www.mozilla.org/firefox/browsers/

Depurator 3y ago

Zotero's V7 reader is great, built on pdfjs (Mozillas pdf reader) and adds neat things like notations and dark mode.

random3 3y ago
is it possible to point Zotero to a local dir with papers, or am I forced to import documents into it?
specproc 3y ago
I love zotero. The combination of annotation, highlights, document management and a healthy plug-in ecosystem are just killer for me. It feels a bit dated sometimes, but I'm yet to find anything that comes close.
- kristjansson 3y ago
  It looks a lot nicer after the recent design update!
wolverine876 3y ago
IIRC, pdfjs is used by Google also, and was based on Foxit? ? Does anyone know?
- Tijdreiziger 3y ago
  PDF.js came out of Mozilla, not Foxit.
  - wolverine876 3y ago
    Yes, but I think Mozilla may have started with code from Foxit.
    - thristian 3y ago
      The PDFium plugin that was part of Chrome was based on C++ code from Foxit. PDFjs was written in JS from day one, and (as far as I know) was not based on any previous PDF reader.

SkyMarshal 3y ago

Same question but for MacOS. There don't seem to be many good ones for it.

airstrike 3y ago
Unfortunately, Preview has been the best reader in my experience. I say "unfortunately" not because it is inherently bad, but because it is a sad state of affairs when nobody can build something better than the barebones native tool
moritz 3y ago
Try Skim
SkyMarshal 3y ago
Just found this one I hadn't seen before, free version may suffice: https://highlightsapp.net/ https://highlightsapp.net/

airstrike 3y ago

SumatraPDF if you want speed above all else DrawboardPDF if you want something more full featured and like to annotate, highlight, bookmark and whatnot, particularly if there's any chance you'll also use a stylus

Tomte 3y ago

Okular. You don’t need the rest of KDE. It has a Windows installer and I think it‘s also in the Windows Store.

aragonite 3y ago

Jumping back works in SumatraPDF (backspace). STDU Viewer might also be worth looking into. Default shortcut for jumping back is ctrl+z.