Microsoft Edge includes a built-in PDF reader on Windows 10 and Windows 11 that can open local, downloaded, online, and embedded PDF files; you can mark them up with ink, highlights, and text comments, then use Read aloud to have selectable document text spoken to you. For the most reliable feature set, use a current Microsoft Edge version—Microsoft lists the combined PDF features covered here as available in Edge Stable beginning with version 88.

Prerequisites and compatibility​

Before you begin, make sure that:
  • You are using the current Microsoft Edge browser rather than the retired legacy Edge app.
  • The PDF is not restricted by its author or your organization’s information-protection policy.
  • You can save a copy of the PDF locally if you need to preserve your annotations.
  • The PDF contains selectable text if you want to use Highlight, Add Comment, or Read aloud. A scanned PDF may be only an image of text.
Microsoft Edge supports:
  • Opening PDFs stored on your computer, hosted online, or embedded in a webpage.
  • Filling in basic PDF form fields.
  • Drawing or writing with ink.
  • Highlighting selectable text.
  • Adding comments attached to selected text.
  • Reading selectable text aloud.
  • Navigating with the keyboard by using Caret Browsing.
Microsoft Edge does not support legacy XFA PDF forms. If a form opens but will not accept entries or displays an unsupported-form message, obtain a non-XFA version from the form provider or use the PDF application they recommend.

Check and update Microsoft Edge​

  1. Open Microsoft Edge.
  2. Select Settings and more (...) in the upper-right corner.
  3. Select Help and feedback > About Microsoft Edge.
  4. Wait while Edge checks for and installs available updates.
  5. If Edge displays a Restart button, select it.
Expected result: Edge reopens with the latest available browser version. Updating Edge also updates its built-in PDF reader; there is no separate PDF-reader download.

Annotate and read a PDF in Microsoft Edge​

1. Open the PDF in Edge​

  1. Locate the PDF in File Explorer.
  2. Right-click the file.
  3. Select Open with > Microsoft Edge.
If Microsoft Edge is not listed, select Choose another app, choose Microsoft Edge, and select Just once. Do not select Always unless you want Edge to become the default application for PDFs.
You can also open a PDF from a website. If the site displays it in the browser, Edge’s PDF toolbar should appear above the document. If the site downloads it instead, open the downloaded file from the Downloads list or File Explorer.
Expected result: The PDF opens in an Edge tab with a PDF toolbar near the top of the document. The toolbar provides reading controls such as page navigation, search, zoom, rotation, printing, saving, and PDF-specific annotation commands.

2. Navigate and adjust the reading view​

  1. Use the page-number control in the PDF toolbar to jump to a page.
  2. Select the Search button, or press Ctrl+F, to find words or phrases in the document.
  3. Use the Zoom in and Zoom out buttons as needed.
  4. Use the page-view controls, when available, to choose a more comfortable single-page or two-page layout.
  5. If the PDF has bookmarks or a document outline, select Table of contents in the toolbar and select a section name to jump directly to it.
Expected result: The document moves to the selected page, search term, or table-of-contents section without changing the PDF’s contents.

3. Draw, write, sign, or mark the PDF with ink​

Use inking for handwritten notes, circling text, quick signatures, and completing simple forms.
  1. In the PDF toolbar, select Draw.
  2. Choose an ink color and stroke width from the options that appear.
  3. Click and drag with a mouse, trackpad, pen, or touchscreen to write or draw on the page.
  4. To stop drawing and return to normal selection behavior, select the drawing tool again or choose a non-drawing tool from the toolbar.
If you are using a pen-enabled device, choose a thicker stroke for a signature or large note and a thinner stroke for underlining.
Expected result: Your ink appears directly on the displayed PDF page. You can use different colors and widths to distinguish corrections, signatures, and personal notes.
Warning: Do not overwrite the only copy of a signed, legal, financial, or work-controlled PDF merely to test annotation. Create a separate annotated copy first, especially if another person supplied the original document.
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4. Highlight important text​

Highlights require actual selectable text. They do not work on image-only scans unless the file already contains recognized text.
  1. Click and drag across the text you want to mark.
  2. Right-click the selected text.
  3. Select Highlight.
  4. Choose the desired highlight color.
To change or remove a highlight, select or right-click the highlighted area and use the available editing or removal option.
Expected result: The selected text is shown with the chosen highlight color. The underlying wording remains readable and unchanged.

5. Add a comment attached to selected text​

Comments are useful when you want to explain a highlight, flag a question, or leave a review note without writing across the page.
  1. Select the text to which you want to attach a note.
  2. Right-click the selected text.
  3. Select Add Comment.
  4. Type your note in the text box.
  5. Select the check mark to save the comment.
After saving, Edge highlights the associated text and displays a comment indicator. Hover over the indicator to preview the note, or select it to open and edit the comment.
Expected result: The text remains marked, and a visible comment icon indicates that a note is attached to that passage.

6. Use Read aloud​

  1. Open the PDF and navigate to the page where you want listening to begin.
  2. Select Read aloud on the PDF toolbar.
  3. Use the on-screen playback controls to pause, resume, skip, or stop reading.
  4. Open Voice options, when shown in the playback controls, to choose an available voice or adjust the reading speed.
As Edge reads, it highlights the portion of text currently being spoken.
Expected result: You hear the PDF’s selectable text through your chosen Windows audio output, and the current passage is highlighted in the document.
For privacy-sensitive documents, note that voice availability can vary. Some voices are installed locally in Windows, while voice choices labeled Online may use Microsoft’s cloud speech service to convert text to speech.

7. Save the annotated file​

  1. Select the Save button in the PDF toolbar, or press Ctrl+S.
  2. If Edge asks where to save the file, choose a folder and file name.
  3. For an important original, use Save as or choose a new file name such as Report-annotated.pdf.
  4. Close the tab only after saving is complete.
Expected result: The saved PDF copy contains the ink, highlights, and comments you added.
Warning: Saving over an original can permanently replace the unannotated version. Before replacing a file received from another person, stored in a shared folder, or used for records, save an annotated copy under a different name.
Rollback: If you created a separate copy, delete that copy when it is no longer needed. If you overwrote an original stored in OneDrive, SharePoint, or another versioned service, use that service’s version history to restore the earlier file version. A local file without backup or version history may not be recoverable.
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8. Optional: use the keyboard to select and navigate text​

Caret Browsing is useful if selecting PDF text with a mouse is difficult.
  1. With the PDF open in Edge, press F7.
  2. Select Turn on when Edge asks whether to enable Caret Browsing.
  3. Click in the PDF if necessary.
  4. Use the arrow keys to move through selectable text.
  5. Hold Shift while pressing an arrow key to select text.
  6. Right-click the selection to use Highlight or Add Comment.
  7. Press F7 again when you no longer need Caret Browsing.
Expected result: A blinking text cursor appears in the PDF, allowing keyboard navigation and text selection.

Verify that your work was saved​

  1. Close the PDF tab in Edge.
  2. Reopen the saved PDF from File Explorer.
  3. Confirm that:
    • Ink marks remain visible.
    • Highlights remain on the intended text.
    • Comment indicators appear and open the saved notes.
  4. Select Read aloud and confirm that selectable text is still read and highlighted as Edge speaks.
If annotations are missing after reopening, do not continue editing the file. First locate the version you saved, check whether you opened the original instead of the annotated copy, and check the file’s modified date in File Explorer.

Alternate method: make Edge the default PDF app​

Set Microsoft Edge as the default only if you want PDF files to open in Edge automatically.

Windows 11​

  1. Open Settings.
  2. Select Apps > Default apps.
  3. In the search box, type .pdf.
  4. Select the current app shown for the .pdf file type.
  5. Select Microsoft Edge.
  6. Select Set default.

Windows 10​

  1. Open Settings.
  2. Select Apps > Default apps.
  3. Select Choose default apps by file type.
  4. Find .pdf in the file-extension list.
  5. Select the current default app beside .pdf.
  6. Select Microsoft Edge.
Expected result: Double-clicking a PDF in File Explorer opens it in Microsoft Edge.
Rollback: Return to the same Windows Settings path, select the .pdf association, and choose your former PDF application.

Troubleshooting and escalation​

The PDF toolbar does not appear​

Make sure you opened an actual PDF, not a webpage that contains a download link or an image preview. Check the file name in File Explorer; it should end in .pdf.
If a website embeds a document but Edge shows only a blank preview or a download prompt:
  1. Download the file.
  2. Open it from File Explorer with Open with > Microsoft Edge.
  3. Refresh Edge updates through Settings and more > Help and feedback > About Microsoft Edge.
  4. Restart Edge after the update completes.

I cannot highlight text, add a comment, or use Read aloud​

The PDF may be a scan containing images rather than selectable text.
Test it by clicking and dragging over a sentence. If individual words cannot be selected, Edge cannot create text-based highlights or comments for that content, and Read aloud may have nothing usable to speak.
Use Draw to write or mark directly on the page. For text-based annotation or speech, obtain an accessible/text-recognized version of the PDF from the sender or create one using an approved OCR workflow.

My ink, comments, or highlights disappeared​

This usually means the file was not saved, a different copy was reopened, or the original is read-only.
  1. Press Ctrl+S.
  2. If saving is unavailable or fails, save the PDF to a folder you control, such as Documents.
  3. Give the copy a new name.
  4. Close and reopen that new copy to confirm the annotations persist.
  5. If the file came from email, a browser download, a network share, OneDrive, or SharePoint, verify that you are reopening the saved local or synchronized annotated version—not the original attachment or an older cloud copy.

Read aloud is missing from the PDF toolbar​

First update and restart Edge. If it is still missing on a work or school device, your organization may have disabled the Edge Read Aloud feature through policy.
  1. In Edge’s address bar, enter edge://policy.
  2. Press Enter.
  3. Look for a policy named ReadAloudEnabled.
If the policy is disabled or managed by your organization, do not attempt to bypass it with registry changes. Contact your IT administrator and ask whether Read aloud is permitted for Edge PDFs.

Read aloud starts but there is no sound​

  1. Confirm that Windows is not muted and that your speakers, headset, or Bluetooth device is selected as the active output device.
  2. Start another audio source in Edge to verify that browser audio works.
  3. Stop Read aloud, close the PDF tab, reopen the PDF, and start Read aloud again.
  4. Try another selectable-text PDF to determine whether the issue is specific to one document.
If Edge can read one PDF but not another, the affected document likely has inaccessible, image-only, damaged, or restricted text.

A PDF form will not work​

Edge supports basic form filling, but not legacy XFA forms or all advanced PDF form behavior. If buttons, calculations, or fields do not work:
  1. Look for instructions from the organization that created the form.
  2. Download the form rather than completing it in a browser tab.
  3. Use the application specified by the form provider.
  4. Do not submit a partially completed form until you confirm all required fields and signatures are retained.

A protected or signed PDF will not allow annotations​

A protected PDF can limit printing, copying, editing, commenting, or saving depending on permissions assigned by its owner or your organization. Certificate-signed PDFs may also warn when content is changed.
Do not try to remove protection or alter a signed document unless you are authorized to do so. Request an editable review copy from the document owner, or ask your organization’s administrator for the appropriate permissions.
 

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