Forum Discussion
MicrosoftRoadmap for PDF reader in Microsoft Edge
Update - March 1st, 2021: We've published an updated version of this roadmap. Check out Aditi's update over here, and we encourage you to continue to drop your PDF reader feedback into the comments of that post!
Over the course of last year, we worked hard on building a powerful PDF reader that fulfils the needs of compatibility, reliability and security for you and your organization.
The feedback we received from you with the Edge Insider builds has been really encouraging, and here are some of the most asked features that are available today, across Windows and Mac:
- Create highlights with Highlight mode: Draw attention to parts of the PDF that you find interesting with Highlights. With Highlight mode, you can now create highlights directly by selecting text, as you would do with a highlighter and paper.
- Fill PDF forms
- Ink on PDF files with colors and stroke width of your choice
- View PDFs in Dark mode
- Open Microsoft Information Protection (MIP) and Information Rights Management (IRM) protected PDF and view permissions
- Accessibility support including keyboard accessibility, screen reader support, and capability to view PDFs in high contrast mode
- Read Aloud
Here are the features we’re currently working on:
- Smoother scroll experience: We are bringing the smooth scroll of Legacy Edge to the modern browser. (Edge 086: In Canary, Dev, and Beta today)
- Table of Contents: You will soon be able to view the contents of PDF files and navigate through the file with the same. (Edge 086: In Canary, Dev, and Beta today)
- Text notes: With this, you will be able to add their own notes to text in PDF files. These notes will travel with the PDF.
- Protected PDF files: Microsoft Information Protection adds a layer of security to your documents. It ensures that only the users who have certain permissions as view, copy, annotate can take those actions on the file. Hence, no matter where the document goes, the data of your organization remains secure.
- Viewing labels of protected files: You will soon be able to view the sensitivity labels
- Viewing MIP files protected in other tenants: This will enable you to view the files protected in other organizations, or in other tenants in the organization.
- Digital signatures: View and validate certificate based Digital signatures on signed files.
- Accessibility improvements: With this, you will be able to fill PDF forms using screen readers, and navigate through PDF documents using caret mode.
We are actively looking at feedback from you about the features you find important.
Please feel free to comment below, or submit detailed feedback through the browser (Shift+Alt+I).
This is fantastic progress, thank you! My most wanted feature for the PDF reader in Edge is the ability to reopen PDF documents at the same page location as when they were closed. Thank you again, Aditi_Gangwar
- Aditi_Gangwar
Robin Stacey Thanks for the kind words Robin.
We should definitely add retaining PDF files to the same location.
Can you please elaborate on the kind of documents you will usually need this?
Aditi_Gangwar I can routinely have 3 or more 300 page plus PDFs open at any one time, all at different pages. Restarting or closing Edge puts them all back at page one again when Edge reopens. I would be very happy it Edge reopened them at the same location. This is standard behaviour in most PDF or ebook readers, and should certainly be a feature in Edge as well.
Yes! I can't believe such a feature hasn't been implemented yet. A bookmark feature, in particular, would be super helpful for large PDFs!
- This is a much needed feature. I have to scroll back to hundreds of pages that I had opened last time.
Aditi_Gangwar I would first like to appreciate all the great work Edge team has done for the new edge browser and pdf reader. I see a lot of great features regarding pdf reader coming to new edge, however I would like to bring to your notice a great feature from old edge browser, Page View, that doesn't seem to be planned for new Edge.
Part of my daily work is to read & review research papers and being able to see two pages on one screen (Two Page Layout mode) great improves my productivity. I guess this is the only feature that's stopping me from completely moving to new edge. I hope Edge team plans to implement this feature soon.
- Aditi_GangwarHello rkmalaiya,
Layouts and page view is currently in our 6 month roadmap. We will get to it right after Table of Contents and Text Notes.- Thank you! Page view can't come soon enough... I use it all the time for electronic editions of magazines 2-up on my desktop and single-page full screen on my Surface. Old Edge is sticking around ONLY for that right now.
- Yep, two page view is why I had to install beta/dev channel Edge, so I could keep using legacy Edge as PDF reader
- I would like that too.
"Ink on PDF files with colors and stroke width of your choice".
We can already do this, but there is no pressure sensitivity, making it a sub-par experience when signing PDF documents with digital ink. Is this being worked on?The pen sensitivity is something I've picked up on too; inking in the new edge feels less natural to say, OneNote or any of the MS Office programs. I think the sensitivity is a big part in that, and also helps make the ink look more 'real' too - it doesn't quite match how I'd expect my writing to look, with the odd tapering here and there on letters and a small flick on the end of a signature.
Another point on the inking is how it isn't quite fluid; the ink doesn't feel like it leaves the pen tip like actual ink, instead it sits on the page a bit fuzzy before it processes and smoothes itself out. Again, just comparing to OneNote etc, where I really enjoy the inking experience and it feels as close to real drawing/writing as I think we can get with plastic and glass.
- I agree, we need same features for Ink on PDF. There is a bit lag when drawing a signature and line is not smooth compared to Edge Legacy.
vygadekafahdriyami thanks for the feedback on the inking experience. We are working on making the quality of ink even better. Can you please elaborate on the issues you are seeing while signing with the current experience (vs. any other)? That would help us understand this better and take necessary action.
-Vyankatesh Gadekar
Program Manager, Microsoft Edge
vygadeka oh yes please, check out the difference between inking in onenote vs inking in a pdf file on edge. I'm actually embarrased to send my new job contract signed in this way.
-for the onenote team: this problem wouldn't be a problem if you could have a feature to export/print pdfs from a4 pages without the weird formatting (including the title/date stamp at top and also the margins no longer match a page width etc).
Great news to hear that you are actively working on the inbuilt PDF reader, this is one of the major blocking issues from rolling out Edge as our default browser in my company of 7000 workstations. We want to move away from Adobe Reader asap!
In addition to the mentioned planned features, please can you add the following:
- "Rotate counterclockwise" button on the toolbar
- "Next/Previous page" buttons on the toolbar
- "Full Screen" button on the toolbar
- "Hand" scroll option like in Firefox/Adobe Reader
- The "Find" toolbar from Edge Classic
- The ability to sign PDF files with a digital signature
- "Document Properties" button like in Firefox
- Aditi_GangwarThanks for the detailed response Tom!
Ill share the above with the team to be prioritized in our backlog. - I really don't like the find on page toolbar
Need to get Edge to work as PDF previewer for Outlook.
Without this business need to deploy Adobe Reader for Outlook, so it doesn't really matter what Edge can do.
- Aditi_GangwarThanks for sharing your feedback Nicholas!
Preview in Outlook and File Explorer is definitely on our radar.
Does the current set of functionalities most other needs of your organisation?Aditi_Gangwar I just want to add my voice to this to stress exactly why not previewing PDFs is such a big blocker for the organisations I work with.
The majority of interactions users have with PDFs is either when browsing the web or receiving an email.
As most organisations use the Outlook Desktop app they are used to the Attachment Preview feature that lets them quickly scan through an attachment without needing to open the full app.
In the past, organisations would always install a 3rd party PDF reader like Acrobat or Foxit to enable this functionality. However, with modern devices using Windows 10 the trend is to use a native app wherever possible, not only reducing the management overhead but also reducing possible malware attack vectors.
So it doesn't matter how great a PDF viewer the new Edge is, if all a user sees is "PDFs can't be previewed" error multiple times a day in Outlook. It is really jarring and interrupts their flow.
We also don't expect 2 apps in the Microsoft ecosystem (i.e. Edge & Outlook) to not take advantage of each other's features.
If this feature was brought in (or at least a proper planned activity) then it would give organisations comfort that Edge is "good enough" (if not better) for the majority of cases for reading PDFs
- This!
As an IT consultant I see this blocker all the time - why should a company set Edge as their default PDF viewer if it means they need to deploy and maintain a 3rd party app just to preview PDFs.
I believe this is something Edge needs to configure rather than Outlook, i.e. register itself as a compatible PDF previewer
Aditi_Gangwar How can we view PDF Files in Dark Mode? Cannot figure out how to.
- Can't you just set edge as the default pdf viewer?
- Aditi_GangwarHello Agnus,
While we honor your settings you may have set the default PDF reader, you definitely can change it!
You may either do it by going to Settings -> Default apps -> Set default by apps.
Or by right clicking on a PDF file -> Open with -> Choose another app -> Select Edge, and check "Always use this app to open .pdf files"
- Aditi_GangwarHello Rohit,
You just need to change the browser to dark mode, and PDF UX will inherit the dark mode as well.Hmm, that doesn't seem to work for me. My default theme is dark, but the pdf is still on the light theme.
Aditi_Gangwar the text selected in PDF Files appear subpar with how the selected text appears on webpages.
Also, it should be updated to allow previews in the Preview Pane in File Explorer.
- Aditi_GangwarThanks for the feedback Rohit.
We're working on improving text selection.
Previews in File Explorer is right after the above set of things in our Roadmap. 🙂
Thank you to the whole Edge team for their work towards the ultimate modern browser. The rate of development since moving to Chromium has been impressive.
The only reason I still have old Edge on my machines is for PDF support. I use my Surface Pro and Surface Pen for making notes in PDF documents and the new Edge is not yet meeting my needs.
In particular the new Edge is missing:
1. Disabling Continuous Scrolling - I want to be able to swipe once to get to the next page and not have to manually position each page.
2. Disabling finger ink input - I want to be able to use my finger to scroll and use the pen to write.
I see that disabling ink is on the road map, but I don't see an option for disabling continuous scrolling. Please add this to the list so I can get rid of the old Edge and move entirely to new Edge.
Thanks again for all of your efforts and for this opportunity to give feedback.
- Aditi_GangwarThanks for sharing this rbirz!
Your feedback keeps us going.
We will add the above items to our backlog and keep the thread updated as we get closer to having them in the PDF reader.
- Great news about upcoming access to table of contents.
Thanks a lot for your efforts, we really appreciate that.
But among all these amazing features, there is no "inline-definition" feature 😞
I use it all the time, and I'm still using the legacy Edge for the same reason!!
Me as an English learner, I need my dictionary all the time, in order to listen to the right pronunciation, see phonetic transcription, meaning(s), examples, etc.
Unfortunately, although I've feedback about this feature several times, still there is no plan for it.
I hope that you bring such an amazing and useful feature to the new Edge.
I highly recommend implementing Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary (OALD 10th edition), It's way better than the Standard Oxford Dictionary (Lexico).
I'm waiting impatiently to switch to the new Edge browser in reading my lectures, so please add this feature ASAP!
