Top 5 PDF Reader for Mac (10.15 Catalina included)

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• Filed to: Mac Tutorials

"Is there a reliable PDF reader for Mac (macOS 10.15 Catalina)?"

Mac users have a number of PDF reader programs to choose from, including Adobe Reader for Mac and Preview. But if you want a better PDF reading experience, you might want to use a more robust and powerful PDF program. In this article, we’ve compiled the top 5 PDF reader for Mac tools, including PDFelement Pro, which offers more features than a simple PDF reader.

Part 1: Top 5 Best PDF Reader for Mac

1. PDFelement Pro - The Best Alternative Free PDF Reader Pro for Mac to Adobe Acrobat.

As high-quality as Adobe Reader is due to its constant updates and improvements, you can also look into alternative programs to perform many of the same tasks. PDFelement Pro for Mac, as the best alternative PDF Reader to Adobe Acrobat for Mac, acts as both a PDF editor and reader that provides you full functions for PDF editing and a better experience reading PDF on Mac. This tool lets you add text, images, bookmarks, and more to your PDF. In addition, a user can also highlight text, underline, use strike-through features on the text, and crop PDF pages on Mac. Watermarks can also be used to protect your PDF files on Mac. You can even edit and convert scanned PDF files with PDFelement Pro.

Key Features of this PDF Reader for Mac:

  • Add, delete or edit text, images, graphics, links, watermarks, and more.
  • Convert PDF to Word and other formats, or create PDFs from Webpages, images, and text files.
  • Quickly mark up and annotate PDFs with various annotation tools.
  • Combine or split PDFs, organize pages, and easily fill out PDF forms.
  • Edit and convert scanned or image-based PDFs using the OCR feature.
  • Easily add watermarks, passwords, and signatures to PDF documents.
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2. Skim - A Popular and Well-developed MacBook PDF reader

Skim is a popular PDF Reader on Mac that is tailored towards scientific purposes, although it can also be used to view other types of documents as well. This free PDF reader software is designed to be customizable for individual use and is handy for notes and previews. Skim is one of the most popular options because it includes easy-to-use and visually impressive reading modes.

Key Features:

  • Single swipe highlight mode for easy use
  • AppleScript support
  • Ability to preview internal links
best pdf reader for mac


3. Adobe Reader for Mac - A Widely Used Free Mac os PDF reader

Adobe Reader for Mac is considered the industry standard. You can download a PDF reader for mac-Adobe Reader for free and set it as your default PDF reader. Adobe is still a very well-respected product on the market, as they are constantly making improvements and upgrades to the program. Still, there are other options that offer many of the same features at a lower price and without complicated licensing agreements.

Key Features:

  • Fast and easy to use
  • Established platform worldwide
  • Considered industry standard
  • Well developed and supported
download pdf reader for mac


4. Haihaisoft Reader for Mac - A Small Size Free PDF Reader for macOS

A prominent feature of Haihaisoft Reader for Mac is its small size at only 3MB; this compact PDF Reader for Mac takes up much less space than other programs like Adobe Reader (see below). The package covers a wide range of languages and is designed for ease of use, while it is also well supported and has been developed for use on a number of platforms. Interesting features include:

Key Features:

  • Instant launch time
  • No background net connection for added security
  • Opens all PDF documents
  • Protection with DRM-X
pdf reader pro mac


5. PDFSam - A New Free PDF Reader for Macbook Pro or other Macs

PDFSam is a relatively new release that has been met with mixed reviews. This free PDF reader for Mac is designed for splitting and merging documents. Hence, it is called 'SAM.', Some users report problems while using the application, though generally, it is reported to be user-friendly and quick for the average user.

Key Features:

  • Split and Merge - (SAM)
  • Extract sections as separate PDFs
  • Reorder pages when needed
  • Compose documents by dragging and dropping
macbook pdf reader

Part 2: Troubleshooting on Opening and Reading PDFs in macOS

Many people experience problems when trying to open or read PDFs on Mac. This is due to a variety of reasons, but luckily this problem is usually quite an easy one to solve in just a matter of minutes. Here are the three main reasons why you may have a problem reading a PDF on Mac and what you can do to solve the problem.

Question 1. Your Web Browser needs Updating

Solution: This is one of the most common problems that can prevent you from being able to read a PDF. Not all browsers update automatically, and it could be that yours needs a manual update. You can usually run a regular software update, but other times you may be required to update manually through the menu. An outdated browser may be the issue, in which case you may need to update your browser to resolve the issue. You can then make annotations and markups within your document.

Question 2. Your Browser is not Compatible

Solution: This issue depends on your operating system. If you are running OS 10.5 x, as many are, you will find that the later versions of Safari, for example, are non-compatible with your operating system. This will lead to you being unable to open PDFs and a number of other problems. It is recommended that users with this operating system try using Firefox instead to solve the problem.

Question 3. Check the Adobe Reader Plug-in

Solution: This problem also affects many users. If you are opening your PDF with Adobe Reader, the Adobe Reader Plug-in can be problematic, especially if it is an automatic launch when you enter your browser. The trick is to delete the plug-in (just the plug-in, not Adobe Reader itself). Try using Adobe Reader as a stand-alone program rather than having it run within your browser, and the problem should be solved. You can also re-install the plug-in if necessary.

Part 3: Best Recommendation

With so many options of PDF reader for Mac, sometimes it is hard to make a choice. But taking all the possible troubles into consideration, PDFelement can be regarded as the best PDF reader for Mac because it can provide you with a cozy reading experience without those troubles. Besides, do you think PDFelement is only a PDF reader? The answer is no; it is a PDF editor and PDF converter as well

iskysoft

Ivan Cook

chief Editor

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