Top 6 Linux PDF Viewers You Should Install Today

PDF files are increasingly common for online books and documents, making a reliable PDF viewer essential for Linux desktop users.

1. Okular

Okular, developed by KDE, is a free, cross‑platform document viewer supporting PDF, XPS, ePub, CHM, Postscript, and more.

Main features include:

Embedded 3D models

Sub‑pixel rendering

Table selection tool

Geometric images

Add text boxes and stamps

Copy images to clipboard

Magnifier and other tools

Install Okular on Linux:

$ sudo apt-get install okular

# yum install okular

Project homepage: https://okular.kde.org/

2. Evince

Evince is a lightweight document viewer, the default in GNOME, supporting PDF, Postscript, TIFF, XPS, DjVu, DVI, and more.

Main features include:

Search tool

Page thumbnails for easy navigation

Document index

Printing support

Encrypted document viewing

Install Evince on Linux:

$ sudo apt-get install evince

# yum install evince

Project homepage: https://wiki.gnome.org/Apps/Evince

3. Foxit Reader

Foxit Reader is a compact, fast, and secure cross‑platform PDF viewer; version 7 adds security fixes.

Key features include:

Intuitive user interface

Document scanning to PDF

Shared view mode

Annotation tools

Digital signature support

Install Foxit Reader on Linux:

$ cd /tmp 
$ gzip -d FoxitReader_version_Setup.run.tar.gz 
$ tar -xvf FoxitReader_version_Setup.run.tar 
$ ./FoxitReader_version_Setup.run

Project homepage: https://www.foxitsoftware.com/products/PDF-reader/

4. Firefox (PDF.js)

PDF.js is an HTML5‑based, open‑source PDF viewer developed by Mozilla.

Install PDF.js on Linux:

$ git clone git://github.com/mozilla/PDF.js.git 
$ cd PDF.js 
$ npm install -g gulp-cli 
$ npm install 
$ gulp server

Then open the server URL in a browser.

Project homepage: https://github.com/mozilla/PDF.js

5. XPDF

XPDF is a long‑standing open‑source PDF viewer for X Window systems, also offering text extraction and PDF‑to‑PostScript conversion tools.

Install XPDF on Linux:

$ sudo apt-get install xpdf

# yum install xpdf

Project homepage: http://www.foolabs.com/xpdf/home.html

6. GNU GV

GNU GV provides a graphical interface for the Ghostscript interpreter, allowing PDF and PostScript viewing on X Window systems.

Install GNU GV on Linux:

$ sudo apt-get install gv

# yum install gv

Project homepage: https://www.gnu.org/software/gv/

Conclusion

With PDFs becoming the standard for online documents and books, having a capable PDF viewer is crucial for Linux users. This list provides both open‑source and commercial options, and readers are encouraged to share newer or better tools as they emerge.