iPad User Guide

Open and view PDFs and images in Preview on iPad

You can use the Preview app to open and view PDF documents and images.

👁 The main screen of the Preview app, showing PDFs and images. Toward the bottom of the screen are the Recents, Shared, and Browse tabs.

Open a PDF or image

You can browse and open PDFs and images directly in Preview, without opening the Files app first.

  1. Go to the Preview app 👁 Image
    on your iPad.

  2. Do any of the following to find a file:

    • View files you opened recently: Tap Recents.

    • View shared files: Tap Shared.

    • Browse available files: Tap Browse.

    • Choose a location to browse: Tap 👁 the Toggle Sidebar button
      ,       then tap an option under Locations in the sidebar.

    • Browse by tag: Tap 👁 the Toggle Sidebar button
      ,       then tap an option under Tags in the sidebar.

  3. Optionally, tap 👁 the More button
    ,     then select how items appear (icons or list) or how items are sorted.

  4. Tap a file to open it.

Tip: If someone emails you a PDF form to fill out, you can tap the attached file in the Mail app to open and complete the form in Preview. You can then reply to the sender and attach the completed form. See Reply to an email with a PDF attachment.

View a PDF or image

  1. Go to the Preview app 👁 Image
    on your iPad.

  2. Open the PDF or image that you want to view.

  3. Do any of the following:

    • Zoom in or out: Pinch two fingers open or closed on a page or image.

    • Open or close thumbnail view for a PDF: Tap 👁 the Toggle Sidebar button
      .

    • Scroll pages in a PDF: Swipe up or down.

    • Go to a specific page in a PDF: Tap 👁 the More button
      ,       then tap Go to Page. Enter a page number, then tap Go.

Find text in a PDF

  1. Go to the Preview app 👁 Image
    on your iPad.

  2. Open a PDF you want to search.

  3. Tap 👁 the Search button
    .

  4. Optionally, tap 👁 the Search Options button
    in the search field and do any of the following:

    • Exclude matches where the search text is part of another word: Select Whole Word.

    • Only include results that match the capitalization of the search text: Select Match Case.

  5. Enter a word or phrase in the search field.

    If you enter a phrase, Preview searches for that exact phrase.

  6. Tap 👁 the Next Result button
    or 👁 the Previous Result button
    to go to the next or previous search result.

  7. Tap 👁 the Done button
    to close the search results.

View information about a PDF or image

You can use the Preview app to get information about PDF documents and images, such as creation date, filename, and more. When location information is available for a photo, you can also view the latitude and longitude where the photo was taken.

  1. Go to the Preview app 👁 Image
    on your iPad.

  2. Open a PDF or image.

  3. Tap 👁 the Info button
    .

Thanks for your feedback.