This page is for PDFs that open in Chrome but don’t behave: you can’t select or search the text of a scanned document, the drawing tools are missing, your changes don’t save, or the printout looks wrong. Find your problem below. If the PDF won’t open in Chrome at all, or it downloads instead, start with how to fix a Chrome PDF viewer that won’t open PDFs.
I can’t select or search the text in a scanned PDF (OCR)
On a computer, Chrome’s PDF viewer reads scanned documents with Optical Character Recognition (OCR). Google’s Manage PDFs in Chrome help says scanned PDFs are converted automatically so you can highlight, search, copy and paste their text, and that the conversion happens on your device without sending data to Google. If it isn’t working:
- Give it time. Google’s Download a file help notes that a scan with several pages can take a while, and that Chrome shows “Extracting text from PDF…” while it works. Wait for that message to finish before you search.
- Make sure Chrome is the viewer. OCR works in Chrome’s own PDF viewer. If the file opened in another app, open it in Chrome with Ctrl + O (⌘ + O on a Mac).
- Update Chrome. Update Chrome, relaunch it and open the PDF again.
- Use Find. Once the text is ready, press Ctrl + F (⌘ + F on a Mac) to search it. On Android, tap More > Find in page.
The Draw, highlighter or eraser tools are missing
- Open the PDF in its own tab. Google’s help says you may need to open the PDF in a new tab to edit it. Look for Open in new tab in the PDF menu.
- Make the window wider. When the window is small, the tools panel on the right is replaced by a compact panel at the bottom.
- Check for a work or school rule. An administrator can turn annotation off with the PDF Annotations policy. If
PdfAnnotationsEnabledappears atchrome://policy, only your IT team can change it. - On Android, editing happens in Google Drive: tap Edit at the bottom right of the PDF. Google’s Android PDF help says this needs Android 12 or newer.
For how each tool works, see our guide to Chrome’s built-in PDF tools.
My form entries or drawings disappeared
Changes stay only in the open tab until you save a copy. In the PDF viewer, select Download and choose With your changes. On a Chromebook, select Save. If you choose Without your changes, you get the original file back.
A form won’t let me type
Chrome fills in standard PDF forms: click a field and type. If nothing happens, the PDF may have no fillable fields, for example a scanned page. If the form itself says which app to use, download the PDF and fill it in that app. You can still sign a flat PDF in Chrome by drawing your signature with the pen tool.
Save to Drive is missing
The Save to Drive button at the top right of the PDF viewer doesn’t work in Incognito mode or in a Guest profile. Open the PDF in a normal window and select Save to Drive. Chrome asks which Google Account to use, or asks you to sign in. Saved files go to a folder called “Saved from Chrome” in your Drive.
The PDF is sideways or too small
Use the viewer’s toolbar: Rotate turns the page, Fit to page and Fit to width resize it, and Zoom in and Zoom out change the size step by step.
The PDF prints wrong
Some printers produce correct results only if the PDF is sent as a picture. If your print window has a Print as image option, turn it on and print again. On Windows and Mac, Google’s Print PDF as image policy says the option only appears if an administrator has turned it on. For other printing trouble, see how to fix Chrome printing problems.