To help you get started, we've collected the most common ways that react-pdf is being used within popular public projects.

rieckpil / blog-tutorials / pdf-preview-react / src / index.js View on Github

import React from 'react';
import ReactDOM from 'react-dom';
import App from './App';
import 'semantic-ui-css/semantic.min.css'
import { pdfjs } from 'react-pdf';
import * as serviceWorker from './serviceWorker';

pdfjs.GlobalWorkerOptions.workerSrc = `//cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/pdf.js/${pdfjs.version}/pdf.worker.js`;

ReactDOM.render(, document.getElementById('root'));

// If you want your app to work offline and load faster, you can change
// unregister() to register() below. Note this comes with some pitfalls.
// Learn more about service workers: http://bit.ly/CRA-PWA
serviceWorker.unregister();

View more ways to use react-pdf

React-PDF

Display PDFs in your React app as easily as if they were images.

Lost?

This package is used to display existing PDFs. If you wish to create PDFs using React, you may be looking for @react-pdf/renderer.

tl;dr

• Install by executing npm install react-pdf or yarn add react-pdf.
• Import by adding import { Document } from 'react-pdf'.
• Use by adding ``. file can be a URL, base64 content, Uint8Array, and more.
• Put components inside to render pages.

Demo

A minimal demo page can be found in sample directory.

Online demo is also available!

Before you continue

React-PDF is under constant development. This documentation is written for React-PDF 9.x branch. If you want to see documentation for other versions of React-PDF, use dropdown on top of GitHub page to switch to an appropriate tag. Here are quick links to the newest docs from each branch:

• v8.x
• v7.x
• v6.x
• v5.x
• v4.x
• v3.x
• v2.x
• v1.x

Getting started

Compatibility

Browser support

React-PDF supports all modern browsers. It is tested with the latest versions of Chrome, Edge, Safari, Firefox, and Opera.

The following browsers are supported out of the box in React-PDF v9:

• Chrome ≥119
• Edge ≥119
• Safari ≥17.4
• Firefox ≥121

You may extend the list of supported browsers by providing additional polyfills (e.g. for Array.prototype.at, Promise.allSettled or Promise.withResolvers) and either configuring your bundler to transpile pdfjs-dist or using legacy PDF.js worker.

If you need to support older browsers, you will need to use React-PDF v6 or earlier.

React

To use the latest version of React-PDF, your project needs to use React 16.8 or later.

If you use an older version of React, please refer to the table below to a find suitable React-PDF version.

Preact

React-PDF may be used with Preact.

Installation

Add React-PDF to your project by executing npm install react-pdf or yarn add react-pdf.

Next.js

If you use Next.js without Turbopack enabled, add the following to your next.config.js:

module.exports = {
+ webpack: (config) => {
+   config.resolve.alias.canvas = false;

+   return config;
+ },
}

If you use Next.js with Turbopack enabled, add empty-module.ts file:

export default {};

and add the following to your next.config.js:

module.exports = {
+ experimental: {
+   turbo: {
+     resolveAlias: {
+       canvas: './empty-module.ts',
+     },
+   },
+ },
};

If you use Next.js prior to v15 (v15.0.0-canary.53, specifically), you may need to add the following to your next.config.js:

module.exports = {
+ swcMinify: false,
}

Configure PDF.js worker

For React-PDF to work, PDF.js worker needs to be provided. You have several options.

Import worker (recommended)

For most cases, the following example will work:

import { pdfjs } from 'react-pdf';

pdfjs.GlobalWorkerOptions.workerSrc = new URL(
  'pdfjs-dist/build/pdf.worker.min.mjs',
  import.meta.url,
).toString();

> [!NOTE] > In Next.js: > > - Using App Router, make sure to add 'use client'; to the top of the file. > - Using Pages Router, make sure to disable SSR when importing the component you're using this code in.

> [!NOTE] > pnpm requires an .npmrc file with public-hoist-pattern[]=pdfjs-dist for this to work.

 pdfjs.GlobalWorkerOptions.workerSrc = new URL(
-  'pdfjs-dist/build/pdf.worker.min.mjs',
+  'npm:pdfjs-dist/build/pdf.worker.min.mjs',
   import.meta.url,
 ).toString();

Copy worker to public directory

You will have to make sure on your own that pdf.worker.mjs file from pdfjs-dist/build is copied to your project's output folder.

For example, you could use a custom script like:

import path from 'node:path';
import fs from 'node:fs';

const pdfjsDistPath = path.dirname(require.resolve('pdfjs-dist/package.json'));
const pdfWorkerPath = path.join(pdfjsDistPath, 'build', 'pdf.worker.mjs');

fs.cpSync(pdfWorkerPath, './dist/pdf.worker.mjs', { recursive: true });

Use external CDN

import { pdfjs } from 'react-pdf';

pdfjs.GlobalWorkerOptions.workerSrc = `//unpkg.com/pdfjs-dist@${pdfjs.version}/build/pdf.worker.min.mjs`;

Legacy PDF.js worker

If you need to support older browsers, you may use legacy PDF.js worker. To do so, follow the instructions above, but replace /build/ with legacy/build/ in PDF.js worker import path, for example:

 pdfjs.GlobalWorkerOptions.workerSrc = new URL(
-  'pdfjs-dist/build/pdf.worker.min.mjs',
+  'pdfjs-dist/legacy/build/pdf.worker.min.mjs',
   import.meta.url,
 ).toString();

or:

-pdfjs.GlobalWorkerOptions.workerSrc = `//unpkg.com/pdfjs-dist@${pdfjs.version}/build/pdf.worker.min.mjs`;
+pdfjs.GlobalWorkerOptions.workerSrc = `//unpkg.com/pdfjs-dist@${pdfjs.version}/legacy/build/pdf.worker.min.mjs`;

Usage

Here's an example of basic usage:

import { useState } from 'react';
import { Document, Page } from 'react-pdf';

function MyApp() {
  const [numPages, setNumPages] = useState();
  const [pageNumber, setPageNumber] = useState(1);

  function onDocumentLoadSuccess({ numPages }: { numPages: number }): void {
    setNumPages(numPages);
  }

  return (
    <div>
      
        
      
      <p>
        Page {pageNumber} of {numPages}
      </p>
    </div>
  );
}

Check the sample directory in this repository for a full working example. For more examples and more advanced use cases, check Recipes in React-PDF Wiki.

Support for annotations

If you want to use annotations (e.g. links) in PDFs rendered by React-PDF, then you would need to include stylesheet necessary for annotations to be correctly displayed like so:

import 'react-pdf/dist/Page/AnnotationLayer.css';

Support for text layer

If you want to use text layer in PDFs rendered by React-PDF, then you would need to include stylesheet necessary for text layer to be correctly displayed like so:

import 'react-pdf/dist/Page/TextLayer.css';

Support for non-latin characters

If you want to ensure that PDFs with non-latin characters will render perfectly, or you have encountered the following warning:

Warning: The CMap "baseUrl" parameter must be specified, ensure that the "cMapUrl" and "cMapPacked" API parameters are provided.

then you would also need to include cMaps in your build and tell React-PDF where they are.

Copying cMaps

First, you need to copy cMaps from pdfjs-dist (React-PDF's dependency - it should be in your node_modules if you have React-PDF installed). cMaps are located in pdfjs-dist/cmaps.

Vite

Add vite-plugin-static-copy by executing npm install vite-plugin-static-copy --save-dev or yarn add vite-plugin-static-copy --dev and add the following to your Vite config:

+import path from 'node:path';
+import { createRequire } from 'node:module';

-import { defineConfig } from 'vite';
+import { defineConfig, normalizePath } from 'vite';
+import { viteStaticCopy } from 'vite-plugin-static-copy';

+const require = createRequire(import.meta.url);
+
+const pdfjsDistPath = path.dirname(require.resolve('pdfjs-dist/package.json'));
+const cMapsDir = normalizePath(path.join(pdfjsDistPath, 'cmaps'));

export default defineConfig({
  plugins: [
+   viteStaticCopy({
+     targets: [
+       {
+         src: cMapsDir,
+         dest: '',
+       },
+     ],
+   }),
  ]
});

Webpack

Add copy-webpack-plugin by executing npm install copy-webpack-plugin --save-dev or yarn add copy-webpack-plugin --dev and add the following to your Webpack config:

+import path from 'node:path';
+import CopyWebpackPlugin from 'copy-webpack-plugin';

+const pdfjsDistPath = path.dirname(require.resolve('pdfjs-dist/package.json'));
+const cMapsDir = path.join(pdfjsDistPath, 'cmaps');

module.exports = {
  plugins: [
+   new CopyWebpackPlugin({
+     patterns: [
+       {
+         from: cMapsDir,
+         to: 'cmaps/'
+       },
+     ],
+   }),
  ],
};

Other tools

If you use other bundlers, you will have to make sure on your own that cMaps are copied to your project's output folder.

For example, you could use a custom script like:

import path from 'node:path';
import fs from 'node:fs';

const pdfjsDistPath = path.dirname(require.resolve('pdfjs-dist/package.json'));
const cMapsDir = path.join(pdfjsDistPath, 'cmaps');

fs.cpSync(cMapsDir, 'dist/cmaps/', { recursive: true });

Setting up React-PDF

Now that you have cMaps in your build, pass required options to Document component by using options prop, like so:

// Outside of React component
const options = {
  cMapUrl: '/cmaps/',
};

// Inside of React component
;

> [!NOTE] > Make sure to define options object outside of your React component, and use useMemo if you can't.

Alternatively, you could use cMaps from external CDN:

// Outside of React component
import { pdfjs } from 'react-pdf';

const options = {
  cMapUrl: `https://unpkg.com/pdfjs-dist@${pdfjs.version}/cmaps/`,
};

// Inside of React component
;

Support for standard fonts

If you want to support PDFs using standard fonts (deprecated in PDF 1.5, but still around), ot you have encountered the following warning:

The standard font "baseUrl" parameter must be specified, ensure that the "standardFontDataUrl" API parameter is provided.

then you would also need to include standard fonts in your build and tell React-PDF where they are.

Copying fonts

First, you need to copy standard fonts from pdfjs-dist (React-PDF's dependency - it should be in your node_modules if you have React-PDF installed). Standard fonts are located in pdfjs-dist/standard_fonts.

Vite

Add vite-plugin-static-copy by executing npm install vite-plugin-static-copy --save-dev or yarn add vite-plugin-static-copy --dev and add the following to your Vite config:

+import path from 'node:path';
+import { createRequire } from 'node:module';

-import { defineConfig } from 'vite';
+import { defineConfig, normalizePath } from 'vite';
+import { viteStaticCopy } from 'vite-plugin-static-copy';

+const require = createRequire(import.meta.url);
+const standardFontsDir = normalizePath(
+  path.join(path.dirname(require.resolve('pdfjs-dist/package.json')), 'standard_fonts')
+);

export default defineConfig({
  plugins: [
+   viteStaticCopy({
+     targets: [
+       {
+         src: standardFontsDir,
+         dest: '',
+       },
+     ],
+   }),
  ]
});

Webpack

Add copy-webpack-plugin by executing npm install copy-webpack-plugin --save-dev or yarn add copy-webpack-plugin --dev and add the following to your Webpack config:

+import path from 'node:path';
+import CopyWebpackPlugin from 'copy-webpack-plugin';

+const standardFontsDir = path.join(path.dirname(require.resolve('pdfjs-dist/package.json')), 'standard_fonts');

module.exports = {
  plugins: [
+   new CopyWebpackPlugin({
+     patterns: [
+       {
+         from: standardFontsDir,
+         to: 'standard_fonts/'
+       },
+     ],
+   }),
  ],
};

Other tools

If you use other bundlers, you will have to make sure on your own that standard fonts are copied to your project's output folder.

For example, you could use a custom script like:

import path from 'node:path';
import fs from 'node:fs';

const pdfjsDistPath = path.dirname(require.resolve('pdfjs-dist/package.json'));
const standardFontsDir = path.join(pdfjsDistPath, 'standard_fonts');

fs.cpSync(standardFontsDir, 'dist/standard_fonts/', { recursive: true });

Setting up React-PDF

Now that you have standard fonts in your build, pass required options to Document component by using options prop, like so:

// Outside of React component
const options = {
  standardFontDataUrl: '/standard_fonts/',
};

// Inside of React component
;

> [!NOTE] > Make sure to define options object outside of your React component, and use useMemo if you can't.

Alternatively, you could use standard fonts from external CDN:

// Outside of React component
import { pdfjs } from 'react-pdf';

const options = {
  standardFontDataUrl: `https://unpkg.com/pdfjs-dist@${pdfjs.version}/standard_fonts`,
};

// Inside of React component
;

User guide

Document

Loads a document passed using file prop.

Props

Page

Displays a page. Should be placed inside . Alternatively, it can have `pdf` prop passed, which can be obtained from 's onLoadSuccess callback function, however some advanced functions like rendering annotations and linking between pages inside a document may not be working correctly.

Props

Outline

Displays an outline (table of contents). Should be placed inside . Alternatively, it can have `pdf` prop passed, which can be obtained from 's onLoadSuccess callback function.

Props

Thumbnail

Displays a thumbnail of a page. Does not render the annotation layer or the text layer. Does not register itself as a link target, so the user will not be scrolled to a Thumbnail component when clicked on an internal link (e.g. in Table of Contents). When clicked, attempts to navigate to the page clicked (similarly to a link in Outline). Should be placed inside . Alternatively, it can have `pdf` prop passed, which can be obtained from 's onLoadSuccess callback function.

Props

Props are the same as in `` component, but certain annotation layer and text layer-related props are not available:

• customTextRenderer
• onGetAnnotationsError
• onGetAnnotationsSuccess
• onGetTextError
• onGetTextSuccess
• onRenderAnnotationLayerError
• onRenderAnnotationLayerSuccess
• onRenderTextLayerError
• onRenderTextLayerSuccess
• renderAnnotationLayer
• renderForms
• renderTextLayer

On top of that, additional props are available: