Manual Page Search Parameters
xpdf(1) General Commands Manual xpdf(1)

xpdf - Portable Document Format (PDF) file viewer (version 4.06)

xpdf [options] [PDF-file [:page | +dest]] ...

xpdf [options] -remote remote-name [command ...]

xpdf [options] -open [PDF-file]

Xpdf is a viewer for Portable Document Format (PDF) files. (These are also sometimes also called ´Acrobat' files, from the name of Adobe's PDF software.) Xpdf uses the Qt GUI toolkit and runs on Unix, OS X, and Windows.

To run xpdf, type:

xpdf file.pdf

where file.pdf is your PDF file. The file name can be followed by a page number to be displayed, prefixed with a colon:

xpdf file.pdf :18

or by a named destination, prefixed with ´+' (this is only useful with PDF files that provide named destination targets):

xpdf file.pdf +destinationA

If you specify multiple files, they will each be opened in a separate tab:

xpdf file1.pdf file2.pdf :18 file3.pdf

You can also start xpdf without opening any files:

xpdf

Xpdf reads a configuration file at startup. It first tries to find the user's private config file, ~/.xpdfrc. If that doesn't exist, it looks for a system-wide config file, typically /etc/xpdfrc (but this location can be changed when xpdf is built). See the xpdfrc(5) man page for details.

The following command line options are available. All command line options must come before any PDF files to be opened.

Many of the options can be set with configuration file commands. These are listed in square brackets with the description of the corresponding command line option.

Set the initial window geometry.
Set the window title. By default, the title will be "xpdf: foo.pdf".
This option sets up a default remote server. If Xpdf is already running (with the "-open" switch), the PDF file (if any) is opened in a new tab. If Xpdf (with the "-open" switch) is not already running, starts Xpdf and opens the PDF file (if any). This is useful for GUI desktop environments, e.g., the typical double-click on a PDF file case.
Set reverse video mode. This reverses the colors of everything except images. It may not always produce great results for PDF files which do weird things with color. This also causes the paper color to default to black.
Set the "paper color", i.e., the background of the page display. The color can be #RRGGBB (hexadecimal) or a named color. This option will not work well with PDF files that do things like filling in white behind the text. [config file: paperColor]
Set the matte color, i.e., the color used for background outside the actual page area. The color can be #RRGGBB (hexadecimal) or a named color. [config file: matteColor]
Set the matte color for full-screen mode. The color can be #RRGGBB (hexadecimal) or a named color. [config file: fullScreenMatteColor]
Set the initial zoom factor. A number specifies a zoom percentage, where 100 means 72 dpi. You may also specify ´page', to fit the page to the window size, or ´width', to fit the page width to the window width. [config file: initialZoom]
Rotate pages by 0 (the default), 90, 180, or 270 degrees.
Enable or disable font anti-aliasing. This defaults to "yes". [config file: antialias]
Enable or disable vector anti-aliasing. This defaults to "yes". [config file: vectorAntialias]
Sets the encoding to use for text output. The encoding-name must be defined with the unicodeMap command (see xpdfrc(5)). This defaults to "Latin1" (which is a built-in encoding). [config file: textEncoding]
Specify the password for the PDF file. This can be either the owner password (which will bypass all security restrictions) or the user password.
Open xpdf in full-screen mode, useful for presentations.
Start Xpdf in remote server mode. See the REMOTE SERVER MODE section.
Set the X display (only available with X11).
Print commands as they're executed (useful for debugging). [config file: printCommands]
Sets the file used by the loadTabState and saveTabState commands. [config file: tabStateFile]
Read config-file in place of ~/.xpdfrc or the system-wide config file.
Print copyright and version information.
Print usage information. (-help and --help are equivalent.)

Toggles (i.e., shows or hides) the sidebar.
This icon is animated while Xpdf is rendering a page. It turns red when an error or warning has been issued. Clicking on it opens the error dialog.
This icon is an "I-beam" in linear selection mode, and an arrow in block selection mode. Clicking on it toggles between the two selection modes.
Move to a specific page number. Click in the box to activate it, type the page number, then hit return. This will instead display and accept page labels, if the "view - page labels" menu item is checked.
Go backward or forward along the history path.
Zoom out or in (i.e., change magnification) incrementally.
Change the zoom factor (see the description of the -z option above).
Change the zoom factor to fit the page width to the window width.
Change the zoom factor to fit the page to the window size.
find entry box
Find a text string. Click in the box to activate it, type a search string, then hit return.
find next button
Find the next occurrence of the search string.
find previous button
Find the previous occurrence of the search string.
find settings button
Display the current find settings: case insensitive, case sensitive, smart case (case sensitive only if the search string contains uppercase characters), find whole words.

The menu bar is above the toolbar. The menu items should be self-explanatory.

The tab list is on the left, just below the toolbar. It lists all open tabs.

This pane is on the left, below the tab list. The popup allows you to select from outline, layers, or attachments.

The outline is a tree-like structure of bookmarks that allows moving within the PDF file. Not all PDF files have outlines.

Layers (a.k.a. optional content) allow parts of the PDF content to be shown or hidden. Not all PDF files have layers.

Attachments are other files embedded within the PDF file. There is a 'save' button for each attached file. Not all PDF files have attachments.

In block selection mode, dragging the mouse with the left button held down will highlight an arbitrary rectangle. Shift-clicking will extend the selection.

In linear selection mode, dragging with the left button will highlight text in reading order. Double-clicking or triple-clicking will select a word or a line, respectively. Shift-clicking will extend the selection.

Selected text can be copied to the clipboard (with the edit/copy menu item). On X11, selected text will be available in the X selection buffer.

When the mouse is over a hyperlink, the link target will be shown in a popup near the bottom of the window.

Clicking on a hyperlink will jump to the link's destination. A link to another PDF document will make xpdf load that document. A ´launch' link to an executable program will display a dialog, and if you click ´ok', execute the program. URL links are opened in a system-dependent way. (On UNIX, Qt uses the $BROWSER environment variable.)

The left mouse button is used to select text (see above).

Clicking on a link with the middle button opens the link in a new tab.

Dragging the mouse with the middle button held down pans the window.

The right mouse button opens a popup menu (see popupMenuCmd in xpdfrc(5)).

This section lists the default key bindings. Bindings can be changed using the config file (see xpdfrc(5)).

Open a new PDF file via a file requester.
Reload the current PDF file. Note that Xpdf will reload the file automatically (on a page change or redraw) if it has changed since it was last loaded.
Find a text string. This sets keyboard focus to the ´find' box.
Find next occurrence.
Copy selected text to the clipboard.
Print.
Set the zoom factor to 125%.
Zoom in (increment the zoom factor by 1).
Zoom out (decrement the zoom factor by 1).
Save PDF via a file requester.
Open a new tab.
Open a new window.
Close the current tab. Closes the window if this was the last open tab. Quits the application if this was the last open window.
Toggle between full-screen and window modes.
Quit.
Next tab.
Previous tab.
Help.
Go backward along the history path.
Go forward along the history path.
Go to the top left of current page.
Go to the first page.
Go to the bottom right of current page.
Go to the last page.
<space> or <PageDown>
Scroll down on the current page; if already at bottom, move to next page.
Go to the next page. If <ScrollLock> is active, this maintains the relative position on the page.
<PageUp>
Scroll up on the current page; if already at top, move to previous page.
Go to the previous page. If <ScrollLock> is active, this maintains the relative position on the page.
<esc>
Exit full-screen mode.
Scroll the current page.
Set keyboard focus to the page number entry box.
Set the zoom factor to ´page' (fit page to window).
Set the zoom factor to ´width' (fit page width to window).

Xpdf can be placed into full-screen mode via the -fullscreen command line option, the ´full screen' menu item, or a binding to the fullScreenMode or toggleFullScreenMode command.

Entering full-screen mode automatically switches to single-page view mode and to the fit-page zoom factor.

Full-screen mode can be exited via the default <esc> key binding, or via a binding to the windowMode or toggleFullScreenModecommand.

Xpdf's key and mouse bindings are user-configurable, using the bind and unbind commands in the config file (see xpdfrc(5)). The bind command allows you to bind a key or mouse button to a sequence of one or more commands.

In commands that take arguments (inside parentheses), special characters (namely '(', ')', ',', and '\x01') can be escaped by preceding them with a '\x01' character. This is mostly useful in things like scripts that need to be able to open arbitrary PDF files, using the ´openFile' command.

The following commands are supported:

Open the ´about' dialog.
Set block selection mode. In this mode, the selection is a simple rectangle. Any part of the page can be selected, regardless of the content on the page.
Check that file is open in the current tab, and open it if not.
Check that file is open in the current tab, and open it if not. In either case go to the specified named destination.
Check that file is open in the current tab, and open it if not. In either case go to the specified page.
Close the sidebar.
Close the sidebar, resizing the window so that the document size doesn't change, and moving the window so that the document stays in the same place on the screen.
Close the sidebar, resizing the window so that the document size doesn't change.
Close the tab. If this was the last open tab, close the window. If this was the last window open, quit.
Close the window. If this was the last open window, quit.
Switch to continuous view mode.
Copy selected text to the clipboard.
Copy the target of the link under the mouse cursor to the clipboard.
End a pan operation.
End a selection.
Expand the sidebar by n pixels. Opens the sidebar if it is currently closed.
Set keyboard focus to the ´find' box.
Find the first occurrence of the search string.
Find the next occurrence of the search string.
Find the previous occurrence of the search string.
Set keyboard focus to the main document window.
Set keyboard focus to the page number text box.
Follow a hyperlink (does nothing if the mouse is not over a link).
Follow a hyperlink, opening PDF files in a new tab (does nothing if the mouse is not over a link). For links to non-PDF files, this command is identical to followLink.
Same as followLinkInNewTab, but does nothing if there is a non-empty selection. (This is useful as a mouse button binding.)
Follow a hyperlink, opening PDF files in a new window (does nothing if the mouse is not over a link). For links to non-PDF files, this command is identical to followLink.
Same as followLinkInNewWin, but does nothing if there is a non-empty selection. (This is useful as a mouse button binding.)
Same as followLink, but does nothing if there is a non-empty selection. (This is useful as a mouse button binding.)
Go to full-screen mode.
Move backward along the history path.
Move forward along the history path.
Go to a named destination.
Go to the last page in the PDF file.
Go to the specified page.
Open the help URL.
Hide the menu bar.
Hide the toolbar.
Switch to horizontal continuous view mode.
Set linear selection mode. In this mode, the selection follows text. Non-text regions cannot be selected.
Load the session from the session save file. The path for the session file is specified with the sessionFile setting (see xpdfrc(5)).
Load the tab state file (which was written via the saveTabState command), and restore the tabs listed in that file. The path for the tab state file is specified with the tabStateFile setting (see xpdfrc(5)).
Open an empty new tab.
Open an empty new window.
Go to the next page.
Go to the next page, with the current relative scroll position.
Switch to the next tab.
Switch to normal video mode (the opposite of reverse video mode).
Open a PDF file in the current tab, using the open dialog.
Open the error window.
Open the specified file in the current tab.
Open the specified file. If dest is not empty, go to the specified named destination. Else, if page is not empty, go to the specified page number. If password is not empty, it is used as the PDF password. If location is "win", open the file in a new window; if it is "tab", open in a new tab; if it is "check", open in the current tab, but only if the specified PDF file isn't already open; else open in the current tab. Any/all of the arguments, other than file, can be empty strings. For example: 
openFile2(test.pdf,7,,,tab)
Open the specified file in the current tab at the specified named destination.
Open the specified file at the specified named destination. Location must be "win" for a new window or "tab" for a new tab.
Open the specified file in the current tab at the specified page.
Open the specified file at the specified page. Location must be "win" for a new window or "tab" for a new tab.
Open the specified file. Location must be "win" for a new window or "tab" for a new tab.
Open a PDF file, using the open dialog. Location must be "win" for a new window or "tab" for a new tab.
Open the sidebar.
Open the sidebar, resizing the window so that the document size doesn't change, and moving the window so that the document stays in the same place on the screen.
Open the sidebar, resizing the window so that the document size doesn't change.
Scroll down by one screenful.
Scroll up by one screenful.
Display the popup menu.
Go to the previous page.
Go to the previous page, with the current relative scroll position.
Switch to the previous tab.
Open the ´print' dialog.
Quit from xpdf.
Bring the xpdf window to the front.
Reload the current PDF file.
Switch to reverse video mode.
Rotate the page 90 degrees counterclockwise.
Rotate the page 90 degrees clockwise.
Run an external command. The following escapes are allowed in the command string: 


    %f => PDF file name (or an empty string if no


          file is open)


    %b => PDF file base name, i.e., file name minus


          the extension (or an empty string if no


          file is open)


    %u => link URL (or an empty string if not over


          a URL link)


    %p => current page number (or an empty string if


          no file is open)


    %x => selection upper-left x coordinate


          (or 0 if there is no selection)


    %y => selection upper-left y coordinate


          (or 0 if there is no selection)


    %X => selection lower-right x coordinate


          (or 0 if there is no selection)


    %Y => selection lower-right y coordinate


          (or 0 if there is no selection)


    %t => selected text (limited to 500 characters)


    %i => page containing the mouse pointer


    %j => x coordinate of the mouse pointer


    %k => y coordinate of the mouse pointer


    %% => %
The external command string will often contain spaces, so the whole command must be quoted in the xpdfrc file: 


    bind x "run(ls -l)"
The command string may not be run through a shell. It is recommended to keep the command simple, so that it doesn't depend on specific shell functionality. For complex things, you can have the command string run a shell script.
Save PDF via a file requester.
Open the ´save image' dialog.
Save the current session, consisting of all open windows and tabs, to the session save file. This file can be loaded later with the loadSession command. The path for the session file is specified with the sessionFile setting (see xpdfrc(5)).
Save a list of all tabs open in this window to the tab state file. For each tab, this writes the PDF file name and page number (on separate lines). This file can be loaded later with the loadTabState command. The path for the tab state file is specified with the tabStateFile setting (see xpdfrc(5)).
Scroll down by n pixels.
Scroll down by n pixels, moving to the next page if appropriate.
Scroll left by n pixels.
Scroll the outline down by n increments.
Scroll the outline up by n increments.
Scroll right by n pixels.
Scroll to the bottom edge of the last displayed page, with no horizontal movement.
Scroll to the bottom-right corner of the last displayed page.
Scroll to the left edge of the current page, with no vertical movement.
Scroll to the right edge of the current page, with no vertical movement.
Scroll to the top edge of the first displayed page, with no horizontal movement.
Scroll to the top-left corner of the first displayed page.
Scroll up by n pixels.
Scroll up by n pixels, moving to the previous page if appropriate.
Set the selection to the line at the current mouse position.
Set the selection to the word at the current mouse position.
Set the selection to the specified coordinates on the specified page.
Shows the attachments in the outline/layers/attachments pane.
Open the document information dialog.
Open the key bindings dialog.
Shows the layers in the outline/layers/attachments pane.
Show the menu bar.
Shows the outline in the outline/layers/attachments pane.
Show the toolbar.
Shrink the sidebar by n pixels. Closes the sidebar if shrinking it would go below the minimum allowed side.
Switch to side-by-side continuous view mode.
Switch to side-by-side two-page view mode.
Switch to single-page view mode.
Extend the selection to the current mouse position, and continue extending as the mouse moves.
Start a pan operation at the current mouse position, which will scroll the document as the mouse moves.
Start a selection at the current mouse position, which will be extended as the mouse moves.
Toggle between continuous and single page view modes.
Toggle between full-screen and window modes.
Toggle the menu bar between shown and hidden.
Toggle between reverse and normal video modes.
Toggle between block and linear selection mode.
Toggle the sidebar between open and closed.
Toggle the sidebar between open and closed, resizing the window so that the document size doesn't change, and moving the window so that the document stays in the same place on the screen.
Toggle the sidebar between open and closed, resizing the window so that the document size doesn't change.
Toggle the toolbar between shown and hidden.
Show page labels (if the PDF file has them), rather than page numbers.
Show page numbers, rather than page labels.
Go to window (non-full-screen) mode.
Set the zoom factor to fit-page.
Set the zoom factor to fit-width.
Zoom in - go to the next higher zoom factor.
Zoom out - go the next lower zoom factor.
Set the zoom factor to z%.
Zoom to the current selection.

Starting xpdf with the "-remote" switch puts it into remote server mode. All remaining command line options are commands (see the COMMANDS section). Subsequent invocations of "xpdf -remote" with the same remote server name will send commands to the already-running instance of xpdf. The "checkOpenFile" commands are useful here for things like changing pages. For example:


# Start up xpdf, and open something.pdf.
xpdf -remote foo 'openFile(something.pdf)'


# Switch to page 7 in the already-open something.pdf. If the user
# has closed xpdf in the meantime, this will restart it and reopen
# the file.
xpdf -remote foo 'checkOpenFileAtPage(something.pdf, 7)'


# Pass two commands to the remote instance: (1) open something.pdf
# and then (2) raise the xpdf window.
xpdf -remote foo 'openFile(something.pdf)' raise

The Xpdf tools use the following exit codes:

0
No error.
1
Error opening a PDF file.
2
Error opening an output file.
3
Error related to PDF permissions.
99
Other error.

The xpdf software and documentation are copyright 1996-2025 Glyph & Cog, LLC.

pdftops(1), pdftotext(1), pdftohtml(1), pdfinfo(1), pdffonts(1), pdfdetach(1), pdftoppm(1), pdftopng(1), pdfimages(1), xpdfrc(5)
http://www.xpdfreader.com/

14 Nov 2025 x86_64