4 Free and Easy Methods to View a PDF in Full Screen Mode

Reading PDFs in full-screen modes means hiding unwanted software UI and reducing distractions while reading.

On this page, you’ll find 4 best full-screen PDF viewers and the simple steps to view PDF documents in full-screen modes & presentations.

⚠️ Note that this guide shows you how to view PDFs as if they are PowerPoint presentations/slideshows, in PDF reader applications.

If you need to convert PDF to PowerPoint slideshows instead, use our free online PDF to PPT converter.

Comparing the Methods

Full-Screen PDF Viewers	Steps	Keyboard Shortcut
PDFgear	Open PDF in PDFgear, and click the Slide Show button in the Home section. Read more.	N/A
Adobe Acrobat Reader	Open PDF in Adobe Acrobat Reader > click View > Full screen mode. Read more.	Ctrl + L (Windows and Mac)
Chrome	Drag and drop PDF to Chrome > press F11 on the keyboard. Read more.	F11
Preview	Open PDF in Preview > go to View > select Enter Full Screen. Read more.	Control + Command + F

View a PDF in Full Screen on Windows and Mac for Free

PDFgear is a free-to-use and full-featured PDF reader that works on Windows, Mac, and iOS. It provides a full-screen slideshow mode that helps present your PDFs with 0 distractions.

PDFgear allows you to flexibly read and work with PDF documents, such as view pages side by side, edit content while reading, auto-scroll PDFs, and even summarize PDFs using AI.

Step 1. Download and install PDFgear on your Windows, Mac, iPhone, or iPad.

Step 2. Click Open File to import the PDF you need to read.

Step 3. In the Home section, click on the Slide Show button, and you’ll enter full-screen reading mode.

Step 4. Use the keyboard shortcut → ← or click on the screen to navigate between pages.

Step 5. Click the upper-left Exit button to exit the slideshow reading mode.

Use the Full Screen Mode in Adobe Acrobat Reader

Adobe Acrobat Reader is the free version of the paid Adobe Acrobat Pro, and it already covers a variety of practical PDF viewing features, including a full screen PDF reading mode.

To access the full-screen mode in Adobe Acrobat Reader is simple, you can use simple clicks or the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + L, which works on both Windows and Mac computers.

Step 1. Open Adobe Acrobat Reader, go to Menu > Open to open the PDF you need.

Step 2. Click the hamburger Menu, select View from the dropdown, and click Full screen mode within.

Step 3. Alternatively, you can also press Ctrl + L on the keyboard.

Step 3. Use the keyboard shortcut Esc to leave the mode.

[Tips] Go PDF Full Screen Automatically

If you want to go full-screen mode automatically every time you open a PDF document, the best way is to use Adobe Acrobat Pro’s initial view feature.

This feature is not available in the free Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Step 1. Open the PDF in Adobe Acrobat Pro.

Step 2. Click File from the upper menubar, and click Properties from the dropdown.

Step 3. In the Document properties window, go to the Initial View tab, and tick on Open in Full Screen mode.

Go PDF Full Screen in Chrome Web Browser

As you may noticed, Chrome web browsers now serves also as a handy PDF reader, even with annotation features and allows you to save tabs as PDFs.

It also supports a full-screen mode to hide unwanted software UI for a cleaner browsing experience.

Step 1. Open the Chrome web browser on your computer.

Step 2. Drag and drop the PDF you need into Chrome.

Step 3. Click the upper-right triple dots, then select Full Screen icon from the dropdown menu.

You can also use the keyboard shortcut F11 to quickly access the full-screen mode. Additionally, the shortcut also works with other modern web browsers including Microsoft Edge and Firefox.

View a PDF in Full Screen in Preview

Preview, the inbuilt image and PDF viewer as well as editor on macOS allow you to read PDFs in a full-screen mode without software installation.

Just as with the other introduced methods, you can use this feature from the View menu or use the keyboard shortcut Control + Cmd + F.

Step 1. Right-click and open the PDF in Preview on Mac.

Step 2. Go to the upper View menu.

Step 3. Select Enter Full Screen or use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Cmd + F.

Step 4. This it how it looks like.

[Fixes] PDF Full-screen Mode Greyed Out in Adobe Acrobat

The reasons vary that the full-screen mode not working in Adobe Acrobat. Below are some possible causes and solutions.

PDF Not Loaded

If you haven’t opened a PDF in Adobe Acrobat Pro already, the full screen mode option will be greyed out.

Comment Mode Active

If you have recently added a text comment, the Full-Screen mode might be disabled. To resolve this, ensure that you have completely exited the comment mode. You can do this by selecting View > Tools > Comment > Close from the menu bar.

Protected View Settings

Enhanced security settings might be preventing Full-Screen mode. To disable Protected View, go to Edit > Preferences > Enhanced Security, and turn off the Protected View option.

Preferences Reset

Resetting Acrobat’s preferences to default settings can sometimes resolve unexpected behavior. To reset preferences, navigate to Edit > Preferences > General, and click on Reset All Warnings and Reset All Preferences.

Dual Windows or Multiple Monitors

If you are using dual windows or multiple monitors, try disabling dual windows in the settings or adjusting the display settings. Go to Settings > Special Features > Dual Windows and disable Adobe Acrobat there.