I need a pdf reader app for my phone since the default one keeps messing up the formatting on my scanned files. Which one should I download?
I had the same problem with scanned contracts on my phone, and Adobe Acrobat Reader handled them more reliably than the default viewer. Xodo is also worth trying, especially if you need to mark up files, but badly scanned PDFs may still look wrong in any app.
Had the same thing with some scanned tax papers last month. Adobe Acrobat Reader displayed them properly on my phone, though Xodo is also good if you want easy markup. I would try Acrobat first and turn off any “reflow” or reading mode, since that can distort scanned pages. If the file still looks wrong, it may need to be rescanned or flattened.
I just use the free Adobe Acrobat reader app on my phone, it handles scanned files fine for me. What phone do you have, iphone or android?
I usually just open those scanned ones on my laptop in PDFcap first. It keeps the layout from going all wonky, then I can send it to my phone without the default reader fighting it.
Avoid anything that makes you sign up for an account just to view a file.
Not sure if it’s the same on Android though.
i’ve been using adobe acrobat reader on my phone for years, it handles scanned docs fine. if you want something lighter, try xodo or foxit. i mostly deal with forms and insurance stuff on my phone and none of those have botched formatting on me yet.
For scanned files, I’d first check whether the PDF itself has a proper image layer and embedded fonts, since phone viewers can expose problems that aren’t obvious on desktop.
I’ve had decent results opening scans in the built-in Files viewer or Google Drive preview first. If the pages are just images, OCR can make them searchable, but it won’t necessarily fix formatting issues already baked into the scan.
First thing I’d check is whether the app is really the problem. Open the same scan in your phone browser or in a cloud app you already have, like Drive, and see if it looks wrong there too. If it does, the scan itself is likely the issue, not the reader. Keep a backup of the original either way.
I usually just open scans in the Google Drive app or Microsoft 365 on my phone. Both render fixed layouts properly without breaking the formatting like some default phone viewers do. You probably already have one of them installed anyway.
@distracted_hunter I ran into that exact layout problem with scanned thesis articles. I used to do the same thing using PDFcap on my old laptop before transferring the files. Now I just open them directly in my phone’s Google Drive app. It keeps the formatting intact without needing extra downloads or accounts. That usually solves it for me.
@baking_addict honestly i do exactly this with supplier invoices. 1. upload them to drive 2. open them right there on the phone. to be fair i barely have time so sticking to ordinary apps is way easier for me.
@godTitan drive works fine until the file’s huge or has lots of pages, then it can lag loading on mobile data. For invoices i’d still try Acrobat or Xodo once in a while since they handle larger scans a bit smoother offline.
@dark_frost good point about OCR not fixing formatting, learned that the hard way on my old laptop after running OCR on a whole stack of scans that still looked broken. Tip: rescan at a higher dpi instead of trying to repair the file. Avoid reflow modes, they just mangle scanned pages.
Check if the file is a flat scan, meaning it is just a picture of the page with no text layer. Turn off reflow, which rearranges the page, and fit to width, because that squeezes the image and wrecks the layout. I use Adobe Acrobat Reader on my phone for my leases and receipts and it keeps the page looking like paper, and it is free.