Edge is the best built-in PDF viewer on any OS in 2026. The Chromium-based Edge that ships with Windows 10/11 has a proper PDF reader with annotation tools, signing, and form filling. The catch: it doesn't edit text.
What Edge does
Open any PDF in Edge. The toolbar gives you: highlight (4 colours), draw (mouse, touch, or pen), add notes, fill form fields, sign with mouse or pen, read aloud, page navigation. All built-in, all free, all immediate.
For annotation, marking up review documents, or signing once, Edge is genuinely all you need.
Where Edge stops
Existing text in the PDF can't be edited in Edge. Highlight it, copy it, but not change it. A typo, a wrong date, a name to update: Edge has no tool for it.
Flint in the same browser handles those. Open a new tab, drop the PDF in, edit text, save.
Combining Edge and Flint
Review a PDF in Edge with annotations and form filling. Need to also fix a typo or add fields? Open Flint in another tab, edit there, save the polished version. The result is one PDF with everything done — annotations from Edge, edits from Flint.
Surface and pen input
On a Surface Pro or other pen-equipped Windows device, Edge's drawing tools accept pen input with pressure. Excellent for review markup and signatures. Flint's signature pad also accepts pen input for the times you want a saved, reusable signature.
FAQ
Can Edge edit form field values?
Yes. Standard PDF form fields (text inputs, checkboxes, dropdowns) work in Edge. Type in fields, save the PDF, the values persist. For non-form text edits, use Flint.
Does Edge save edits to the original file?
Yes — Save (Ctrl+S) writes back to the same file. For a separate copy, use Save As. Annotations and form values both survive.
Is Edge faster than Acrobat?
For viewing and annotation, yes — Edge launches instantly and uses fewer resources. For heavy editing tasks Edge can't do (text changes, conversions), Acrobat wins but costs money. Edge plus Flint matches Acrobat at zero cost.
Edge for annotation, Flint for text edits. Two browser tabs, one workflow.