How To Download Pdf Files On A Mac

2020-09-09 17:49:46 • Filed to: Knowledge of PDF • Proven solutions

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So many different categories of documents come through to us in the form of PDF files that it's easy to lose track of where they are on your computer. The first challenge is to find PDF files that you're specifically looking for. After you've found the file, you might wonder about how to look up words in a PDF. There are quite a few ways to find PDF files on your PC; however, in order to find specific words in a PDF file or do a find and replace in PDF, you'll need a specialized tool like PDFelement. This article shows you how to find local PDFs on your machine as well as how to search PDF documents for specific text bits.

Download files from Google Drive using a computer or an Android device. Download a file. Go to drive.google.com. Click a file to download. To download multiple files, press Command (Mac) or Ctrl (Windows) while clicking other files. Right-click and click Download. Note: You can't drag a file or folder directly to your desktop. Navigate to the location where you want the files to be stored. Click the Select button. Click the Close button to exit Preferences. To download a specific image that appears on a web page, move your pointer over the image, right-click, and choose Save Image As from the pop-up menu that appears. Select the disk location (it can be an internal HDD/SSD or a removable storage device) where you.

3 Methods to Find PDF Files on My Computer

There are a few ways to find PDF files on your computer, some of which are outlined in this section.

Method 1: Windows Search

Probably the easiest way to find all the PDF files on your system is to use the Search function in the Windows Start menu. Here are the steps:

  1. Click the Start button on the bottom left in Windows 10. For older Windows versions like XP, you'll see a link called ‘All Files and Folders' that you need to click on to see the search box.
  2. In the taskbar, type in '*.pdf' without the quotes and hit Enter.
  3. Search through the list of results and click on a file to open it in your default PDF application.

Method 2: File Explorer

Another easy way to find all your PDFs is to use File Explorer. This is a versatile search function where one of the options is to be able to search for specific file extensions just like with the previous method.

  1. Open a File Explorer window on your PC.
  2. In the search box on the top right of your screen, enter 'type: .pdf' - again, without the quotes, then hit Enter. If you know the name of your file, you can start typing it in and see if it appears in the results.
  3. In the main window, you'll see your PDF files displayed. Click on the one you're looking for to open it in your installed PDF app.

Method 3: Use Cortana

Not many people use Cortana to interact with Windows (compared to Alexa or Google Assistant), but voice search can be useful in this instance.

  1. In the taskbar of Cortana on Windows 10, either type in the query or click the microphone icon to activate Cortana. The query can either be 'find PDF files' or 'all PDF files' or just 'PDF files.' If you're using voice, use the same query phrases.
  2. Cortana will initiate the search and display the results in a new window. You can access any of the files you see there and open it in a PDF program.

These three simple methods will let you find all the PDF files on your computer, but what if you want to go deeper than that and find specific words in a PDF document. You can see how that would be a useful function when large PDF files running into dozens or even hundreds of pages are concerned. In the next section, we will show you a versatile PDF editor that can accomplish that very task.

How to Find and Replace Words in PDF

PDFelement is a comprehensive PDF management tool that allows you to search for specific words and phrases in any PDF document. The real power of the software, though, is in its core features, which we've listed below:

  • Editing: It makes editing super-simple by providing intuitive tools to edit text, images, links, videos, and any other content in your PDF file.
  • Creation: Create a PDF document from any source file of a different type, such as Word, PPT, Excel, HTML, etc. The software can handle a wide range of file types and will convert all the content into PDF while maintaining key aspects like the layout, font types and sizes, and so on.
  • Conversion: PDF conversion is just a matter of opening your file and clicking on the format you want as your output. Support is available for numerous file types and, again, the layout and other elements are preserved exactly as in the original PDF.
  • Forms: Create interactive forms manually or automatically, do Form Field Recognition to convert scanned forms into editable ones, create a form from scratch or with one of the many templates available, and do a lot more with forms on PDFelement.
  • OCR: Scanned PDFs can pose a big problem because they're not editable or searchable. Performing OCR in PDFelement (Pro version; OCR is an installable plugin) will let you convert your PDF into a fully searchable and/or editable version.
  • Protection: PDFelement lets you secure your PDF files with password encryption. It also includes other privacy tools like redaction and the ability to add watermarks.
  • Batch Processes: Most of the features above can be done in bulk for multiple PDFs in a single batch, saving you time and effort that can be used in other productive work.

If you have several instances of a particular word or phrase in your PDF document, PDFelement will allow you to quickly search for all of them and highlight them in the document, following which you can replace all instances of the word or phrase in question.

Method 1: Native Search Function

  1. Click the magnifying glass (Search) icon in the preview pane on the left.
  2. Type in the word or phrase to be found.
  3. Choose the case-sensitivity or whole word match option by checking the corresponding box.
  4. All instances of the search term will be highlighted on your document for redaction or manual replacement.

Method 2: Control + F Advanced Search

  1. Press Ctrl+F on your computer.
  2. Enter the search phrase or word.
  3. Click on Replace With.
  4. Enter the replacement phrase or word and hit Enter.

With these tools at your disposal, you'll never again have to worry about finding a PDF document or finding specific text inside that can be replaced.

Free Download or Buy PDFelement right now!

Free Download or Buy PDFelement right now!

Buy PDFelement right now!

Buy PDFelement right now!

Get PDF editor with OCR
PDFpen lets you change anything about your PDF docs.

You can't escape them — PDFs are everywhere, especially in the workplace. Although convenient to read, PDFs can be tricky to deal with if you just need to make quick changes to the text, sign a form, or send a file through a size-restrictive platform.

With a default PDF reader like Preview on the Mac, finding a certain word in the PDF is difficult and editing a document can be almost out of the question. Without knowing which tools to use, it will be very hard to make changes to a PDF document. Fortunately, there are plenty of PDF apps to help you get the editing job done.

You can use PDF Search to search for specific document, information, facts, or figures. This would come in particularly handy if your PDFs are very long. To pore through your PDF in batches or to scan through long files, open the app and type in a search word or phrase in the search bar. Even if you misspell a word, PDF Search's artificial intelligence feature will make an effort to understand what you mean and help you find exactly what you're looking for.

Tools to Edit PDF Documents

By now, if you don't know how to modify a PDF document, you may be left behind. Good news is taking control of your PDF files is not rocket science — whether they be for home or work, you just need the right set of tools in place to cover your everyday requirements.

To help you alter PDF documents, there are a few apps with such useful features as adding comments, filling and signing agreements for your business, removing sensitive information, and compressing large files to allow for easier sharing. Stop agonizing over how to edit PDFs and try a few of the powerful applications mentioned below. You may want to redact your PDF documents, like edit typos or add different images, but how do you go about doing so?

Grab the best PDF editor

A perfect toolkit that allows you to rotate, combine, highlight, annotate, and change anything about your PDF. Easy squeezy.

Apple provides every Mac with Preview, a free program that allows you to read and edit PDF files (add and highlight text, combine PDF documents and transfer pages from one PDF to another, add a signature and comments).

Edit and mark up PDFs with Preview

The experience of editing images with Preview is pretty intuitive. We've created a quick guidance for you to instantly find what you're looking for.

How to type on a PDF, add text and notes

Open the PDF in Preview and try to add text by clicking on the target text field. If it doesn't work, you'll have to add a new text or note field:

  1. Select Tools > Annotate > Text/Note.
  2. Click on the text/note box that appears in your document and start typing.
  3. Close the box by clicking outside it. You can move the note/text field anywhere via drag and drop.
  4. To customize fonts or color of text, select View > Show Markup Toolbar > A.

Highlight text in a PDF

To activate the highlight mode in Preview, select the Highlight button in the top right corner. Click on the down arrow next to the Highlight button to change color, or choose an option to underline or strikethrough.

When switched on, highlights will be applied to any text you click on. You can switch it off by clicking on the same Highlight button.

To view notes and highlights in the PDF, select View > Highlights and Notes.

Combine multiple PDFs

  1. To merge PDF files, open one PDF in Preview.
  2. Select View > Thumbnails to see the thumbnails of all pages.
  3. Click on Edit > Insert > Page from file and open another PDF.
  4. Choose destination and save the updated file as PDF.

Rotate, delete, rearrange pages, and renumber pages inside a PDF

You can cut pages out or change the order of pages in a few steps via thumbnails:

  1. Open a document in Preview.
  2. Navigate to View > Thumbnails.
  3. To rotate, click on a page thumbnail > Tools > Rotate Left or Right.
  4. To delete pages in a PDF, select thumbnail > Tools > Delete to remove a page from your PDF.
  5. Rearrange by dragging pages around in the sidebar.

To change page numbering, you can use PDFpen editor. When you open a file, go to Edit > Headers, Footers, Page numbers > Insert. From there, you can customize the position and format of page numbers as well as define a starting page.

Split PDF files

To separate pages in a scanned PDF, simply drag the page you want to remove from the thumbnails pane to desktop. If needed, you can combine those pages into a separate PDF file afterwards.

How to reduce PDF size

You can compress your PDF in Preview while exporting the doc. Once you're done with editing, select File > Export. Click on Quartz Filter to open the pop-up menu > Reduce File Size.

Apart from Preview, you can use a scanning application like Prizmo app to create easily searchable PDF files out of paper-based images like brochures, books, or posters. This app lets you scan and recognize any photo documents to make them editable. You can even take a photo of a physical document on your phone, and finish editing on your Mac.

To make corrections or rewrite some text within the original file with editable text blocks, try PDFpen. Also you can use it to highlight, draw, scribble on the document.

Edit any PDF on a Mac

To correct text with PDFpen:

  1. Open the desired PDF document within the application
  2. Highlight the text within the PDF and click Correct Text
  3. Erase the current text and type the desired changes

To insert and edit an image in PDF:

  1. Click on 'Insert' icon and choose an image you want to add
  2. Move and/or resize the image by dragging it around inside the PDF
  3. Double clicking an image lets you adjust it or add some effects
  4. You can also delete pictures and drop new ones

You can also edit images by converting them into PDFs with Prizmo. With powerful OCR, Prizmo app instantly captures text and makes it fluid and editable.

To create a PDF from an image with Prizmo, use the following steps:

  1. Click the plus icon in Prizmo
  2. Find your source in the drop-down menu
  3. Select an image that you'd like to convert to PDF and click Add
  4. Click Recognize in the top right corner or toggle Text mode in View.
  5. Editable text will appear on the right side of the window.

Add comments and annotations to a PDF

To help yourself with extra notes or annotations, you can add comments directly onto a PDF. Comments can be useful to readers when you want to provide extra information about certain parts of the document.

To add text using Preview app:

How To Download Pdf Files On A Mac Hard Drive

How to download pdf files on a mac free

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  1. Place your cursor where you want to insert text.
  2. Go to 'Tools,' click on 'Annotate,' select 'Text,' and start typing.
  3. To change the font, size, or color, go to 'View,' click on 'Show Markup Toolbar,' and press A.
  4. You also can move the text box anywhere on the document.

A regular PDF viewer app won't let you attach comments to specific areas on a PDF, so you need to use an editor like PDFpen to do that. This app allows to add comments to PDF files with highlights, sticky notes, a freehand drawing. Annotations are useful because you can embed them into the file without being too distracting for a reader. You can also use the markup tools to add shapes around important areas of the PDF and underline things to remember.

To comment and make notes on PDF:

  1. Click on the Comment (cmd+8) or on the Notes (cmd+7) on the
  2. Tap on the area of the document where you want the comment or note to appear
  3. Type in the comment or note area field
  4. Drag the comment or note text box to the desired area on the document

Fill and sign PDF forms (e-sign)

Printing documents just to sign them and scan them back can be frustrating and time-consuming. Many of us don't even have printers anymore. But luckily with e-signatures, there's no need for all that.

Now you can easily add your signature to digital forms and documents in macOS. Whether you're looking to have a new client sign an agreement, a tenancy contract, or any other PDF form, e-signature will save you time (and ink).

To sign a document using PDFpen:

  1. Scan your signature and save it as an image file
  2. OR draw your signature right on a PDF with your trackpad, magic mouse, etc.
  3. Drag, resize and correct position the signature inside your PDF file.

To sign your PDF file with Preview app:

  1. Open the document you want to sign
  2. In main menu go to Tools > Annotate > Signature > Manage signatures
  3. To create signature tap to Click Here to Begin, draw your signature on the trackpad, press any key when finish, and then Done
  4. You can also scan your handwritten signature - write it on a piece of paper, hold to be visible to the camera, and Preview will draw a virtual signature.
  5. Choose the signature created to insert it into the document. Drag, resize and correct position of your sign like a regular image

Redact sensitive information from PDFs

Many of the PDF files on your computer may contain sensitive or personal information, leaving you at risk of becoming a victim to identity theft. For example, a PDF form could contain your tax information, credit card numbers, or other personal details that you don't want to share with third parties.

How To Download Pdf Files On A Mac Computer

This is where PDF redaction comes in handy. Without an appropriate PDF editor like PDFpen, it can be very difficult to remove parts of the text you want to hide from a document. Redaction can remove a word or an entire line of text with a black box or empty white space.

How To Download File Pdf On Macbook

Of course, if you don't want to use software to redact your PDF, you can always take a black marker to cross out any information from a printed sheet. To make your life easier, use the following steps to redact sensitive information.

To redact an entire section of a document:

  1. Within PDFpen, click Tools and select the rectangle tool
  2. Select the area of the text you want to redact
  3. Click Format and Redact Text-Block

To redact selected text:

  1. Under Tools select Text Tools
  2. Select the text you want to redact
  3. Click Format and Redact Text – Block

Compress and share a PDF

If you don't have a strong or reliable internet connection, it can be hard to send large PDF files to friends or colleagues. In order to upload large PDF files onto the cloud, send via email, or add them into size-restricted forms, you'll need an app like PDF Squeezer to help you compress the PDF file while keeping the original quality. You can rest easy that this process won't convert your PDF into a ZIP file.

To shrink your PDF resumes, applications, or visa-related documents for the web, use the following steps:

  1. Open PDF Squeezer
  2. Drag the PDF file you want to compress into the 'Drop Your Files Here' section
  3. At the drop-down menu, select your preferred dpi and image quality
  4. Click Save

With a built-in feature to send your PDF files to friends, clients, or colleagues, it makes sharing your compressed documents super easy. Click Share to send your file via text, email, or other options.

Get a collection of PDF instruments

In a single package, download a bunch of useful PDF tools, each of which complements the other's functionality. Give it a try!

So with the use of a few apps, you'll easily be able to create, search, and share PDFs all while saving time and frustration by being able to directly make changes to your documents, add notes, or remove personal information with redaction. Best of all, Setapp can help you do all of the above and features every app you can use to increase your PDF productivity. You can try the apps mentioned here at no cost along with over 150 other high-quality macOS apps.

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