List of command line options #

• -presentation : start in presentation view
• -fullscreen : start in full screen view
• -new-window : open each file in its own new window rather than in a tab of an existing window (ver 3.2+). With several file arguments, it opens one window per file
• -new-window-tabs : open one new window and load all files as tabs in that window (ver 3.7+, issue #5044)
• -appdata <directory> : set a custom directory in which to store the SumatraPDF-settings.txt file and thumbnail cache
• -restrict : runs in restricted mode, where you can disable features that require access to the file system, registry, and internet. Useful for kiosk-like usage. See Configure for restricted use.
• -for-testing : for ad-hoc testing by humans or agents. Always starts a new instance, doesn’t restore a session (only loads files given on the command line) and doesn’t save settings (ver 3.7+)
• -quicklook : open the file in a chrome-less always-on-top preview window (Explorer Space preview). Esc or Space closes it (ver 3.7+, fixes #2568)
• -quicklook-agent : run the hidden File Explorer Space-bar helper with no UI. Started automatically when ExplorerQuickLook is true (ver 3.7+)
• -dbg-control <named-pipe> : starts a test control server on a named pipe. Used by automated tests through tests/control.ts; combine with -for-testing. (ver 3.7+)
• -dump-chm <file> : headlessly opens a CHM file, lists contained files with sizes, unpacks each file to memory to validate retrieval, and prints TOC/index metadata to stdout. Exits with a non-zero code if the CHM can’t be opened, enumerated, or unpacked.
• -pwd <password> : use the given password to open password-protected documents. If the password is wrong, SumatraPDF falls back to default passwords and then asks interactively.

Navigation options #

• -named-dest <destination-name> : searches the first indicated file for a destination, table-of-contents entry, or (starting with version 3.1) page label matching <destination-name>, and scrolls the document to it. Combine with -reuse-instance if the document is already open.
• -page <pageNo> : scrolls the first indicated file to the indicated page. Combine with -reuse-instance if the document is already open.
• -view <view-mode> : sets the view mode for the first indicated file. Available view modes:
  • "single page"
  • "continuous single page"
  • facing
  • "continuous facing"
  • "book view"
  • "continuous book view"

• -zoom <zoom-level> : sets the zoom level for the first indicated file. Alternatives are "fit page", "fit width", "fit height", "fit content", or any percentage value. Combine with -reuse-instance if the document is already open.
• -scroll <x,y> : scrolls to the given coordinates for the first indicated file. Combine with -reuse-instance if the document is already open.
• -search <term> : start a search for a given term when opening a document, e.g. SumatraPDF -search "foo" bar.pdf. Ver 3.4+. The leading - is required.
• /A "<params>" : Adobe Reader-compatible open parameters for the first file (ver 3.5+). params is a list of name=value pairs separated by ;, #, or &. Recognized names:
  • page=<n> : go to page n (1-based)
  • nameddest=<name> : jump to a named destination
  • search=<term> : start a search (same as -search)

Send DDE commands #

• -dde cmd : sends DDE commands to the currently running instance, e.g. -dde '[Open("C:\Users\kjk\foo.pdf")]'. Make sure to quote arguments properly. File paths must be absolute. Ver 3.5+.

Printing options #

• -print-to-default : prints all files indicated on this command line to the system default printer. After printing, SumatraPDF exits immediately (check the error code for failure).
• -print-to <printer-name> : prints all files indicated on this command line to the named printer. After printing, SumatraPDF exits immediately (check the error code for failure). E.g. -print-to "Microsoft XPS Document Writer" prints all indicated files to the XPS virtual printer.
• -print-settings <settings-list>
  • used in combination with -print-to and -print-to-default. Lets you adjust printing-related settings without using the Print dialog. The settings list is a comma-separated list of page ranges and advanced options such as
    • page ranges: a single page (e.g. 5), a range (e.g. 2-6, or reversed 10-8), last for the last page, or a negative number counting from the end (-1 is the last page, -2 the second-to-last; ranges may use negatives too, e.g. -3--1 for the last 3 pages)
    • even or odd.
    • portrait or landscape : can provide a 90-degree rotation of the contents (NOT the rotation of the paper, which must be preset in the printer defaults)
    • disable-auto-rotation : by default a page wider than it is tall is rotated 90 degrees to fit the paper; this prints the content in its original orientation instead (available since 3.5)
    • rotate=<degrees> : rotate the printout by an extra 90, 180 or 270 degrees (on top of the automatic rotation). Useful to fix a wrong orientation, e.g. upside-down (rotate=180) output on virtual printers
    • noscale, shrink, fit and stretch (stretch fills the paper in both dimensions, ignoring the aspect ratio)
    • center : horizontally center the page on the paper. Useful with noscale when the page is smaller than the paper (e.g. envelopes or A5 stock fed through a tray that centers the paper)
    • color or monochrome
    • collate or nocollate : when printing multiple copies, collate (1,2,3,1,2,3) or don’t (1,1,2,2,3,3)
    • duplex, duplexshort, duplexlong and simplex
    • bin=<num or name> : select tray to print to. Use bin=auto to let the printer pick the input tray whose paper matches the document page size (like Adobe’s “Choose paper source by PDF page size”)
    • paper=<page size> : page size is A2, A3, A4, A5, A6, letter, legal, tabloid, statement, or a name reported by the printer (e.g. A3 297 x 420 mm). Custom dimensions: paper=76mm x 130mm. Use paper=auto to set the paper size from each page’s own size, for documents with mixed page sizes (combine with bin=auto to also pick the matching tray)
    • paperkind=<num> : paper size by Windows DMPAPER_* id (from SumatraPDF.exe -list-printers); use when paper=A3 does not match the driver’s paper name
    • ignore-pdf-print-settings : don’t apply the print defaults embedded in a PDF’s ViewerPreferences (see below)
  • e.g. -print-settings "1-3,5,10-8,odd,fit,bin=2" prints pages 1, 3, 5, 9 (i.e. the odd pages from the ranges 1-3, 5-5 and 10-8) and scales them so that they fit into the printable area of the paper.
  • -print-settings "3x" : prints the document 3 times
  • For PDF files, print defaults embedded in the document’s ViewerPreferences are applied automatically: PrintScaling (/None means no scaling), NumCopies, Duplex (Simplex / DuplexFlipShortEdge / DuplexFlipLongEdge) and PickTrayByPDFSize (pick the tray by page size). Any explicit value in -print-settings overrides the PDF’s default; add ignore-pdf-print-settings to ignore the PDF’s values entirely.
• -silent : used in combination with -print-to and -print-to-default. Silences any error messages related to command line printing.
• -print-dialog : displays the Print dialog for all the files indicated on this command line.
• /p : Adobe Reader compatibility alias for -print-dialog.
• /t <file> <printer> : Adobe Reader compatibility for silent printing (same as -print-to <printer> <file>). Optional driver and port arguments are accepted and ignored. If the file is already on the command line, /t <printer> is enough.
• -exit-when-done : used in combination with -print-dialog (and -stress-test). Exits SumatraPDF after the Print dialog has been dismissed and the document printed.

Options related to forward/inverse search (for LaTeX editors) #

• -forward-search "<sourcepath>" <line> "<pdfpath>": performs a forward search from a LaTeX source file to a loaded PDF document (using PdfSync or SyncTeX). This is an alternative to the ForwardSearch DDE command. E.g. -forward-search "/path/to/main.tex" 123 "/path/to/main.pdf" highlights all text related to line 123 in main.tex.
• -reuse-instance : tells an already open SumatraPDF to load the indicated files. If there are several running instances, behavior is undefined. Only needed when communicating with SumatraPDF through DDE (use the ReuseInstance setting instead otherwise).
• -inverse-search <command-line> : sets the command line to be used for performing an inverse search from a PDF document (usually back to a LaTeX source file). The inverse search command line can also be set from the Set Inverse Search Command Line dialog (Ctrl + K command palette), from Settings / Options when EnableTeXEnhancements is enabled, or via the InverseSearchCmdLine advanced setting. Use the variable %f for the current filename and %l for the current line.
• -fwdsearch-offset <offset> -fwdsearch-width <width> -fwdsearch-color <hexcolor> -fwdsearch-permanent <flag> : lets you customize the forward-search highlight. Set the offset to a positive number to change the highlight style to a rectangle at the left of the page (instead of rectangles over all the text). The flag for -fwdsearch-permanent can be 0 (make the highlight fade away, the default) or 1. [Deprecated]: Use the corresponding advanced settings instead.

Developer options #

• -console : Opens a console window alongside SumatraPDF for accessing (MuPDF) debug output.
• -list-printers : prints installed printers, default settings, paper sizes and input trays, then exits. This is useful when choosing -print-to, paper=, paperkind= or bin= values for command-line printing. With -console or -silent, output goes only to the console (no dialog window).
• -stress-test <path> [file-filter] [range] [cycle-count] : Renders all pages of the indicated file/directory for stability and performance testing. E.g.:

  -stress-test file1.pdf 25x
  -stress-test file2.pdf 1-3
  -stress-test dir *.pdf;*.xps 15- 3x

• -html-backend <ie|webview2> : forces the embedded browser that shows CHM and markdown documents. By default WebView2 is used when it’s installed and the IE control otherwise; this makes a test cover both. (ver 3.7+)
• -bench <filepath> [page-range] : Renders all pages (or just the indicated ones) for the given file and then outputs the required rendering times for performance testing and comparisons. Often used together with -console.

Deprecated options #

• -bg-color <hexcolor> : changes the yellow background to a different color. See, for example, html-color-codes.info for a way to generate a color’s hex code. -bg-color #999999 changes the color to gray. Deprecated: use the MainWindowBackground setting instead.
• -esc-to-exit : enables the Escape key to quit SumatraPDF. Deprecated: use the EscToExit setting instead.
• -set-color-range <text-hexcolor> <background-hexcolor> : uses the given two colors for foreground and background and maps all other colors used in a document in between these two. E.g. -set-color-range #dddddd #333333 displays soft white text on a dark gray background. Deprecated: use the FixedPageUI.TextColor and FixedPageUI.BackgroundColor settings instead.
• -lang <language-code> : sets the UI language. See Translation languages for the list of available language codes. E.g. -lang de. Deprecated: use the UiLanguage setting instead.
• -manga-mode <mode> : enables or disables “Manga mode” for reading (mainly Japanese) comic books from right to left. Mode must be “true” or 1 for enabling and “false” or 0 for disabling this feature. Deprecated: use the ComicBookUI.CbxMangaMode setting instead.
• -invert-colors : temporarily swaps fixed-page document text and background colors for the current run. The older alias -invertcolors is also accepted.