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Customize external viewers
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Open the current document in a different program from the File menu. SumatraPDF auto-detects some popular apps (Adobe, Foxit, PDF-XChange, etc.), and you can add your own with the ExternalViewers advanced setting.
Most people use it to open the PDF they’re viewing in another reader, e.g. Adobe Reader. At a glance:
  • Open in another program: pick it in the File menu.
  • Add a viewer: an entry in ExternalViewers with CommandLine, Name, Filter.
  • Keyboard shortcut (ver 3.6+): Key.
  • Toolbar button (ver 3.7+): ToolbarText or ToolbarSvgIcon.

Open the document in another program #

Use the File menu and pick the viewer. Viewers you add appear there under their Name.

Add a custom viewer #

  1. Menu: Settings → Open Advanced Settings File… to open the configuration file.
  2. Modify the ExternalViewers section.
Available fields:
ExternalViewers [
  [
    CommandLine =
    Name =
    Filter =

    // ver 3.6+:
    Key =

    // ver 3.7+:
    ToolbarText =
    ToolbarSvgIcon =
  ]
]
Example:
ExternalViewers [
  [
    CommandLine = "C:\Program Files\FoxitReader\FoxitReader.exe" /A page=%p "%1"
    Name = Foxit &Reader
    Filter = *.pdf
    Key = Ctrl + m
    ToolbarText = Foxit
  ]
]

Add a shortcut or toolbar button #

  • Key (ver 3.6+) is an optional keyboard shortcut that invokes the viewer.
  • ToolbarText (ver 3.7+) is optional and adds a toolbar button for the viewer.
  • ToolbarSvgIcon (ver 3.7+) is optional and sets an SVG icon for that button. If both are set, the SVG icon is used. See Customize toolbar for the icon format.

Tips #

  • Always quote file / directory values ("%1", "%d") so paths with spaces work.
  • Use Filter = * and "%d" to open the document’s folder in a file manager.
  • Use %p to open the viewer at the current page, if it supports page numbers.
  • Use %% to pass a literal %, e.g. sumatrapdf-tool draw -o page-%%d.png.

Reference #

CommandLine #

Full path of the executable used to open a file, followed by its arguments. Arguments can use special values:
  • "%1" : the full path of the current document
  • %p : the current page number. Not all viewers support page numbers
  • "%d" : the directory of the current document, useful for launching file managers. Available in version 3.5 and later
  • %% : a literal %. Use it to pass a % to the external program. For example, %%d reaches it as %d, for tools like sumatrapdf-tool draw -o page-%d.png. Available in version 3.7 and later
Use quotes around file / directory special values (i.e. "%1" and "%d") to avoid issues with paths that have spaces in them.

Name #

Displayed in the File menu.

Filter #

Restricts which files the viewer can open:
  • only PDF files: *.pdf
  • PNG and JPEG files: *.png;*.jpg;*.jpeg
  • all files: * (useful for file managers)

See also #

SumatraPDF documentation
/
Customize external viewers
md