PDFcove

A PDF reader built for studying

Textbooks, lecture notes, research papers — the documents you actually study with deserve more than a default browser viewer. PDFcove gives you highlights, notes, dark mode, and a resume button.

Highlight and write margin notes

Mark passages in four colors, attach a note to anything important, and review them all from a side panel. When the exam approaches, export the whole set as Markdown — clean, sorted by page, ready to drop into Notion or Obsidian.

Resume exactly where you stopped

Each document remembers its own page and progress. Close the tab, come back tomorrow, and you land on the same paragraph — no scrolling back through 600 pages of a textbook.

Dark mode for late-night study

A dim, calm dark theme that keeps images natural and text crisp. Sepia for long afternoons, light when the sun is up. Switch with one tap.

Free, no signup, nothing uploaded

PDFcove opens your textbooks locally in the browser. No account, no email, no upload. Useful when the PDF is leaked-prevention-watermarked or simply when you don’t want a third party to know what you’re reading.

Download a PDF with your highlights

Send a marked-up version to a study partner: PDFcove can export a new PDF with your highlights drawn directly onto the pages — entirely from your browser.

Frequently asked questions

Is PDFcove really free for students?

Yes — fully free, with no signup, no account, and no trial. There is no paid tier and no feature is hidden behind a wall.

Can I export my highlights and notes?

Yes. Export everything as Markdown or plain text and paste it into Notion, Obsidian, Apple Notes, Word, or anywhere else. You can also download the PDF with highlights baked in.

Does it work offline?

Yes. Install PDFcove from your browser as an app and your textbooks open offline. Nothing about your reading touches a server.

Is it safe to open coursework PDFs?

Your file is opened locally in your browser. It is never uploaded, and your highlights stay in this browser’s storage on this device.

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