PDFGear is a free PDF app we recommend for people who prefer installed software over website tools. Read the full rundown on our recommendation page if you want to know why. This guide covers just the install — it takes about five minutes.
Which method should I use?
You have two safe options. We recommend the Microsoft Store version because Windows keeps it up to date for you automatically and you don’t have to double-click an installer.
- Microsoft Store — easiest. One click, no installer to run. Works on Windows 10 and 11.
- Direct download from pdfgear.com — fine too. Slightly more steps and you’ll need to click through a few installer screens.
Pick one below.
Method 1: From the Microsoft Store (recommended)
Open the Microsoft Store
Click the Start button (the Windows logo in the bottom-left corner of your screen), type Microsoft Store, and press Enter. A window with a colorful shopping-bag icon opens.
Search for PDFGear
At the top of the Microsoft Store window there’s a search box. Click it, type PDFGear, and press Enter. PDFGear should be the first result, with a red-orange logo.
Click the blue "Get" button
A big page opens about PDFGear. On the right side there’s a blue button that says Get (or Install). Click it once.
Wait for the download to finish
A progress bar fills up. When it’s done, the Get button changes to Open. That’s it — PDFGear is installed. Click Open to launch it for the first time.
Pin it to your Start menu or Taskbar (optional)
So you can find it again easily: click Start, type PDFGear, right-click the PDFGear icon, and choose Pin to Start or Pin to taskbar. Now the app is one click away next time you need it.
Method 2: Download directly from pdfgear.com
Use this method if you don’t have a Microsoft account, or if the Store version isn’t available in your country.
Go to pdfgear.com
Open your browser and type pdfgear.com into the address bar at the top. Hit Enter.
Click "Free Download"
A big orange button on the main page says Free Download (or Download for Windows). Click it. A file named something like PDFGear_Installer.exe lands in your Downloads folder.
Open the Downloads folder and double-click the installer
Open File Explorer (the yellow folder icon at the bottom of your screen) and click Downloads in the sidebar. The file you just downloaded is usually at the top. Double-click it.
Click Next → Install → Finish
The installer window has a few simple pages. Click Next on the first, accept the license on the second, and Install on the third. A small progress bar fills. When it’s done, click Finish.
You can uncheck “Create a desktop shortcut” if you don’t want a new icon on your desktop. Everything else you can leave at the defaults.
Launch PDFGear
Click Start (Windows logo), type PDFGear, and press Enter. The app opens. The first time you run it, it shows a brief welcome tour — you can flip through or click Skip in the corner.
What to do next
- Open a PDF. In PDFGear, click Open File (usually a button in the middle of the welcome screen or in the top-left). Browse to any PDF in your Documents or Downloads folder and double-click it.
- Walk through the basics. Our getting-started guide explains what each part of the PDFGear screen does, and the three most common tasks.
- Read the official manual. PDFGear keeps a detailed user guide at pdfgear.com/windows-user-guide if you want to go deeper.
If something goes wrong
What’s next
Now that it’s installed, see our getting-started guide for a walkthrough of the PDFGear screen and a few easy practice tasks.