Q&A for How to Download PDFs

To download a PDF file from your Google Drive, open the file in Google Docs and then go to the “File” tab. Navigate to “Download as” and select “PDF Document (.pdf)” from the list of options. The document should save to the Downloads folder on your computer.

Generally, it’s free to download PDF files unless they’re on a paid website, such as Scribd or a paywalled academic journal. However, to open the file, you will need a PDF reader. Adobe Acrobat Reader is the most popular free app for opening PDFs.

You can easily do this with Microsoft Word and other programs in the Office suite by simply saving the document as a PDF. If you don’t have Word or Office, you can also do this through Google Docs. Use the “Print” menu to save your document as a PDF file.

After downloading your PDF files by clicking the download icon, open them. You can then save the PDF by pressing "Ctrl+S"/"Cmd+S" (control-save/command-save) before exiting.