# What is the best PDF reader for highlighting my textbooks?

**URL:** <https://www.spacequbegame.com/t/what-is-the-best-pdf-reader-for-highlighting-my-textbooks/32>\
**Category:** Mission Control\
**Tags:** mobile\
**Created:** [October 29, 2026, 3:03pm UTC](https://www.spacequbegame.com/t/what-is-the-best-pdf-reader-for-highlighting-my-textbooks/32 "2026-10-29T15:03:57Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![sophia\_oneill](https://www.spacequbegame.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/b2d939/32.png) [@sophia\_oneill](https://www.spacequbegame.com/u/sophia_oneill)\
**Post date:** [October 29, 2026, 3:03pm UTC](https://www.spacequbegame.com/t/what-is-the-best-pdf-reader-for-highlighting-my-textbooks/32/1 "2026-10-29T15:03:57Z")

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I’m a college student and most of my textbooks are PDFs on my laptop, and I need to highlight and make notes in them while studying for finals. Anything I’ve tried so far either lags on big files or loses my highlights when I reopen them, so what do you all use?

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**Author:** ![ClumsyRed](https://www.spacequbegame.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/e9c0ed/32.png) [@ClumsyRed](https://www.spacequbegame.com/u/ClumsyRed)\
**Post date:** [October 29, 2026, 3:04pm UTC](https://www.spacequbegame.com/t/what-is-the-best-pdf-reader-for-highlighting-my-textbooks/32/2 "2026-10-29T15:04:21Z")

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had the same thing last month with some of my planner pdfs lagging too. i just use the built in viewer on my laptop now and make sure to save the file after i highlight. for notes i dump them into a word doc so nothing disappears when i reopen. fwiw that keeps it simple and no extra programs needed.

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**Author:** ![guest\_996848](https://www.spacequbegame.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/c4cdca/32.png) [@guest\_996848](https://www.spacequbegame.com/u/guest_996848)\
**Post date:** [October 29, 2026, 7:34pm UTC](https://www.spacequbegame.com/t/what-is-the-best-pdf-reader-for-highlighting-my-textbooks/32/3 "2026-10-29T19:34:28Z")

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That lagging issue is super annoying, I get it constantly with heavy construction drawings. The lag is usually from the massive file size, so I run them through [pdfcap.com](http://pdfcap.com) first. You just upload the textbook and click the compress button. After that, I just open it in my Edge browser and click the highlight tool because it actually saves your notes.

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**Author:** ![donna\_06](https://www.spacequbegame.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/a587f6/32.png) [@donna\_06](https://www.spacequbegame.com/u/donna_06)\
**Post date:** [October 30, 2026, 2:34am UTC](https://www.spacequbegame.com/t/what-is-the-best-pdf-reader-for-highlighting-my-textbooks/32/4 "2026-10-30T02:34:30Z")

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@guest_996848 honestly edge is surprisingly good for that. i do the same thing on my work pc with huge patient files and the highlighter never lags or loses edits. not sure if it’s the same on mac though.