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How to embed a PDF in a website
By João Saraiva
To embed a PDF in a website, you put it in a frame on the page. On a computer the browser draws it with its own PDF viewer; on many phones it doesn't, and WordPress says so in its own editor. The ways below differ in what a phone shows, what they need, and whether the frame keeps up when the PDF changes.
A plain frame, on any website
Upload the PDF to your website, then put it in a frame where it should appear, with a link beside it:
<iframe src="https://www.example.com/files/report.pdf" title="Annual report" width="100%" height="800"></iframe>
<p><a href="https://www.example.com/files/report.pdf">Open the report (PDF)</a></p><embed> and <object> do the same; only <object> can show something else, like that link, when the PDF can't be shown. MDN suggests a link outside the frame as well, because a viewer can load and still fail.
It is free, and there is nothing to sign up for. The catch is the phone: the frame shows the browser's own PDF viewer, and a browser without one, or one set to download PDFs, gives the reader a download or an empty box.
WordPress
Add a File block, choose the PDF, and turn on Show inline embed. WordPress puts it in the page in an <object>, 600 pixels high unless you change it. Its own editor warns that most phone and tablet browsers won't show an embedded PDF, and on phones and tablets it shows the link and the download button instead, unless the browser says it has a PDF viewer. To change the PDF, replace it in the block and update the post.
Google Drive
Share the PDF with Anyone with the link, open it in a new window, and choose Embed item to get a frame to paste. Google describes this on its Workspace blog rather than in its help pages. Drive's own viewer draws the pages, and visitors need no Google account; a personal account can't see who read it.
Adobe's free PDF viewer
Adobe's PDF Embed API is free, and Adobe says it works in Chrome on Android and in Safari and Chrome on iOS. You need a free client ID for your domain, one domain each and not changeable afterwards, and a few lines of JavaScript that load Adobe's viewer from Adobe, which can't be hosted on your own server. On a phone it can't print, and on an iPhone it can't download.
Squarespace and Wix
Neither has a block that shows a PDF in the page. Squarespace's help points to Issuu, on a paid Issuu plan, or to an embed code pasted in a Code block, on its Core plan and up. Wix's English help offers a button or a link that downloads or opens the PDF, or an app from its App Market.
Solta
Drop the PDF on PDF to link, open the site's Embed dialog in Solta, and copy the code it gives you. The frame shows Solta's PDF viewer, a web page that draws the pages itself, so a phone shows the PDF in the page as a computer does. By default the frame resizes itself to fit, with a small script; a fixed height is one line, for page builders that drop scripts.
Publish a corrected PDF to the same site and every page that embeds it shows the new one, with no new code to paste. Views in a frame are counted apart from visits to the link, with the website they were on. On Free the frame has a small Solta badge; Plus, Pro and Team have none, and on Pro and Team you can say which websites may embed it.
A site behind a password or an invitation can't be embedded: the door needs a page of its own. How Solta keeps sites apart.
Which one to use
- A PDF on your own website, read mostly on computers: a plain frame, with a link beside it.
- A WordPress website: the File block, knowing that phones get the download button.
- It has to show on phones and you can add a script: Adobe's viewer, or Solta.
- It will change, you want to know it was read, or you would rather set nothing up: Solta.
Sources
Each one's facts are what its own pages said when we read them, on 1 November 2026:
- MDN: iframe, embed and object
- Chrome: open PDFs in Chrome or download them
- WordPress: the File block, and its note on phones and check for a PDF viewer
- Google Workspace Updates: embedding Drive files and Drive sharing
- Adobe PDF Embed API: getting started and pricing
- Squarespace: displaying files, Issuu and embed blocks
- Wix: sharing documents on your website
Questions
Why doesn't my embedded PDF show on a phone?
A frame with a PDF in it relies on the browser's own PDF viewer, and many phone browsers don't draw one inside a page; WordPress's editor warns about exactly this. A viewer that draws the pages as a web page, like Adobe's or Solta's, shows on phones too.
Can I update the PDF without changing the embed code?
Yes, if the PDF stays at the same address: overwrite the file on your server, or publish a new version to the same site on Solta. On WordPress you replace it in the File block and update the post.
Can I embed a password-protected PDF?
Not on Solta: a site behind a password can't be put in a frame, because the password needs a page of its own. Send its link instead.
Do visitors need an account to see an embedded PDF?
No. A plain frame, WordPress's File block, Adobe's viewer and Solta ask nothing of the visitor. Google Drive's frame needs the PDF shared with anyone who has the link.
Can I see how many people read an embedded PDF?
On Solta, yes: views in a frame are counted apart, by day, with the website they were on, and without cookies. A plain frame shows only what your own website's analytics see, and Adobe's viewer can send its events to your analytics.