Every File in One Reader, With AI Built In

A free, open-source reader for PDFs, photos, Office files, camera RAW and 3D models, with an AI that answers questions about them and edits them for you. Install it on Windows, or open it in your browser, even on a phone. Your files never leave your device.

Download for Windows Get it fromMicrosoft Open in Your Browser

Windows 10 and 11, x64 and ARM64 · Ubuntu, Debian and Fedora Linux (next release) · iPhone, Android, Mac and Chromebook browsers · Apache-2.0

Glance for Windows with a four-page PDF catalogue open and page thumbnails in the sidebar
The Glance web app on a phone, with a Choose a File button
190+ File Types
0 Uploads, Accounts or Telemetry

PDFs, Photos, Office Files and 3D Models in One Light App

Install It on Windows, or Open It in Any Browser

Glance for Windows

The full app, about 18 MB to install, with no bundled browser. It feels at home in Windows 11.

  • Thumbnails in File Explorer for PDF, RAW, PSD and more
  • Make Glance the default app in one click
  • Text recognition, scanning and signatures
Glance for Windows in dark mode, showing a price table in a PDF

Glance on the Web

The same viewer in your browser, on iPhone, Android, a Mac or a Chromebook. Install it from the browser and it works offline.

  • Opens Word, Excel, PowerPoint, HEIC and RAW files
  • Share files to Glance from other apps
  • Files open on your device and are never uploaded
The Glance web app's start screen on a phone
A travel PDF open in the Glance web app on a phone, with the bottom toolbar

Glance for Linux Next release

The same app for Ubuntu 22.04+, Debian 12+ and Fedora 42+, on x86_64 and ARM64, with the AI tools included. Signatures and API keys are kept in your login keyring.

sudo apt install ./Glance-*-linux-amd64.deb sudo dnf install ./Glance-*-linux-x86_64.rpm flatpak install --user ./Glance-*-linux-x86_64.flatpak Get the .deb (Ubuntu, Debian) Get the RPM (Fedora) Get the Flatpak (any distribution)

Read It, Fix It, Sign It

Rearrange PDFs by Dragging

Reorder, rotate, split and merge. Drop pages into another tab, or drag them out of the window to make a new PDF.

Glance contact sheet showing four PDF pages to drag and reorder

Mark Up, Sign and Redact

Annotations save as standard PDF markup. Redaction removes what's underneath, not just a black box on top.

Glance markup toolbar above a PDF page

Fix Photos Without an Editor

Adjust Color with a live histogram, straighten, resize, and remove backgrounds with a model that runs on your PC.

Glance Adjust Color pane beside a rocket photo

One Window for Every File

Glance showing a PDF with page thumbnails Glance showing a Word document with a photo and a table Glance showing the title slide of a PowerPoint presentation Glance showing an Excel sheet of monthly sales Glance showing an email with its attachments Glance showing the contents page of an EPUB book Glance editing a photo with the Adjust Color pane Glance showing a 3D model with the 3D toolbar

Thumbnails, table of contents, search and two-page view. Page controls show up only for documents that have pages.

Opens 190+ File Types

Windows' own codecs first, then the app's Rust decoders, which also run in your browser as WebAssembly. Pick a type to see what Glance does with it.

Documents

Photos

HEIC WebP and AVIF JPEG XL TIFF SVG JPEG, PNG, GIF

Pro Images

Camera RAW Photoshop PSD OpenEXR JPEG 2000 DDS EPS and AI

And More

Open Any File in Your Browser See How Each Format Is Decoded
New in the Windows App

Ask AI, Then Let It Edit the Page

Chat with Claude, ChatGPT or Gemini next to your document, using the account you already have. Say or type a change, and it appears in the page's own font.

Ask about the pageTalk or typeKeep or undo

2. Rent

Monthly rent is $2,150, payable by bank transfer on the first day of each month.

✓ KeepUndo
New in the Windows App

Let Your AI Apps Use Glance

Connect Claude, Codex, Cursor and other MCP apps from Settings. They can read any page or photo, recognise text, convert, combine, split and redact files, and see what you have open. Every edit goes to a new file.

Claude CodeClaude DesktopCodexCursorVS CodeWindsurfGemini CLILM Studio
How AI Apps Connect
you redact the account numbers in statement.pdf
 
glance_read_text statement.pdf (3 pages)
glance_redact 6 account numbers
✓ saved a redacted copy
 
ai Done. I removed 6 account numbers for good, and the original is untouched.

Why It's Light

~18MB
Installer, No Bundled Browser
~35KB Startup Bundle Gzipped. PDF.js loads with your first PDF, the Office and e-book readers only when you open one.
0 Bundled Browser Engines The UI runs in WebView2 through Tauri 2, so nothing extra ships.
1 App, Two Places The web version is the same app and the same Rust decoders, compiled to WebAssembly.

No Telemetry. No Accounts. No Uploads.

In the browser, files open on your device and are never sent anywhere. In the desktop app, the only network requests are an optional daily check for a newer release and an anonymous install count, and background removal and text recognition run on your PC.

Signatures Encrypted on Your PC

Draw with a pen, capture with the camera, or import a photo. Windows DPAPI or your Linux login keyring keeps them locked to your account.

Read the Privacy Policy
Glance app icon

Open Anything, at a Glance

Free for Windows 10 and 11, and in any browser.

Download for Windows Get it fromMicrosoft Open in Your Browser
Star Glance on GitHub