AI-powered · Text-only transmission · File stays local
Tool — AI

Chat with PDF

Ask questions, get summaries, extract key points. The PDF is parsed in your browser — only the extracted text is sent to the AI, never the file itself.

🔒 Privacy model: your PDF file never leaves your device. We extract plain text locally with PDF.js, then send only that text to the AI to answer your questions. The binary file, embedded images, and metadata stay on your machine.
🔑 Anthropic API Key
Enter your Anthropic API key to enable AI chat. Your key is stored only in your browser's localStorage — never sent to any server other than Anthropic directly. Get a key →
Click to choose or drag a PDF here
Text-based PDFs · For scans, run OCR first

How to use the Chat with PDF tool

PDFZero lets you chat with any PDF using AI — ask questions about its content, get summaries, or quickly find specific answers, without reading the whole document yourself. Your PDF stays in your browser throughout the process, with no signup required.

Steps

  1. Click the drop zone above and upload the PDF you want to ask questions about.
  2. Type a question in the chat box, like "summarize this document" or "what does section 3 say about refunds?"
  3. Get an AI-generated answer based on the content of your PDF.

Why use this tool?

Reading through long reports, contracts, or manuals to find one specific detail is time-consuming. Chatting with the PDF lets you ask direct questions and get focused answers instead of searching manually.

Frequently asked questions

Is my PDF content sent anywhere when I chat with it?

Your PDF stays in your browser; only the necessary content needed to answer your specific question is processed to generate a response, not stored permanently on a server.

How accurate are the AI's answers?

Answers are generated based on the document's actual content, but like any AI system, responses should be verified against the source for anything important, especially for legal or financial documents.

Can I ask for a summary of the whole document?

Yes, you can ask for a summary, key takeaways, or specific details — the AI will draw from the document's full content to answer.

Does this work with scanned PDFs?

It works best with PDFs that have real, selectable text. For scanned documents, run the OCR tool first so there's actual text content for the AI to read.

Is this tool free to use?

Yes, free to use with no signup required.