# How to resize the PDF Preview Pane?

**URL:** <https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/how-to-resize-the-pdf-preview-pane/29767>\
**Category:** PDF Preview Improvement\
**Created:** [26 February 2023 18:44 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/how-to-resize-the-pdf-preview-pane/29767 "2023-02-26T18:44:28Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Erdbeerquark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Erdbeerquark](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/Erdbeerquark)\
**Post date:** [26 February 2023 18:44 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/how-to-resize-the-pdf-preview-pane/29767/1 "2023-02-26T18:44:28Z")

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I migrated to 2.9.17 today (Linux). Since then, the PDF preview only uses a small section of the notes area. I can no longer see the full page at first glance, but have to scroll or switch to full-screen mode.

Is it possible to increase the size of the PDF Preview Pane?

Thanks very much.

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**Author:** ![laurent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ce7236/32.png) [@laurent](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/laurent)\
**Post date:** [26 February 2023 19:49 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/how-to-resize-the-pdf-preview-pane/29767/2 "2023-02-26T19:49:48Z")

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Could you provide a screenshot to see what you mean?

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**Author:** ![Erdbeerquark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Erdbeerquark](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/Erdbeerquark)\
**Post date:** [26 February 2023 20:09 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/how-to-resize-the-pdf-preview-pane/29767/3 "2023-02-26T20:09:35Z")

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In this example, the preview only shows approximately the first half of the first page. However, there would be enough space to display the entire first page.

 ![Bildschirmfoto vom 2023-02-26 21-06-54](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex028/uploads/cozic/original/3X/d/2/d251204dc188f0c83da733fe0a637aeb3e66278d.png)

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**Author:** ![RogerL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/90db22/32.png) [@RogerL](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/RogerL)\
**Post date:** [27 February 2023 08:34 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/how-to-resize-the-pdf-preview-pane/29767/4 "2023-02-27T08:34:44Z")

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I have the same issue with the portable Windows version of Joplin

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**Author:** ![Rondamiddleton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Rondamiddleton](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/Rondamiddleton)\
**Post date:** [28 February 2023 15:03 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/how-to-resize-the-pdf-preview-pane/29767/5 "2023-02-28T15:03:24Z")

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> [@Erdbeerquark](#):
>
> I migrated to 2.9.17 today (Linux). Since then, the PDF preview only uses a small section of the notes area. I can no longer see the full page at first glance, but have to scroll or switch to full-screen mode.
> 
> Is it possible to increase the size of the PDF Preview Pane?

Yes, it is possible to increase the size of the PDF Preview Pane in Linux after migrating to version 2.9.17. You can do this by adjusting the width of the Preview Pane using the splitter bar between the Preview Pane and the note list.  
To increase the size of the Preview Pane, move the splitter bar to the right. To decrease the size, move the splitter bar to the left. You can also maximize the Preview Pane by clicking on the expand icon in the top right corner of the pane.  
Additionally, you can customize the size of the Preview Pane by going to "Tools" \> "Options" \> "Note" \> "PDF Viewer" and adjusting the "Maximum Width" setting. This setting controls the maximum width of the Preview Pane, and you can increase or decrease the value to adjust the size of the pane to your liking.  
I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any other questions.

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**Author:** ![Erdbeerquark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Erdbeerquark](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/Erdbeerquark)\
**Post date:** [28 February 2023 15:52 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/how-to-resize-the-pdf-preview-pane/29767/6 "2023-02-28T15:52:32Z")

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Thanks Ronda, but unfortunately it doesn't help.

On my machine, the size of the preview pane doesn't change when I vary your suggested settings.

That wouldn't really be a solution either, because as you can see in the screenshot of my previous post, there is already a lot of space that is not being used.

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**Author:** ![ndac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9d8465/32.png) [@ndac](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/ndac)\
**Post date:** [11 March 2023 14:39 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/how-to-resize-the-pdf-preview-pane/29767/7 "2023-03-11T14:39:28Z")

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Same problem on mac.

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**Author:** ![RogerL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/90db22/32.png) [@RogerL](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/RogerL)\
**Post date:** [13 March 2023 12:27 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/how-to-resize-the-pdf-preview-pane/29767/8 "2023-03-13T12:27:32Z")

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@Rondamiddleton It isn’t the width that is the problem but the height

I’m surprised there isn’t more interest in this. PDF viewers usually show the whole of the first page.  
Just wondering why Joplin’s viewer doesn’t when there seems to be enough room for it to do so.

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**Author:** ![laurent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ce7236/32.png) [@laurent](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/laurent)\
**Post date:** [13 March 2023 14:01 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/how-to-resize-the-pdf-preview-pane/29767/9 "2023-03-13T14:01:52Z")

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Could someone create an issue on GitHub to track this please?

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**Author:** ![Erdbeerquark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Erdbeerquark](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/Erdbeerquark)\
**Post date:** [16 March 2023 08:03 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/how-to-resize-the-pdf-preview-pane/29767/10 "2023-03-16T08:03:51Z")

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I have created an [issue](https://github.com/laurent22/joplin/issues/7932) (my first one - hopefully I did it right 😉).

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**Author:** ![JoeTaxpayer](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex028/user_avatar/discourse.joplinapp.org/joetaxpayer/32/17652_2.png) [@JoeTaxpayer](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/JoeTaxpayer)\
**Post date:** [1 August 2023 11:50 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/how-to-resize-the-pdf-preview-pane/29767/12 "2023-08-01T11:50:10Z")

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I looked at Github, and can't tell if there is progress being made on this. I'm on a Mac and same exact issue.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Erdbeerquark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Erdbeerquark](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/Erdbeerquark)\
**Post date:** [28 October 2023 18:05 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/how-to-resize-the-pdf-preview-pane/29767/13 "2023-10-28T18:05:18Z")

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It seems that the GitHub issue will be closed soon. For me this is fine because you can set the size of the PDF preview pane by adjusting the userstyle.css. This makes the problem much smaller than I initially thought. The following userstyle.css works well for my screen resolution:

```auto
.media-player.media-pdf {
    min-height: 90rem;
    max-width: 3000px;
}

```

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![dgbchr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@dgbchr](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/dgbchr)\
**Post date:** [29 October 2023 04:00 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/how-to-resize-the-pdf-preview-pane/29767/14 "2023-10-29T04:00:32Z")

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That's a helpful tip that I did not know about! Agree that it pretty much solves the problem.

Another note app that I sometimes use, UpNote, has a setting in its preferences window to allow users to adjust the height of the PDF window. It looks like this:

![image](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex028/uploads/cozic/original/3X/4/e/4ee0dc63f5b72836964fe2dbbd722cfd07248d62.png)

I imagine this setting does much the same thing as editing the CSS (except that it doesn't allow adjusting the max-width). I'm not sure whether it's in Joplin's scope or vision to add a setting like this, and it doesn't much matter to me now that I know I can just edit the CSS. But I thought I should point out UpNote's approach just as one possible way to handle this.

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**Author:** ![Wimvan](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex028/user_avatar/discourse.joplinapp.org/wimvan/32/12536_2.png) [@Wimvan](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/Wimvan)\
**Post date:** [29 October 2023 07:12 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/how-to-resize-the-pdf-preview-pane/29767/15 "2023-10-29T07:12:18Z")

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just my2cents as a sidenote: please keep in mind that adjusting userstyle css is a workaround and no solution, especially when you‘re an ordinary user of joplin.

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**Author:** ![dgbchr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@dgbchr](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/dgbchr)\
**Post date:** [30 October 2023 06:56 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/how-to-resize-the-pdf-preview-pane/29767/16 "2023-10-30T06:56:39Z")

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I actually agree ... and that's what I had in mind when I shared UpNote's approach to making this setting more easily accessible. (I just don't feel that I know this app or community well enough to say what "an ordinary user" would expect ... ie what counts as a solution vs a workaround.)

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**Author:** ![Wimvan](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex028/user_avatar/discourse.joplinapp.org/wimvan/32/12536_2.png) [@Wimvan](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/Wimvan)\
**Post date:** [31 October 2023 20:58 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/how-to-resize-the-pdf-preview-pane/29767/17 "2023-10-31T20:58:04Z")

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for me, a solution is given by the application itself to solve a problem/ fulfill a task.

A workaround does the same in a (by the application) undescribed way.

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**Author:** ![Medullitus](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex028/user_avatar/discourse.joplinapp.org/medullitus/32/19316_2.png) [@Medullitus](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/Medullitus)\
**Post date:** [18 December 2023 06:13 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/how-to-resize-the-pdf-preview-pane/29767/18 "2023-12-18T06:13:23Z")

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You are a hero!

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**Author:** ![ph2711](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex028/user_avatar/discourse.joplinapp.org/ph2711/32/19872_2.png) [@ph2711](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/ph2711)\
**Post date:** [17 January 2024 09:27 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/how-to-resize-the-pdf-preview-pane/29767/19 "2024-01-17T09:27:01Z")

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Sorry, newbie here, just discovered Joplin and want to use it across windows and linux, but resizing the PDF preview pane is a deal breaker for me. Under windows, I can't find a Joplin userstyle.css. Any help?

Any further progress on a user friendly adjustable option?

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**Author:** ![SteveShank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f05b48/32.png) [@SteveShank](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/SteveShank)\
**Post date:** [17 January 2024 23:13 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/how-to-resize-the-pdf-preview-pane/29767/20 "2024-01-17T23:13:06Z")

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Under Tools / Options /appearance / Show Advanced Settings  
You'll get links to both the stylesheets used by Joplin.

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**Author:** ![ph2711](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex028/user_avatar/discourse.joplinapp.org/ph2711/32/19872_2.png) [@ph2711](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/ph2711)\
**Post date:** [19 January 2024 06:32 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/how-to-resize-the-pdf-preview-pane/29767/21 "2024-01-19T06:32:12Z")

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Thanks Steve. Pardon my ignorance, but in the previous mentioned userstyle.css workaround:

.media-player.media-pdf {  
min-height: 90rem;  
max-width: 3000px;  
}

What is the significance of ".media-player.media-pdf"

[Next page](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/how-to-resize-the-pdf-preview-pane/29767.md?page=2)