by Syed Balkhi 4.7 (519 reviews)

PDF Embedder – PDF Viewer & Embed PDF Files for WordPress

Name: PDF Embedder – PDF Viewer & Embed PDF Files for WordPress
Rating: 4.7 (519 reviews)
Author: Syed Balkhi

Embed PDF files in WordPress posts and pages with a responsive PDF viewer block, live Block Editor preview, and no third-party services.

PDF Embedder ranks #191 among WordPress.org plugins with 300,000+ active installations, is #17 of 6,296 in the Media category, a 4.7/5 rating from 519 reviews, and was last updated Aug 14, 2026. Data from WordPress.org, refreshed twice daily — see methodology.

Compatible with WP 7.1

v5.0.2 Current Version v5.0.2

Updated 1 month ago Last Update on 14 Aug, 2026

Refreshed 11 hours ago Last Refreshed on

#17 of 6,296 in Media Top 1% by installs Downloads -38.8% this week

View on WordPress.org

Rank

#191

— No change

Active Installs

300K+

-9.6%

KW Avg Position

7.2

0.2 better

Downloads

+1,350 today

Support Resolved

100%

— No change

Rating

94%

Review 4.7 out of 5

4.7 (519 reviews)

Next Milestone 400K

Total Progress 29.2%

300K+ 400K+

Ranks to Climb

Growth Needed

8,000,000

Active Installs

Pro

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Need 70,834 more installs to reach 400K+

Rank Changes

Current #191

Change

Best #

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Active Installs Growth

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Active Installs 0,000,000+

Growth +0.0%

Peak 0,000,000

Downloads Growth

Downloads

Growth

Peak

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Reviews & Ratings

4.7

519 reviews

Overall 94%

461 (89%)

20 (4%)

10 (2%)

5 (1%)

23 (4%)

Support Threads Overview

Resolved

Unresolved

Total Threads

Resolved

Unresolved

100%

Resolution Rate

Security History

Source: WPVulnerability

4 known vulnerabilities on record · 1 in the last 24 months · checked 1 week ago

May 27, 2026

PDF Embedder – PDF Viewer & Embed PDF Files for WordPress [pdf-embedder] < 5.0.0

CVE-2026-7526 · Fixed in v5.0.0
May 14, 2024

PDF Embedder – PDF Viewer & Embed PDF Files for WordPress [pdf-embedder] < 4.8.0

CVE-2024-4367 · Fixed in v4.8.0
Mar 18, 2024

PDF Embedder – PDF Viewer & Embed PDF Files for WordPress [pdf-embedder] < 4.7.1

CVE-2024-29141 · Fixed in v4.7.1
Dec 5, 2019

PDF Embedder – PDF Viewer & Embed PDF Files for WordPress [pdf-embedder] <= 4.4

CVE-2019-19589 · Affected <= 4.4

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Plugin Details

Version: 5.0.2
Last Updated: Aug 14, 2026
Requires WP: 6.6+
Tested Up To: 7.1
PHP Version: 7.4 or higher
Author: Syed Balkhi

Support & Rating

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 4.7
Reviews: 519
Support Threads: 3
Resolved: 100%

Keywords

block documents embed pdf pdf pdf viewer

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TL;DR

AI summary of the plugin's readme

This plugin is for WordPress site owners who want to add PDF documents to their posts and pages. It solves the problem of embedding PDFs without relying on iframes or third-party services like Google, keeping files fast-loading and served from the user's own server.

Automatic responsive resizing
Next and Previous navigation buttons
Zoom buttons
Shortcode-based embedding
Adjustable width and toolbar position
Add Media drag-and-drop upload
No iframe embedding
Block attributes support

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about PDF Embedder – PDF Viewer & Embed PDF Files for WordPress

PDF Embedder is a WordPress PDF viewer plugin: upload your PDF file to the Media Library, add the PDF Embedder block where you want the document, and pick the file from the block sidebar. In the Classic Editor or any page builder, use the [pdf-embedder url=""] shortcode instead. The document then displays right on the page for your visitors.

Yes. Pass any direct PDF URL to the shortcode's url attribute or pick it in the block - the file does not have to be in your Media Library. It needs to be a direct link to the .pdf file itself (for example, a direct Dropbox link), not a sharing or preview page, and the remote host must allow other sites to fetch the file.

We have instructions and a Knowledge Base on our website explaining common setup queries and issues. We review the 'Support' forum here on the wordpress.org plugin page daily and respond to questions there.

See Settings -> PDF Embedder in your WordPress admin to change site-wide defaults. You can also override individual embeds by modifying the shortcode attributes or using block options (if you use the Block Editor). Resizing works as follows: If width='max' the width will take as much space as possible within its parent container (e.g. column within your page). If width is a number (e.g. width="500") then it will display at that number of pixels wide. Both height and width expect either a number (integer) or the word max; anything else has no effect. In all cases, if the parent container is narrower than the width calculated above, then the document width will be reduced to the size of the container. The plugin then calculates the height so the document fits naturally at that width. The Next/Prev toolbar can appear at the top or bottom of the document (or both or none), and it can either appear only when the user hovers over the document or it can be fixed at all times. See the Plugin Instructions for more details about sizing and toolbar options.

No. The viewer is fully self-hosted: everything is served from your own server, with no calls to the Google Docs Viewer or any other third-party service, and the viewer's files are loaded only on pages that actually contain an embedded PDF. Pages without a PDF are not affected at all.

Yes. The plugin includes a PDF viewer block, the easiest way to embed PDF files in the Block Editor. Add the PDF Embedder block to a post or page, choose a PDF file from the block sidebar, and the block shows a live preview of the document while you edit. The preview matches the front-end Viewer, so the published page looks the same as what you see in the editor.

The PDF Embedder Premium plugin includes a PDF Embedder widget for Elementor. It offers the same options as the block and shows a live PDF preview inside the Elementor editor. With the free plugin, you can embed PDFs in Elementor by placing the [pdf-embedder] shortcode into Elementor's Shortcode widget.

Yes. Any builder that can output regular WordPress shortcodes, such as Divi, Beaver Builder, or Bricks, can display the PDF Viewer. Add the [pdf-embedder url=""] shortcode to a text or shortcode element in your builder, and the document renders on the front end the same way it does anywhere else on your site. See the shortcode documentation for all available attributes.

In the free plugin, links inside the PDF are not clickable. The Premium versions allow functioning hyperlinks: both internal links within the document and links to external websites.

This is possible only in PDF Embedder Premium. As a workaround in the free plugin, you can add a direct link to the PDF beneath the embedded document. To do this, copy the URL from the pdf-embedder shortcode and insert it into a link using HTML such as this: <a href="(url of PDF)">Download Here</a>