For Windows 10 / 11 · Free download

Don't just open PDFs.
Understand them.

A PDF reader for people who read books and papers seriously. Highlight, write down your thoughts and ask AI — annotations stay on your computer and the original file is never changed.

No sign-up to read, annotate or OCR · New accounts get 30 days of Pro

Annotations & thoughts

Highlight it, then keep the thought

Select text to highlight, underline or write a thought. Thoughts, AI answers and your reading log line up by page in “This book” on the right — finish the book and your notes are already in order.

  • Annotations stay on your computer; the PDF isn't changed
  • Export a PDF with standard annotations any reader can show
Ask AI · Reading companion

Stuck? Box it and ask

Select a sentence or draw a box around a figure and press Alt + Q; use @ to bring in a whole chapter. Tap “Background”, “Another angle” or “Ask me first” and the AI reads along with you — only up to the page you've reached.

  • Bring your own API key: DeepSeek, Kimi, Qwen, OpenAI and more
  • Answers cite page numbers — click to jump there
Book map

The whole book on one page

OrchidNote draws the whole book as one map from its table of contents. Chapters you haven't read stay folded; finish one and its branches grow in — the map grows as you read.

Scans · Tables

Scanned pages you can select, search and copy

Scanned pages are recognized in the background as soon as you open them. Hover over a table and copy it in one click — paste into Excel or Word with borders and merged cells intact.

  • Recognition runs on your computer; nothing is uploaded
  • Export the whole book to Markdown with headings, tables and images

And also

Reading

Your recent books as a wall of covers: where you left off and how long you read this week.

Translation

Translate a page or a selection — offline with a local model, or with an AI model.

Screenshot rack

Grab any part of the screen; shots hang along the top edge. Click one to ask AI, recognize text or pin it.

Pages & files

Delete, reorder, rotate, insert and extract pages; merge by dragging in File Explorer; convert Word to PDF.

Remove ads / watermarksPro

Finds promos and watermarks repeated on every page; pages that might be damaged are left as they are.

Edit & stampPro

Move, resize and delete images and shapes on a page; add headers, footers and watermarks.

FAQ

Will OrchidNote change my PDF?

No. Annotations and thoughts are stored on your computer. OrchidNote only writes a file when you export, save page changes or remove ads.

What's the difference between Free and Pro?

Free includes all reading, annotation, OCR, export, page management and AI features. Edit objects, headers / footers / watermarks and ad removal work in Free too, but saved pages carry a small line of text in the corner; Pro saves without it. See Pricing.

Does Ask AI cost extra?

It's free once you sign in, using your own API key. You pay the model provider directly; OrchidNote adds no markup and doesn't relay your requests.

Are my files uploaded?

No. Recognition and translation run on your computer. Only when you ask AI is the selected content sent — directly to the model provider you configured. See the Privacy Policy.

Read your next book with OrchidNote