How to reload a PDF that changed on disk

You don't need to close and reopen it. When another program changes a PDF you have open, PDF by Zaweba can reload it so you see the new version. If you have unsaved changes of your own, it asks first, so your work isn't thrown away, and Undo goes back if you'd rather have stayed where you were.

This comes up more than you might think. You have a PDF open to check it while another program writes to the same file: a word processor exporting a fresh copy, a report generator, or a sync folder bringing in a colleague's update. Without reloading, you'd be looking at the old version and might not realise.

What happens on a change

The app notices when the file on disk is changed by something else. It can then load the new version in place of the one on screen.

If you haven't changed anything in the open document, there's nothing to lose and the reload is straightforward. If you have unsaved changes, the app asks first, because reloading would replace them with the file's new contents. You decide.

And if you reload and then wish you hadn't, Undo goes back. That makes it safe to accept a reload without thinking too hard.

A common way to use it

The classic case is writing in one program and proofing in another. Export the PDF from your word processor or layout program, look at it in PDF by Zaweba, spot a mistake, fix it in the original program and export again over the same file. The app reloads, and you see the corrected page without hunting for the file again.

This loop of export, check, fix and export again is a quick way to get a document right before it goes out, and the reload saves a little time on every round.

Avoiding clashing edits

Decide before you edit. If you are going to make changes in PDF by Zaweba, such as comments or text fixes, while another program is also writing to the same file, one set of changes will win. Either do all your work in one place, or save your PDF edits under a new name first.

Read the question when it's asked. If the app asks whether to reload while you have unsaved changes, think about which version matters more. When in doubt, save your version under a new name, then reload the original.

Watch sync folders. Files in cloud sync folders can be updated in the background when someone else saves. The reload keeps you current, but if you are collaborating, agree who edits when.

Related safety nets

Reloading is one of several features that protect your work. Autosave copies unsaved documents to a recovery folder every 60 seconds and offers them back after a crash. Revert to saved returns to the file as last opened or saved, as a step that can itself be undone. File > Earlier versions opens each incremental save inside a PDF in a tab of its own.

If you want to see exactly what changed between the old version and the new one, File > Compare files shows the differences side by side, with changed words, formatting and pictures marked.

With all of these, PDF by Zaweba keeps you looking at the right version of a file, offline on your own PC, without the close-and-reopen routine.