How to open a PDF files in web browser using PHP?

Opening a PDF file in a web browser using PHP involves serving the PDF directly to the client’s browser. This is achieved by setting the appropriate HTTP headers (Content-Type and Content-Disposition) in PHP, which instructs the browser to display the PDF instead of downloading it.

Note: PHP doesn’t read PDFs but passes them to the browser. If stored in XAMPP’s htdocs, no file path is needed.

Example 1: This PHP script serves a PDF file to the browser by setting headers for content type and disposition. It uses @readfile($file) to pass the PDF for inline display or download.

<?php
    
    // Store the file name into variable
    $file = 'filename.pdf';
    $filename = 'filename.pdf';
    
    // Header content type
    header('Content-type: application/pdf');
    header('Content-Disposition: inline;
    filename="' . $filename . '"');
    header('Content-Transfer-Encoding: binary');
    header('Accept-Ranges: bytes');
    
    // Read the file
    @readfile($file);

?>

Output:

Example : This PHP script displays a PDF in the browser by specifying its server path. It sets the Content-type to application/pdf and Content-Length headers, then uses readfile() to output the file.

<?php
    
    // The location of the PDF file
    // on the server
    $filename = "/path/to/the/file.pdf";
    
    // Header content type
    header("Content-type: application/pdf");
    header("Content-Length: " . filesize($filename));
    
    // Send the file to the browser.
    readfile($filename);

?>

Output:

PHP is a server-side scripting language designed specifically for web development. You can learn PHP from the ground up by following this PHP Tutorial and PHP Examples.