This is a common issue but few people know there's a simple HTML 5 solution:

<a href="./directory/yourfile.pdf" download="newfilename">Download the pdf</a>

Where newfilename is the suggested filename for the user to save the file. Or it will default to the filename on the serverside if you leave it empty, like this:

<a href="./directory/yourfile.pdf" download>Download the pdf</a>

Compatibility: I tested this on Firefox 21 and Iron, both worked fine. It might not work on HTML5-incompatible or outdated browsers. The only browser I tested that didn't force download is IE...

Check compatibility here: http://caniuse.com/#feat=download

Answer from T_D on Stack Overflow
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Sejda PDF
sejda.com › html-to-pdf
Convert HTML to PDF Online
Click Convert HTML to PDF and wait until processing completes. Then press Download and save your PDF documents.
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PDFCrowd
pdfcrowd.com › html-to-pdf
Convert HTML to PDF Online - PDFCrowd
Convert HTML files and web pages to PDF with the Pdfcrowd HTML to PDF online tool.
Discussions

How do I allow someone to download a pdf file
Easy to do bud. Learn how to build the most basic of sites. ChatGPT will probably do the lot. Put your pdf in the same folder as your html and CSS. In the html, have a link to it CLICK THIS TO DOWNLOAD THE CHEAT SHEET The "click this" text is the bit the visitor will see. When they click, it downloads. More on reddit.com
🌐 r/HTML
9
1
January 26, 2025
How do I change a html file to a pdf?
Not exactly sure what you mean, but you can open up the html page in a browser, select the option to print it, but instead of actually printing it with printer, you can select "Print to PDF" which will generate PDF for the website as if you were to print it, but saves the PDF instead. More on reddit.com
🌐 r/techsupport
12
8
January 13, 2023
Download chrome HTML instead of PDF?
It sounds like you're using either Ctrl+S or the "Save As" on a web page, and not an actual PDF. A screenshot of the page (unless it contains confidential or otherwise private information and you do not know how to blurry/black those out) would probably help people identify what you should be doing. But my guess is that you should look for a download/open/save button from within the page itself, and not the browser UI. It is also possible that they do not want you to download the content, and have it as images in an html web page instead of a pdf; in which case you might be able to get the images individually, though it can be more or less complex depending on how the page is set up. More on reddit.com
🌐 r/Windows11
5
0
December 12, 2022
Anyone know a good HTML to PDF converter?
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October 25, 2022
Top answer
1 of 14
264

This is a common issue but few people know there's a simple HTML 5 solution:

<a href="./directory/yourfile.pdf" download="newfilename">Download the pdf</a>

Where newfilename is the suggested filename for the user to save the file. Or it will default to the filename on the serverside if you leave it empty, like this:

<a href="./directory/yourfile.pdf" download>Download the pdf</a>

Compatibility: I tested this on Firefox 21 and Iron, both worked fine. It might not work on HTML5-incompatible or outdated browsers. The only browser I tested that didn't force download is IE...

Check compatibility here: http://caniuse.com/#feat=download

2 of 14
121

Instead of linking to the .PDF file, instead do something like

<a href="pdf_server.php?file=pdffilename">Download my eBook</a>

which outputs a custom header, opens the PDF (binary safe) and prints the data to the user's browser, then they can choose to save the PDF despite their browser settings. The pdf_server.php should look like this:

header("Content-Type: application/octet-stream");

$file = $_GET["file"] .".pdf";
header("Content-Disposition: attachment; filename=" . urlencode($file));   
header("Content-Type: application/octet-stream");
header("Content-Type: application/download");
header("Content-Description: File Transfer");            
header("Content-Length: " . filesize($file));
flush(); // this doesn't really matter.
$fp = fopen($file, "r");
while (!feof($fp))
{
    echo fread($fp, 65536);
    flush(); // this is essential for large downloads
} 
fclose($fp); 

PS: and obviously run some sanity checks on the "file" variable to prevent people from stealing your files such as don't accept file extensions, deny slashes, add .pdf to the value

🌐
W3Schools
w3schools.com › tags › att_a_download.asp
HTML a download Attribute
The optional value of the download attribute will be the new name of the file after it is downloaded. There are no restrictions on allowed values, and the browser will automatically detect the correct file extension and add it to the file (.img, .pdf, .txt, .html, etc.).
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iLovePDF
ilovepdf.com › html-to-pdf
HTML to PDF converter. Transform HTML pages into PDF
Convert HTML pages to PDF documents for free with our HTML to PDF converter. Transform any web page to a PDF document. Easy, fast and without registration.
Find elsewhere
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CloudConvert
cloudconvert.com › html-to-pdf
HTML to PDF | CloudConvert
>HTML to PDF Converter - CloudConvert is a free & fast online file conversion service.
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Dcpehvpm
dcpehvpm.org › E-Content › BCA › BCA-II › Web Technology › the-complete-reference-html-css-fifth-edition.pdf pdf
HTML & CSS: The Complete Reference, Fifth Edition
Mission, Vision and Objectives ... Councelling Centers NAAC IQAC NIRF StartUp Incubation and IPR Cell NCTE FRA Proposals Online Resources Archives and Downloads Policy Important Links College Authorities Rules and Discipline Feedback Student Council Alumni Section SC/ST ...
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/html › how do i allow someone to download a pdf file
r/HTML on Reddit: How do I allow someone to download a pdf file
January 26, 2025 -

I'm making a small little website for a game I'm making in uni (it's literally only 3 pages) and I want the user to download a pdf file of a "cheat sheet" of the game (right now I'm just using a text file but I'm hoping that the file type can easily be changed) and I haven't got the faintest idea on how to do that

I have next to no knowledge on html aside from a college course I did 3 years ago and this was never even apart of it so any help will be MASSIVELY appreciated

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wkhtmltopdf
wkhtmltopdf.org
wkhtmltopdf
wkhtmltopdf and wkhtmltoimage are open source (LGPLv3) command line tools to render HTML into PDF and various image formats using the Qt WebKit rendering engine. These run entirely "headless" and do not require a display or display service. There is also a C library, if you're into that kind of thing. Download a precompiled binary or build from source
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Stanford
web.stanford.edu › group › csp › cs21 › htmlcheatsheet.pdf pdf
HTML Cheatsheet page 1 of 2 Basic Tags
Creates an HTML document · Sets off the title & other info that isn't displayed
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Webdesign
webdesign.org › downloads › Beginners_Guide_to_HTML.pdf pdf
Beginner's Guide to HTML
This is another good news: when you are learning HTML, you do not need much. You can start with using Notepad, a text editor that is included in your Windows · installation. If you are not using Windows, or if you prefer other text editors, there is a · lot of free software that you can download ...
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Adobe
adobe.com › acrobat › resources › how-to-convert-html-to-pdf.html
How to convert HTML to PDF | Adobe Acrobat
1. Open Acrobat and choose Tools › Create PDF › Web Page. 2. Enter the complete path to the web page, or click Browse and locate an HTML file. 3. Click Capture Multiple Levels and enter the number of levels to include.
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Fing
fing.edu.uy › tecnoinf › mvd › cursos › ria › material › teorico › html-tags-chart.pdf pdf
HTML Tags Chart
To use any of the following HTML tags, simply select the HTML code you'd like and copy and paste · it into your web page
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E.M. Gopalakrishna Kone Yadava Women's College
emgywomenscollege.ac.in › templateEditor › kcfinder › upload › files › HTML & CSS.pdf pdf
HTML & CSS Crash Course
browser to begin downloading a file when the user clicks on the link. The target specified in the href attribute can be a local file (relative to the web page) or ... Hello World! ... Hello World! ... Hello World! ... Hello World! ... Now suppose you want to open a file on your own server. Consider the case of a web page · named about.html in your same directory.
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PDFiles
pdfiles.net › pdf › view › Head-First-HTML-and-CSS
Head First HTML and CSS PDF book
Head First pdf · Count Of Pages: 764 · Downloaded: 47557 · Create at : 5 years ago · Last Updated : 2025-10-30 22:02:12 · Download - 100 MB Abuse This Book! Head First HTML and CSS Download Now · Head First Software Development Download Now · Head First Android Development Download Now ·
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Chrome Web Store
chromewebstore.google.com › detail › ljbonnllckbdpfpjncfaoiakjjgjfmde
HTML to PDF - Chrome Web Store
Use HTML file to PDF: convert HTML to PDF in one click. Save webpage as PDF easily, preserving layout for offline access. ... Average rating 3.4 out of 5 stars. Learn more about results and reviews. Install webpage to PDF converter & capture entire webpage as pdf. Or edit PDF and download with one click.