Microsoft is updating the PDF reader in the Edge browser with a useful new feature to help you annotate PDFs and highlight sections that might be locked.

The Microsoft Edge browser is the default app for PDF files on Windows PCs. However, you can easily change your default PDF viewer to Adobe’s Acrobat Reader DC for files saved to your Windows PC.

Image: Morsa Images/Getty Images Microsoft will soon make big visual changes to Edge on Windows 10 and 11 by making Adobe's Acrobat rendering engine the basis for the browser's built-in PDF reader ...

Microsoft has released Edge 100 to Edge Insiders in the Beta channel. Besides moving from two to three-digit version numbers, the update has a new lightweight PDF viewer for Outlook and File Explorer.

The basic PDF reader built into Microsoft Edge is getting replaced by Adobe Acrobat’s more feature-rich engine.

Microsoft and Adobe have partnered to integrate the Adobe Acrobat PDF rendering engine directly into the Edge browser, replacing the existing PDF engine.

Together, the two companies are updating the PDF experience and value users have come to expect in Microsoft Edge by powering the built-in PDF reader with the Adobe Acrobat PDF engine.

Two years ago, Microsoft replaced the built-in PDF reader in the Edge browser, but the fact is that many users have continued sticking with the old legacy PDF reader to this day.

Microsoft is testing an Office Viewer feature within its Edge browser. The feature lets you quickly view documents, presentations, and spreadsheets without downloading them.