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To open a DjVu file you need either a viewer app that reads DjVu or a copy of the file converted to PDF. Windows, macOS, Android and iOS don’t open .djvu files out of the box. If you only want to read or print the book, converting it to PDF once is often simpler than installing anything, because a PDF opens everywhere.
What a DjVu file is
DjVu (pronounced “déjà vu”, with the extension .djvu or .djv) is a format made for scanned documents. It separates sharp black-and-white text from the background and compresses each layer differently, so a scanned book can take far less space than the same scan saved as image-heavy PDF pages. That’s why digitised books, old manuals and archive papers often come in DjVu.
The trade-off is support. Few devices or apps can read it.
Your options by device
| Device | Read it as DjVu | Or convert to PDF |
|---|---|---|
| Windows | A viewer such as SumatraPDF, which reads DjVu | Convert in the browser, open in Edge or any PDF reader |
| Mac | Install a DjVu viewer app | Convert in Safari or Chrome, open in Preview |
| Android | Install a DjVu reader app | Convert in Chrome, open in any PDF app |
| iPhone and iPad | Install a DjVu reader app | Convert in Safari, open in Files or Books |
| Kindle, Kobo | Not supported | Convert to PDF, then copy it over |
Convert DjVu to PDF without installing anything
- Open the DjVu to PDF converter in your browser, on a computer or a phone.
- Add the .djvu or .djv file.
- Leave the settings as they are, or pick 150 dpi if you want a smaller PDF.
- Download the PDF.
The file is converted on your own device, not uploaded. Black-and-white text pages keep their full sharpness; colour pages are scaled to the resolution you choose.
Expect the PDF to be bigger than the DjVu, often several times bigger. DjVu’s compression is very hard to match. If the PDF is too big to email, run it through Compress PDF, and if you only need a chapter, take those pages with Extract PDF pages.
Can you search or copy text from it?
Only if a text layer exists and the app you use reads it. Many DjVu books from digital libraries include an invisible text layer created by OCR, and a DjVu viewer can search it. When you convert to PDF here, pages come across as pictures, so that hidden text isn’t carried over.
To get searchable text from the PDF, run it through Scanned PDF to text (OCR), which reads the words from the page images and saves them as a text file or Word document.
When the file won’t open
- “Multi-file (indirect) DjVu” message. Some books are stored as many small files plus an index file. Open the index in a DjVu viewer, save the book as a single bundled file, and convert that.
- “Couldn’t be read” message. The download may be incomplete, or the file isn’t really DjVu despite the extension. Download it again.
- It’s very slow on a phone. Long colour scans need a lot of memory, because each page is decoded at full resolution. A computer handles them better.
Going the other way
If you scan books yourself and want to save space, PDF to DjVu turns a scanned PDF into DjVu. It only makes sense for scans: text PDFs lose their selectable text and can end up bigger.