How to View PDFs in .NET with IronPDF C#

// Controller action to serve PDF
public ActionResult ViewPdf()
{
    var pdfPath = Server.MapPath("~/Content/sample.pdf");
    return File(pdfPath, "application/pdf");
}

// In your Razor view
<iframe src="@Url.Action("ViewPdf")" width="100%" height="600px"></iframe>

Imports System.Web.Mvc

' Controller action to serve PDF
Public Function ViewPdf() As ActionResult
    Dim pdfPath = Server.MapPath("~/Content/sample.pdf")
    Return File(pdfPath, "application/pdf")
End Function

' In your Razor view
<iframe src="@Url.Action("ViewPdf")" width="100%" height="600px"></iframe>

// WPF: display a PDF using the WebView2 control (Microsoft Edge / Chromium).
// Install the NuGet package Microsoft.Web.WebView2 and add a <wv2:WebView2 x:Name="pdfWebView" />
// element to your XAML (xmlns:wv2="clr-namespace:Microsoft.Web.WebView2.Wpf;assembly=Microsoft.Web.WebView2.Wpf").
// WebView2 renders PDFs with the same built-in viewer as the Edge browser (toolbar, zoom, print).
using System;
using System.IO;

// Save the IronPDF-generated document to disk first, then point WebView2 at it.
var pdf = new IronPdf.ChromePdfRenderer().RenderHtmlAsPdf("<h1>Hello IronPDF</h1>");
string pdfPath = Path.Combine(AppDomain.CurrentDomain.BaseDirectory, "document.pdf");
pdf.SaveAs(pdfPath);

// pdfWebView is the WebView2 control declared in your XAML.
// EnsureCoreWebView2Async must complete before navigating.
await pdfWebView.EnsureCoreWebView2Async();
pdfWebView.CoreWebView2.Navigate(new Uri(pdfPath).AbsoluteUri);

// Legacy alternative: the older System.Windows.Controls.WebBrowser control still works on
// Windows machines that have a PDF handler installed, but it relies on the deprecated Internet
// Explorer engine and is not recommended for new applications. Prefer WebView2 above.

Imports System
Imports System.IO
Imports IronPdf

' WPF: display a PDF using the WebView2 control (Microsoft Edge / Chromium).
' Install the NuGet package Microsoft.Web.WebView2 and add a <wv2:WebView2 x:Name="pdfWebView" />
' element to your XAML (xmlns:wv2="clr-namespace:Microsoft.Web.WebView2.Wpf;assembly=Microsoft.Web.WebView2.Wpf").
' WebView2 renders PDFs with the same built-in viewer as the Edge browser (toolbar, zoom, print).

' Save the IronPDF-generated document to disk first, then point WebView2 at it.
Dim pdf = New ChromePdfRenderer().RenderHtmlAsPdf("<h1>Hello IronPDF</h1>")
Dim pdfPath As String = Path.Combine(AppDomain.CurrentDomain.BaseDirectory, "document.pdf")
pdf.SaveAs(pdfPath)

' pdfWebView is the WebView2 control declared in your XAML.
' EnsureCoreWebView2Async must complete before navigating.
Await pdfWebView.EnsureCoreWebView2Async()
pdfWebView.CoreWebView2.Navigate(New Uri(pdfPath).AbsoluteUri)

' Legacy alternative: the older System.Windows.Controls.WebBrowser control still works on
' Windows machines that have a PDF handler installed, but it relies on the deprecated Internet
' Explorer engine and is not recommended for new applications. Prefer WebView2 above.

// Windows Forms: display a PDF using the WebView2 control (Microsoft Edge / Chromium).
// Install the NuGet package Microsoft.Web.WebView2, then drag a WebView2 control onto your form
// (or add it in code) and name it pdfWebView.
using System;
using System.IO;

// Generate or load the PDF with IronPDF, then save it so WebView2 can open the file.
var pdf = new IronPdf.ChromePdfRenderer().RenderHtmlAsPdf("<h1>Hello IronPDF</h1>");
string pdfPath = Path.Combine(AppDomain.CurrentDomain.BaseDirectory, "document.pdf");
pdf.SaveAs(pdfPath);

// pdfWebView is the WebView2 control on your form.
// Initialize the runtime, then navigate to the local file URI.
await pdfWebView.EnsureCoreWebView2Async();
pdfWebView.CoreWebView2.Navigate(new Uri(pdfPath).AbsoluteUri);

// Legacy alternative: the System.Windows.Forms.WebBrowser control can host a PDF when a system
// PDF handler is registered, but it uses the deprecated Internet Explorer engine. Use WebView2
// for new projects so the viewer works consistently across modern Windows installs.

Imports System
Imports System.IO
Imports IronPdf

' Generate or load the PDF with IronPDF, then save it so WebView2 can open the file.
Dim pdf = New ChromePdfRenderer().RenderHtmlAsPdf("<h1>Hello IronPDF</h1>")
Dim pdfPath As String = Path.Combine(AppDomain.CurrentDomain.BaseDirectory, "document.pdf")
pdf.SaveAs(pdfPath)

' pdfWebView is the WebView2 control on your form.
' Initialize the runtime, then navigate to the local file URI.
Await pdfWebView.EnsureCoreWebView2Async()
pdfWebView.CoreWebView2.Navigate(New Uri(pdfPath).AbsoluteUri)

' Legacy alternative: the System.Windows.Forms.WebBrowser control can host a PDF when a system
' PDF handler is registered, but it uses the deprecated Internet Explorer engine. Use WebView2
' for new projects so the viewer works consistently across modern Windows installs.

using IronPdf;

// Render any HTML fragment or document to HTML
ChromePdfRenderer renderer = new ChromePdfRenderer();
PdfDocument pdf = renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf("<h1>Hello IronPdf</h1>");

var outputPath = "ChromePdfRenderer.pdf";

// Export PDF document
pdf.SaveAs(outputPath);

// This neat trick opens our PDF file so we can see the result in our default PDF viewer
System.Diagnostics.Process.Start(outputPath);

Imports IronPdf

' Render any HTML fragment or document to HTML
Private renderer As New ChromePdfRenderer()
Private pdf As PdfDocument = renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf("<h1>Hello IronPdf</h1>")

Private outputPath = "ChromePdfRenderer.pdf"

' Export PDF document
pdf.SaveAs(outputPath)

' This neat trick opens our PDF file so we can see the result in our default PDF viewer
System.Diagnostics.Process.Start(outputPath)

try
{
    var psi = new System.Diagnostics.ProcessStartInfo
    {
        FileName = outputPath,
        UseShellExecute = true
    };
    System.Diagnostics.Process.Start(psi);
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
    // Handle the case where no PDF viewer is installed
    MessageBox.Show($"Unable to open PDF: {ex.Message}");
}

Imports System.Diagnostics
Imports System.Windows.Forms

Try
    Dim psi As New ProcessStartInfo With {
        .FileName = outputPath,
        .UseShellExecute = True
    }
    Process.Start(psi)
Catch ex As Exception
    ' Handle the case where no PDF viewer is installed
    MessageBox.Show($"Unable to open PDF: {ex.Message}")
End Try