Preview has been part of macOS for years, and it finally came to iPhone and iPad with iOS 26 and iPadOS 26.
The new app offers a faster, more focused way to view and edit PDFs and images. Think of it as a lightweight companion to the Files app, specifically for dealing with for visual documents – great for annotations, filling in forms, or making quick edits without wading through folders. It even handles large PDFs more smoothly, avoiding the crashes that often crop up in the Files app.
Open a PDF in Preview and you’ll find tools for annotation and form filling. Tap a field to type directly into it, or use AutoFill to insert saved details. You can add a signature with your finger or Apple Pencil, or highlight, underline, and strike through text just by selecting it. If a file contains sensitive information, you can protect it with a password from the Actions Menu beside its filename.
From the main screen, you can create or scan a document with the New Document or Scan Documents buttons. Scanning launches the camera to capture pages and automatically save them as a PDF in iCloud Drive > Preview, ready for markup or cropping. On iPad, you can keep Files open alongside Preview for easy multitasking – handy if you’re reviewing or editing a series of documents.
Preview also works with images, offering the same Markup tools and a Remove Background feature that quickly isolates subjects for clean cutouts. It’s a simple but powerful option for quick visual edits without needing a dedicated graphics app.
There are a few quirks to note. Files are opened one at a time, so you can’t swipe between them as you can in Photos or Files. Opening an image from Files will now launch Preview automatically, but if you prefer the old behaviour, long-press a file and choose Quick Look instead. And if you’d rather not use Preview at all, you can delete the app – Files will take over as the default viewer again.