What Is This?
The application/pdf MIME type indicates that the content is a PDF (Portable Document Format) document. PDF is a file format developed by Adobe for representing documents in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems.
Common Uses
Common Use
Downloadable documents, reports, and forms
Common Use
Resumes and CVs
Common Use
E-books and technical manuals
Common Use
Printable invoices and receipts
Examples
Serve files with the application/pdf MIME type:
# Nginx
location ~ \.pdf$ {
add_header Content-Type "application/pdf";
}
# Apache
AddType application/pdf .pdfUse this MIME type in HTML or HTTP:
Content-Type: application/pdf <!-- HTML reference --> <link rel="preload" href="file.pdf" as="fetch" crossorigin>
Related Entries
More from this reference:
application/json
The standard MIME type for JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) data interchange.
application/zip
The MIME type for ZIP archive files used for compression and bundling.
application/xml
The MIME type for XML documents and data interchange.
application/octet-stream
The generic MIME type for arbitrary binary data, often used for unknown file types or forced downloads.
application/x-www-form-urlencoded
The MIME type for URL-encoded form data submissions.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should PDFs open in the browser or download?
Set Content-Disposition: inline to display PDFs in the browser. Set Content-Disposition: attachment to force download. The default behavior varies by browser.
Can I serve PDF with Content-Disposition for security?
Content-Disposition is a hint, not a security measure. For actual access control, use authentication and authorization checks on the server side before serving PDF files.