You need to show a PDF inside your .NET app, and there is no built-in viewer control
You have generated a report or invoice as a PDF, and now users have to read it without leaving your application. IronPDF does not ship one single viewer window. Its documentation lays out four different ways to get a PDF in front of your user and explains what each one does and doesn't give you. Pick the one that matches your app.
Quick facts
- Vendor: Iron Software (IronPDF for .NET)
- Platforms: .NET apps: MAUI, WPF, Windows Forms, Blazor, ASP.NET and MVC
- Install: IronPdf via NuGet; the MAUI viewer is a separate package, IronPdf.Viewer.Maui
- Trial: free 30-day trial key that unlocks full functionality
- Licensing: perpetual licenses with a 30-day money-back guarantee
Key features
A full interactive viewer with a toolbar in MAUI
The IronPdf.Viewer.Maui control is described as a full interactive component with a toolbar. You add the NuGet package, call ConfigureIronPdfView() in MauiProgram.cs, and bind a file to an IronPdfView. Add your license key there to remove the trial banner.
PDF pages as images you can drop into any UI
RasterizeToImageFiles turns each page into a PNG, with a DPI setting to trade file size against sharpness. ToBitmap gives you in-memory images per page, so you can bind them to a WPF Image, a WinForms PictureBox or an <img> in Blazor. This path needs no browser control and works on every operating system IronPDF supports.
Edge's PDF viewer inside WPF and Windows Forms with WebView2
Save the document, then navigate a WebView2 control to the file. You get the Chromium-based viewer from Microsoft Edge, with toolbar, zoom and print. The docs recommend it over the older WebBrowser control, which relies on the deprecated Internet Explorer engine.
Inline PDFs on ASP.NET and MVC pages
Return the file from a controller action with the application/pdf type and show it in an HTML iframe. The browser's own viewer does the rendering, and your page layout stays intact. If the PDF is generated on the fly, IronPDF's HTML-to-PDF conversion produces the file the action returns.
Hand off to the user's default reader
Pass the file path to System.Diagnostics.Process.Start and the PDF opens in whatever reader the user has set as default. It suits utilities and batch tools that only need to show a finished file. Wrap the call in a try/catch so a missing PDF handler doesn't crash the app.
Who it's for
You are a .NET developer who already creates PDFs, or plans to, and needs a reasonable way to display them. If you build in MAUI, you get a ready-made viewer. If you build in WPF or WinForms, WebView2 or rasterized images fit. For ASP.NET, an iframe is the simplest route.
Pros and cons
Pros
- Four viewing routes, so you can match the approach to your UI framework.
- The image route has no browser dependency and runs on every supported operating system.
- A free 30-day trial lets you test everything in your own project.
Cons
- The interactive toolbar viewer is a MAUI component. For WPF, WinForms and Blazor you assemble the viewing yourself.
- WebView2 needs the Microsoft Edge WebView2 Runtime on the target machine. It is preinstalled on current Windows 11 builds, but older systems need the bootstrapper in your installer.
- If you need text selection, zoom and page navigation under your control, rasterized images won't give it to you. You would need a JavaScript viewer or a custom UI.
- The default-reader route leaves rendering to an outside app, so you control nothing about how it looks.
What users say
"My favorite library of this kind is IronPDF." — Milan Jovanovic, Microsoft MVP, quoted on the IronPDF site
FAQs
Does IronPDF include a built-in PDF viewer for desktop apps?
For MAUI, yes, through the IronPdf.Viewer.Maui control. For other frameworks, you display pages as images, host WebView2, or open the user's default reader.
Can I show a PDF in a Blazor component?
Yes. Rasterize each page to a PNG with RasterizeToImageFiles and show the images with an <img> tag.
Why use WebView2 instead of the old WebBrowser control?
WebView2 uses the Chromium engine from Edge and brings its own PDF toolbar, zoom and print. The older control depends on the deprecated Internet Explorer engine.
Can I try it before buying?
Yes. A trial key unlocks full functionality for up to 30 days, and support is included during the trial.
Are licenses subscriptions?
The licensing page describes team licenses as perpetual, one-time purchases. Support and updates are covered for a period, and you can extend them later.
System requirements
- A .NET application project; install IronPdf from NuGet.
- MAUI viewer: the IronPdf.Viewer.Maui package.
- WebView2 routes: the Microsoft Edge WebView2 Runtime on the target machine.