Here is a full guide on how to read DjVu books on your Windows 11/10 PC. DjVu is a file format developed by AT&T Labs and is pronounced like déjà vu. It is primarily used to store scanned documents. It consists of text, photographs, colored images, drawings, and other content. This file format can store high-quality images in less space due to the use of progressive loading, arithmetic coding, lossy compression, and other technologies. DjVu is a good document format to use on the web. It can be used for eBooks, documents, ancient manuscripts, or even images.
Now, if you have DjVu files and want to read them, this article will help you. In this post, we will discuss how to view a DjVu file on your Windows 11/10 PC. So, without much ado, let’s check out.
Is DjVu smaller than PDF?
Yes, a DjVu file is usually smaller than a PDF file. As DjVu contains compressed images and text, it is comparatively lesser in size than a PDF in general scenarios.
How do I open a DjVu file on my PC?
You can open a DjVu file on your PC using a third-party tool. Various online websites support DjVu for opening and viewing. Apart from that, DjVu files can also be opened and viewed using desktop freeware such as Sumatra PDF and STDU Viewer. You can even use an image viewer called IrfanView to open a DjVu file on your PC. Let’s take a closer look at these DjVu readers now.
How to read DjVu books on Windows PC
Here are the two main methods to read DjVu books on your Windows 11/10 PC:
- Read DjVu books using a free online website.
- Use dedicated freeware to view and read DjVu books.
Let us discuss the above methods in detail!
1] Read DjVu books using a free online website
You can use a free online service to view and read DjVu books. There are many online DjVu readers available. Here, we will list some of the best free websites that allow you to view DjVu books online. These are:
- DjVu.js Viewer
- DjVu Viewer and Reader
- GroupDocs
Let us elaborate on the above tools!
1] DjVu.js Viewer
DjVu.js Viewer is a convenient online service for opening and reading DjVu books directly in a web browser. You can upload your DjVu file and then view it using various tools. You can enable continuous scroll view, single page view, or text view mode to read DjVu books. It lets you easily navigate through pages, zoom in/out, rotate the page left or right, etc. A handy Save function is available in it to print the DjVu book or save it as a PDF.
You can use this tool here.
2] DjVu Viewer and Reader
As its name suggests, DjVu Viewer and Reader is a dedicated free web service to open and view DjVu files in Windows 11/10. It is a simple website that provides you with reading options like Zoom and Page Navigations. You can also upload a DjVu book from Google Drive to read it using this online tool. It can be accessed from here.
3] GroupDocs
GroupDocs is a free website with a set of multiple tools including a DjVu viewer. You can import a DjVu file from your PC and then view its content using this free website. The tools provided by this online tool include zoom in, zoom out, and basic page navigation options. You can also export the DjVu pages as PNG images or download the file as PDF.
2] Use DjVu Reader software to view and read DjVu books
If you want to use a dedicated desktop application to read DjVu files on Windows 11/10 PC, you can do that. There are a lot of good free software that allow you to import and view a DjVu book on PC. Here are the ones you can use:
- STDU Viewer
- Sumatra PDF
- WinDjView
- DjVuLibre
- IrfanView
- Universal Viewer
Let’s talk about the above DjVu viewer freeware in detail.
1] STDU Viewer
STDU Viewer is a free DjVu viewer software for Windows 11/10. It also lets you view various other file formats including TIFF, PDF, FB2, TXT, TCR, PDB, MOBI, CBR, CBZ, AZW, EPUB, DCX. In it, you can even view images of multiple formats like PNG, PSD, BMP, PCX, JPEG, GIF, WMF, and EMF.
This freeware is a lightweight software that provides both installer and portable versions. You can get whichever version you want to use from stdutility.com. It has a multi-tab interface, so you can import and view multiple DjVu books in different tabs at a time. You can view thumbnails, bookmarks, content, highlight, and more from the left panel.
To read DjVu files, it offers handy features including zoom in, zoom out, page navigation, hand tool, select text, sync content, and more. You can also search for specific text or phrases in a DjVu file. Furthermore, you can export the DjVu file to a text or an image file. You can also save a copy of the DjVu file in its native format.
Read: Best PDF and eBook Reader Apps for Windows.
2] Sumatra PDF
You can also try Sumatra PDF to read DjVu books on Windows 11/10. It is a good PDF reader that also lets you view DjVu and other files CBZ, CBR, XPS, EPUB, MOBI, FB2, PDB, and more. You can download its portable or installer version to us.
This software offers a range of features to enhance your reading experience. You can zoom in/ out of the page, rotate a page, enable double-facing or single-page view, fit page width, enable presentation or fullscreen view mode, navigate from one page to another, etc. It also lets you find a specific text in the DjVu book and add pages to your favorite list.
It offers a handy Save as feature that lets you save the current version of the DjVu book to its native format or a text file. To download it, head over to sumatrapdfreader.org.
See: Best Free Comic Book Readers for Windows.
3] WinDjView
WinDjView is a dedicated free DjVu file viewer software for Windows 11/10. It is a great desktop application to read your DjVu books on PC. You can find a lot of great options and features in it. It lets you open multiple DjVu books in several tabs, lets you browse through the page thumbnails, add bookmarks, highlight selection, and do more.
The standard zoom, continuous layout or double facing view mode, rotate, highlight selection, background, page navigation options, find a text, and more tools are provided in it. Plus, it also provides Magnifying Glass (to enlarge) and Marquee Zoom features. You can also export text from the source DjVu file to a TXT document.
4] DjVuLibre
If you want to use a free and open-source DjVu reader for Windows 11/10, try DjVuLibre. It is also a dedicated software to read DjVu files on your PC. You can open and view a DjVu book using various viewing tools. Some of its features include zoom, rotate, continuous or side by side view, invert luminance, and page navigations.
It displays the outline and page thumbnails of the source DjVu book in the left panel. You can find a text string in the file and view file information. It also allows you to export the DjVu to various file formats, including PDF, TIFF, PostScript, EPS, ICO, JPEG, PNG, and more.
You can download it from here.
5] IrfanView
IrfanView is another software that you can use to view DjVu files on Windows 11/10 PC. It is primarily an image viewer and editor software that also lets you read DjVu books. You can simply open a DjVu in it and then read it using available features. It lets you navigate from one page to another, zoom in/ out, rotate the page, toggle fullscreen mode, and more. If needed, you can even export the DjVu file to an image format like BMP, PNG, JPG, and more.
6] Universal Viewer
Universal Viewer is a free universal file viewer using which you can also view DjVu files in Windows 11/10. It lets you view a variety of file types that also include DjVu files. You can open a DjVu file and then view it using the offered viewing tools. It lets you move from one page to another, zoom in or out, find a specific word or phrase in the file.
If you want to open and view the content of a DjVu file, you can use a free tool like DjVu.js Viewer.
That’s it! Hope this helps you find a suitable DjVu reader for Windows 11/10.
What is the best DjVu Reader for Windows?
In my opinion, I really liked WinDjView software. It offers an extensive set of features for reading DjVu books on Windows 11/10. It allows you to highlight important text in the book, zoom or rotate pages, magnify a particular section, etc. Also, you can browse through bookmarks, page thumbnails, and more. Another good software to read DjVu books is STDU Viewer.
