Category: Application

application/pdf

application/pdf represents Adobe Portable Document Format files. Widely used for invoices, printable reports, whitepapers, and legal contracts across web browsers.

MIME / CONTENT-TYPE

application/pdf

ASSOCIATED EXTENSIONS

.pdf

PRIMARY CATEGORY

Application

HTTP Headers & Web Server Configurations

Standard HTTP Response Header
Content-Type: application/pdf

Send this exact header in HTTP responses to instruct browsers how to decode and render the payload.

Node.js / Express / Web API
res.setHeader("Content-Type", "application/pdf"); res.setHeader("Content-Disposition", "inline; filename=report.pdf");
NGINX Configuration (mime.types)
types { application/pdf pdf; }
Apache (.htaccess / httpd.conf)
AddType application/pdf .pdf

Security Advisory & Hardening

Set "Content-Disposition: inline" to view in browser or "attachment; filename=document.pdf" to force download. PDFs can contain embedded JavaScript; serve untrusted uploads with a sandboxed Content-Security-Policy.

Frequently Asked Questions

application/pdf Questions & Answers

Common questions regarding MIME types, Content-Type headers, and web server configurations.

The standard HTTP response header is: "Content-Type: application/pdf".