Get PDFs with the Chrome Extension
Retrieve and index PDFs for your references using the Paperguide Chrome extension.
What is the Chrome Extension for PDFs?
The Paperguide Chrome extension helps you retrieve PDFs for the references in your library. When you have metadata-only references imported through DOI, BibTeX, or RIS without the actual PDF, the extension can find and attach the PDF from publisher websites, repositories, and databases.
You can also use the extension while you browse. Open a paper page on a publisher site or preprint server, then use the extension to download and attach the PDF to your library in one click.
Installing the extension
Install from the Chrome Web Store
Search for the Paperguide extension in the Chrome Web Store, then click Add to Chrome.
Pin the extension
Pin the extension to your toolbar so you can access it quickly while browsing research sites.
Log in
Click the extension icon and log in with your Paperguide account. The extension connects to your current workspace.
Pinning the extension makes PDF retrieval faster when you move between publisher pages, repositories, and your library.
Getting PDFs for existing references
Use this flow when a reference is already in your library but does not have an attached PDF.
Open a reference
Open the reference in Reference Manager that needs a PDF.
Click Get PDF
Click the Get PDF button on the reference. The extension attempts to find an open-access version of the paper.
Confirm the PDF was attached
If the extension finds a PDF, it attaches the file to the reference and queues it for indexing.
A successful result shows the PDF on the reference and updates the indexing status shortly after.
Getting PDFs from publisher pages
Use the extension directly from a paper page when you find an article outside your library.
Navigate to a paper page
Open a paper page on a publisher website, preprint server such as arXiv or bioRxiv, or a repository such as PubMed Central or Semantic Scholar.
Click the smart action button
The extension detects research papers automatically and shows a smart action button. Click it to download and attach the PDF to your library.
Check where the PDF was saved
The PDF is attached to the matching reference in your library. If the paper is not already in your library, Paperguide creates a new reference for it.
PDF retrieval sources
The extension looks for PDFs across several common sources:
- Publisher websites — direct download from the publisher page
- Preprint servers — arXiv, bioRxiv, and medRxiv
- Repositories — PubMed Central and institutional repositories
- Open-access versions — open-access discovery services and other OA finders
PDF availability depends on access rights. Open-access papers work best. For paywalled papers, the extension can retrieve the PDF only when you have institutional access or an open-access version is available.
Tracking indexing status
After Paperguide adds a PDF, it queues the file for indexing. The status appears on the reference so you can tell whether the paper is ready for AI features.
- Pending — the PDF was uploaded, but indexing has not started
- Indexing — Paperguide is processing the file for text extraction and vectorization
- Indexed — the PDF is fully processed and available for chat and search
- Failed — indexing did not complete, often because the PDF is corrupted, scanned without OCR, or unsupported
What vectorization does
Indexed PDFs become searchable because Paperguide converts the document text into embeddings. That processing makes features such as Chat with PDF and Research Agent work against the paper's actual content.
Retrieving PDFs in bulk
Select multiple references in your library to attempt batch PDF retrieval. Paperguide processes each reference in sequence and tries to find and attach a PDF for each one.
Bulk retrieval is useful after importing a large set of metadata-only references. You can fill in missing PDFs without opening each reference one by one.