Yes, ChatGPT can read PDFs: attach a PDF to a chat and it can summarize it, answer questions about it and analyze both its text and images, including charts and diagrams.
As of November 14, 2026, according to OpenAI documentation:
- Plans: document uploads work on Free and paid ChatGPT plans, on the web and in supported mobile apps, per the OpenAI file uploads guide.
- How to upload: select + in the prompt area, then Add photos & files.
- Limits: up to 512 MB and 2 million tokens per file, and up to 80 files every 3 hours. Free users are limited to 3 uploads per day.
- Caveat: PDFs saved as project files or GPT knowledge may not include embedded images, so attach the PDF directly to ask about a chart.
- API: PDFs are accepted as file inputs, under 50 MB combined per request, and image parsing needs a vision model such as gpt-4o or later.
Related: What is the ChatGPT file upload limit?, Can ChatGPT read images? and What is the ChatGPT project file limit?
Source: OpenAI Help Center, Uploading files and audio to ChatGPT and OpenAI API Docs, File inputs
Image: ChatGPT logo by OpenAI, public domain (PD shape), via Wikimedia Commons. Placed on a white background and resized. ChatGPT is a trademark of OpenAI. FreeAnswers is not affiliated with or endorsed by OpenAI.