Download Scribd documents as PDF for free - Fast, automated, and runs in background!
- One-click download - Just paste the Scribd URL and get your PDF
- Supports both Scribd URL styles - Works with
/document/...and legacy/doc/...links - Runs in background - Headless Chrome, no browser window pops up
- Fast processing - Optimized scrolling and minimal wait times
- Clean PDFs - No cookie banners, toolbars, or watermarks
- Large file friendly - Uses a longer ChromeDriver timeout and streamed PDF export for big image-based documents
- Better math rendering - Waits for fonts and render stability before printing, and preserves Scribd layout classes needed by equations/SVG
- Better pagination - Uses Scribd's real page wrappers to avoid extra trailing pages
- Dynamic page size - Detects the rendered Scribd page size instead of forcing one fixed sheet size
- Auto filename - PDF named after the document URL automatically
- No login required - Works without Scribd account
- Python 3.7 or higher
- Google Chrome browser installed
- Chrome WebDriver (auto-managed by Selenium)
-
Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/themrsami/scribd-downloader.git cd scribd-downloader -
Install dependencies
pip install -r requirements.txt
-
Run the script
python scribd-downloader.py
-
Paste the Scribd document URL when prompted:
Input link Scribd: https://www.scribd.com/document/123456789/Document-TitleLegacy Scribd URLs also work:
Input link Scribd: https://www.scribd.com/doc/123456789/Document-Title -
Wait for the download - The script will:
- Open the document in headless Chrome
- Scroll through all pages to load content
- Remove unwanted elements (toolbars, cookie banners)
- Save as PDF in the current directory
-
Done! Your PDF will be saved with the document name from the URL.
$ python scribd-downloader.py
Input link Scribd: https://www.scribd.com/document/903361807/WorkdaySimpleIntegrations-EIB-31v2
Link embed: https://www.scribd.com/embeds/903361807/content
Output filename: WorkdaySimpleIntegrations-EIB-31v2.pdf
Starting Chrome browser...
Cookie dialogs hidden.
Found 316 pages, scrolling...
Scrolled 10/316 pages...
Scrolled 20/316 pages...
...
Detected 617 pages after lazy loading, continuing...
All 617 pages loaded.
Top toolbar removed.
Bottom toolbar removed.
Adjusted 1 scroll containers for print.
Print CSS injected.
Render settle reached its time budget; continuing with best effort.
Saving PDF as: WorkdaySimpleIntegrations-EIB-31v2.pdf
Page size: 10.44" x 13.50" (from .outer_page)
Margins: None
Headers/Footers: Disabled
ChromeDriver command timeout: 600s
PDF saved successfully to: C:\Users\...\WorkdaySimpleIntegrations-EIB-31v2.pdf
Browser closed.
| Setting | Value |
|---|---|
| Page Size | Detected dynamically from Scribd's rendered page |
| Margins | None (0) |
| Headers/Footers | Disabled |
| Background Graphics | Enabled |
- URL Conversion - Converts Scribd document URL to embeddable format
- Headless Browser - Opens Chrome in background (invisible)
- Page Loading - Scrolls through all pages to trigger lazy-loading
- Cleanup - Removes toolbars, cookie banners, and overlays while preserving Scribd layout classes
- Render Stabilization - Waits for fonts, images, and page layout to settle before printing
- Dynamic PDF Generation - Detects the rendered page size and uses Chrome DevTools Protocol to generate the PDF directly
- Auto Close - Browser closes automatically after saving
The script uses Selenium Manager to auto-download ChromeDriver. If you face issues:
pip install --upgrade selenium- Ensure you have write permissions in the current directory
- Check if the Scribd URL is valid and accessible
- For very large documents, increase
SCRIBD_CDP_TIMEOUT(default:600)
- Scribd creates extra internal page elements while lazy-loading
- The scrolling progress is only a loading indicator and can be higher than the final PDF page count
- Some documents may have DRM protection
- Try increasing
SCRIBD_SCROLL_DELAYif pages are not loading completely - If a document still renders incorrectly, try visible mode with
SCRIBD_HEADLESS=0
You can tune the export with environment variables:
$env:SCRIBD_CDP_TIMEOUT="900"
$env:SCRIBD_RENDER_SETTLE_TIMEOUT="45"
$env:SCRIBD_SCROLL_DELAY="0.2"
python scribd-downloader.pyUseful variables:
SCRIBD_CDP_TIMEOUT- ChromeDriver command timeout in seconds forPage.printToPDFSCRIBD_RENDER_SETTLE_TIMEOUT- Maximum time to wait for fonts/images/layout to settle before exportingSCRIBD_SCROLL_DELAY- Delay between page scrolls when forcing lazy-loaded pages to renderSCRIBD_PDF_STREAM_CHUNK_SIZE- Chunk size used when reading a streamed PDF response from ChromeSCRIBD_HEADLESS=0- Run with a visible browser when debugging rendering issues locally
Contributions are welcome! Feel free to:
- Fork the repository
- Create a feature branch (
git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature) - Commit your changes (
git commit -m 'Add amazing feature') - Push to the branch (
git push origin feature/amazing-feature) - Open a Pull Request
If you find this tool useful, consider supporting its development:
This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.
This tool is for educational purposes only. Please respect copyright laws and Scribd's Terms of Service. Only download documents you have the right to access.
Made with ❤️ by Usama Nazir
If you find this useful, please consider giving it a ⭐