ABSTRACT. Let X be an abstract not necessarily compact orientable CR manifold of dimension 2n − 1, n 2. Let (q) b be the Gaffney extension of Kohn Laplacian for (0, q)-forms. We show that the spectral function of (q) b admits a full asymptotic expansion on the non-degenerate part of the Levi form. As a corollary, we deduce that if X is compact and the Levi form is nondegenerate of constant signature on X, then the spectrum ofin ]0, ∞[ consists of point eigenvalues of finite multiplicity. Moreover, we show that a certain microlocal conjugation of the associated Szegő kernel admits an asymptotic expansion under a local closed range condition. As applications, we establish the Szegő kernel asymptotic expansions on some weakly pseudoconvex CR manifolds and on CR manifolds with transversal CR S 1 actions. By using these asymptotics, we establish some local embedding theorems on CR manifolds and we give an analytic proof of a theorem of Lempert asserting that a compact strictly pseudoconvex CR manifold of dimension three with a transversal CR S 1 action can be CR embedded into C N , for some N ∈ N.