Remove annotations from a PDF
See every highlight, comment, link and signature in your PDF by type, and remove only the kinds you tick.
- Files never leave your device
- Free, no signup, no watermark
- Works on any browser
How to remove annotations from a PDF
- 1Choose your PDF
- 2Tick the kinds of annotations to remove and check the preview
- 3Download the clean PDF
About Remove annotations
Reviewed PDFs collect highlights, sticky notes, typed comments, drawings, stamps, links and signatures, often from several people. This tool reads every annotation of the document, groups them by kind with the pages they are on and a preview of the comment text, link address or field name, and removes only the kinds you choose. It also finds what was added on top of the page itself: signatures, stamps, logos and hand drawings, shown one by one with a thumbnail. Removed items are deleted from the file itself, with their pop-up notes, replies and form entries, while the rest of the page stays exactly as it was.
See also: Flatten PDF, Remove watermark, Redact PDF
Useful for
- Send a clean copy after a review, without the comments
- Remove highlights from a scanned book or a used course PDF
- Remove links before printing or sharing a document
- Remove a signature field to reuse a signed template
Frequently asked questions
How do I remove highlights from a PDF?+
Open the PDF here: highlights are listed with the pages they are on and are ticked for you. Check the before and after preview, then download. The highlighted text stays, only the color goes.
Can I remove comments but keep the links?+
Yes. Each kind is listed on its own line: highlights, underlines and strikethroughs, comments and notes, drawings, stamps, links, signatures, form fields and attached files. Only the kinds you tick are removed.
How do I remove links from a PDF?+
Tick Links and download. The text and pictures stay where they are, they are just no longer clickable. Web links and links to other pages of the document are both removed. Email and web addresses written in the text may still be clickable afterwards, because most PDF viewers turn them into links by themselves.
Can I remove a signature from a PDF?+
Digital signatures and signature fields are listed under Signatures. A signature drawn or added as a picture with a PDF reader is an annotation too, listed under Signatures, Drawings or Stamps. Removing a digital signature makes the document unsigned, so do it only on documents you are allowed to change.
Are the comments really gone?+
Yes. Removed annotations are deleted from the file, not hidden, so their text, author names and replies cannot be found in the new PDF. This matters before sending a reviewed document to a client.
Can I remove a signature, a stamp or a logo that is part of the page?+
Yes. Pictures and hand drawings placed on the page, like a scanned signature, a stamp or a logo, are listed one by one with a thumbnail under Part of the page: tick the ones to remove. Everything added with the PDFkind editor (text, pictures, signatures, drawings, highlights, stamps, watermarks, page numbers) is listed by kind, so it can be removed later too.