Remove comments and markup from your PDF
Clear the review notes and highlights left in a PDF before you send it on. Pick the annotation types to delete, and the tool tells you how many it removed. It runs in your browser.
- Files never leave your browser.
- No account needed
- No watermark added
- Works on any device
How it works
Step 1: Choose the PDF that contains comments or markup.
Step 2: Tick the annotation types to remove: comments, highlights and markup, and, only if you want them gone, links and form widgets.
Step 3: Select Remove PDF Annotations.
Step 4: Read the count of removed annotations and download the cleaned file.
What counts as an annotation
In a PDF, an annotation is an object attached to a page but separate from the page content. Reviewers create them with a PDF reader: sticky-note comments, highlights, underlines, strike-through, drawn shapes and text boxes. Two other things are stored the same way: clickable links and the fields of a fillable form, which the format calls widgets.
This tool lists those types and lets you choose what to delete. Comments, highlights and other markup are removed by default. Links and form widgets are optional, because removing them changes how the document works, not just how it looks. When it finishes, it reports how many annotations were removed.
The page text, images and layout are not touched. The result is saved as a new PDF and your original stays as it was.
Why use this tool
Choose by type
Delete the reviewers' notes and highlights while keeping the clickable links in a table of contents, or the other way around.
A count you can check
The tool reports how many annotations it removed, so you know whether it found what you expected.
Content is left alone
Only annotation objects are removed. Body text, images and page layout stay exactly as they are.
Handled in your browser
Review comments often contain candid remarks; they are stripped locally and the file is not uploaded.
Common uses
Sending a clean copy after review
Remove the internal comments from a manuscript or policy draft before it goes to the client or the printer.
Reusing a marked-up template
Wipe an old round of highlights from a study guide or checklist before starting the next round.
Stripping links from a printout
Remove clickable links from a document that will be printed or archived, where a link that goes nowhere is only clutter.
Preparing a form for redistribution
Remove form widgets from a filled-in form so recipients get a static page without input boxes.
Reducing what a file reveals
Delete author-stamped comments from a document before publishing it on a website.
Supported formats
- Input
- One PDF file (.pdf).
- Output
- One PDF file without the selected annotations.
Works on real PDF annotation objects only.
Good to know
- Marks that were burned into the page, for example by a tool that draws highlights onto the page content, are not annotation objects and cannot be removed here.
- Removing form widgets deletes the fields together with anything typed into them; keep a copy if you may need the values.
- Removing links leaves the visible text in place, but it will no longer be clickable.
- Comments that only exist in a reviewer's own copy, or in a separate file, are not affected.
Your files never leave your browser
This tool runs entirely on your device using your browser. Your files are not uploaded to our servers and are not stored anywhere. Closing the tab discards everything.
Frequently asked questions
Does this delete the text of my document?
No. It removes only annotation objects. The page text, images and layout are unchanged.
Which annotations can be removed?
Comments and sticky notes, highlights and other markup, links and form widgets. Comments and markup are the default; links and form widgets are optional and you choose them yourself.
Why are some highlights still there after I run it?
They were probably drawn onto the page rather than stored as annotations, which is how some editors save markup. Those marks are part of the page content, so this tool cannot separate them.
Is my PDF uploaded to remove the annotations?
No. The annotations are removed in your browser, and the file is not sent to a server.
Will removing form widgets break my form?
Yes, on purpose. The fields disappear along with their values, and the page becomes static. If you want to keep the values as fixed text instead, flatten the form with Flatten PDF.