Remove PDF Annotations

Remove Annotations cleans a PDF by deleting comments, sticky notes, highlights, drawings and stamps that were added on top of the pages. Choose to keep links and form fields, or remove everything.

What are PDF annotations?

Annotations are items added on top of a PDF page after it was created. They include comments and sticky notes, highlights and underlines, freehand drawings, shapes and arrows, text boxes, stamps such as “Approved” or “Draft”, file attachments, links and form fields. They are stored separately from the page content, which is why PDF readers can show, hide or list them in a comments panel. This tool removes them and gives you a clean copy of your document.

Why remove annotations?

• Share a clean final version. After a review, the document may be full of comments and markups that the final reader should not see.
• Protect internal discussion. Comments can reveal reviewers’ names, internal opinions and negotiation notes. Removing them before sending a file outside your organisation avoids embarrassment and leaks.
• Fix display problems. Some annotations look different or appear in the wrong place in different PDF readers or when printed.
• Reduce clutter. Old highlights and notes from previous readers make a document harder to read.
• Prepare for printing. Sticky note icons and coloured highlights may print even when you do not want them.

Two removal modes

All annotations except links is the safe default. It removes comments, notes, highlights, drawings, stamps and other markups, but keeps clickable links and fillable form fields, so the document still works as intended.

Everything, including links and form fields removes all annotations on every page. Links will no longer be clickable and form fields disappear. Use this when you want the simplest possible file, for example for printing or archiving. If a form has been filled in and you want to keep the answers, flatten it with Flatten PDF before using this mode.

How to use the tool

Select your PDF, choose the removal mode and click “Remove annotations”. The tool tells you how many items were removed, and you can download the clean file. If no annotations were found, it will tell you that the document is already clean.

What this tool cannot remove

Some programs “burn” highlights, drawings or stamps into the page when they save or print to PDF. In that case the markup is no longer an annotation; it has become part of the page content, just like the original text. Scanned paper documents with pen marks are similar. This tool cannot remove those, because they are part of the page itself. You may notice that a highlight is still visible after cleaning, which means it was burned in.

Is the rest of the document affected?

No. The text, images, fonts, page size and order stay exactly as they were. Only the annotation layer is changed. The file usually becomes slightly smaller.

Private by design

Reviewed documents are often confidential drafts. This tool works entirely in your browser, so your file and its comments are never uploaded to our servers.

Tips

• Keep a copy of the annotated version if you might need the review comments later.
• Check document properties with Edit PDF Metadata to remove author names as well.
• Use Flatten PDF first if you want to keep form answers but remove the editable fields.

Reviewing before you clean

Open the comments panel in your PDF reader and read through the review notes before removing them. Make sure every comment has been answered or applied to the document. Once you remove them, the clean file no longer contains the discussion, so keep the reviewed copy in your project folder.

How to use Remove PDF Annotations

1. Select your PDF file.
2. Choose whether to keep links and form fields.
3. Click "Remove annotations" and download the clean PDF.

Frequently asked questions

Will it remove text that is part of the page?

No. Only items added on top of the page are removed. The original page content stays.

Why are highlights still visible?

Some programs burn highlights into the page itself. Those are part of the content and cannot be removed this way.

Which annotation types are removed?

Comments, sticky notes, highlights, underlines, strike-outs, drawings, shapes, stamps, text boxes and file attachments. Links and form fields are kept unless you choose to remove everything.

Can I remove comments from only one page?

This tool cleans every page. Extract the page, clean it and merge it back if you need to clean only one page.

Will it delete the text I typed into a form?

Only in the "Everything" mode. Flatten the form first if you want to keep the answers.

Is this tool really free?

Yes. All tools on this website are free to use, with no sign-up needed.

Are my files and data safe?

Yes. Everything is processed inside your own browser. Your files and text are not uploaded to our servers.

Does it work on mobile?

Yes. The tools work on modern phones, tablets and computers.