What counts as an annotation in a PDF
Everything you add to a PDF with the comment and markup tools of a PDF app is stored as an annotation: a separate object on top of the page with a type, a position and often an author name and a text. Links and form fields are annotations too. The page underneath, with its text and images, is not touched by them. The PDF standard, ISO 32000, defines these types; the ones you meet most often are:
| Shown here as | Type in the file | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Sticky note comment | Text | A note icon with a comment that opens in a pop-up window |
| Text box comment | FreeText | Text written directly on the page |
| Highlight, underline, squiggly underline, strikethrough | Highlight, Underline, Squiggly, StrikeOut | Marks over words, often with a comment |
| Freehand drawing, line, rectangle, ellipse, polygon | Ink, Line, Square, Circle, Polygon, PolyLine | Drawings and shapes |
| Stamp | Stamp | "Approved", "Draft", a picture or a drawn signature |
| Link | Link | A clickable area that opens a web page or another page |
| Attached file | FileAttachment | A paperclip icon that holds a whole file |
| Form field | Widget | The box of a fillable field, checkbox or button |
Sticky notes and markup usually carry the name of the person who added them. Adobe's JavaScript reference for Acrobat calls that entry the author of the annotation. Removing the annotations removes those names as well.
Choose what to remove
After you open a PDF, the tool lists each type it found with the number of annotations and their pages. Everything except form fields is ticked, so one click removes all comments, markup, stamps, drawings, links and attachments. Untick a type to keep it, for example to keep the links of a document while you clear the review comments. Show every annotation lists them one by one, with page, author and the start of the comment text, so you can check what is in the file before you remove it. Hidden annotations, which a viewer does not show, are marked as hidden; their content is still in the file.
A pop-up window belongs to its comment and goes with it. Form fields are only removed when you tick Form fields, and then the whole form goes, including every value typed into it, because a field without its box would keep its value in the file.
Removed means removed
This tool takes the removed annotations out of the pages, out of the tags of tagged PDFs and out of replies that pointed to them, and then leaves out every object the document no longer uses when it saves. The comment text, the author names, link addresses and the content of files attached with a paperclip annotation are not in the new copy. Your original file is not changed.
Files attached to the document as a whole, rather than to a spot on a page, are not annotations, so they stay. The PDF Metadata Editor lists their names.
Two things it does not do. It does not remove text from the pages: words under a removed highlight stay, and a redaction mark that was never applied does not remove the text under it. For that, use Redact PDF. And it does not clear the document properties such as title and author; the PDF Metadata Editor does that.
Remove, flatten or redact
| You want to | Use |
|---|---|
| Send a clean copy without the review comments | Remove PDF Annotations |
| Keep comments, stamps and filled fields visible but make them uneditable | Flatten PDF |
| Black out names, numbers or addresses on the page for good | Redact PDF |
| Clear title, author and other document properties | PDF Metadata Editor |
How to remove annotations from a PDF
- 1Drop your PDF on the box or choose it. The tool lists the annotation types it finds, with their pages.
- 2Untick the types you want to keep. Tick Form fields only if the form should go too.
- 3Press Remove. The new copy downloads with "-annotations-removed" in its name. Encrypted PDFs need to be unlocked first with Unlock PDF.
Sources
- Arlington PDF Model, PDF Association: the annotation types of ISO 32000 (one definition per type, such as AnnotText, AnnotHighlight, AnnotLink, AnnotWidget) and their keys, including T, Contents, Popup and the flags
- Adobe Acrobat JavaScript API reference, Annotation object: the author, contents and hidden properties of annotations
Frequently asked questions
Which annotations can I remove?
All of them: sticky notes and text box comments, highlights, underlines and strikethroughs, freehand drawings, shapes, stamps, links, attached files, media and form fields. The tool lists the types it finds with their pages, and you tick the ones to remove.
Are form fields removed too?
Only if you tick Form fields. They are not selected at first, because removing them removes the whole form: the fields and everything typed into them. To keep the typed values visible but make them part of the page, use Flatten PDF instead.
Is the comment text really gone, or only hidden?
Gone. The tool takes the comments out of the pages and does not leave their objects in the saved file, so the comment text, the author names and the attached files cannot be found in the new copy with a PDF inspector either.
Does removing annotations change the page text?
No. Annotations sit on top of the page, so the text, images and layout of the pages stay as they are. A highlight disappears, but the highlighted words stay.
Is my PDF uploaded?
No. Your browser reads the PDF, removes the annotations and saves the new file on your device. Nothing is sent to a server, so reviewed drafts with internal comments stay private.
Why does the list show a redaction mark?
A redaction mark that was placed in another app but never applied still has the text under it in the file. Removing the mark does not remove that text. To black out text for good, use Redact PDF.