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Remove PDF Annotations

Comments, highlights, sticky notes and stamps are stored as annotation objects sitting on top of a PDF page, and most viewers will happily show them to whoever opens the file. This tool deletes those objects and leaves the page content intact. It is free, needs no account, and adds no watermark to your result.

Built for: remove pdf annotations
Deleted as soon as you download itFree · fair-use only
Drop PDF files herePDF output · up to 100 files
Included in this tool
Comments/notesHighlightsStampsPreserve page content
When you need this

What people use it for.

Sending a reviewed contract without the internal review comments still attached
Publishing a document after markup, so readers see a clean page
Cleaning a PDF where highlights from a previous reader are distracting
How it works

What happens to your file.

Each page is walked with PyMuPDF and every annotation object is deleted, then the document is saved with garbage collection so the removed objects are not recoverable from the previous revision. Page text and images are untouched.

Where it stops: If nothing is removable the tool reports that plainly rather than handing back an unchanged file that looks processed. Form fields are widget annotations and are better handled by flattening.

What this tool includes

Everything you need, without a paywall.

Comments/notes
Highlights
Stamps
Preserve page content
Questions

Common questions.

What is the difference between this and flattening?

Flattening burns annotations into the page so they stay visible but stop being editable. This deletes them entirely so they are gone. Choose by whether you want the markup visible or absent.

Why did it say no annotations were found?

The markup is probably drawn into the page content rather than stored as annotations, which happens when a document has already been flattened or exported from certain tools.

Can the comments be recovered afterwards?

No. The file is saved with cleanup enabled, so the deleted objects are not left behind in an earlier revision of the document.

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