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Remove Annotations from PDF
Strip comments, highlights, drawings and stamps from a PDF, and optionally its form fields, in your browser.
Strip comments, highlights, drawings, stamps and other annotations from every page, and optionally the form fields too, while links stay. Siliph is free, needs no account, and processes files on secure servers in Europe and India, or directly in your browser where possible.
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Remove Annotations from PDF deletes the review layer of a document: comments, sticky notes, highlights, underlines, drawings and stamps on every page. Links are kept unless you turn off Keep links, and form fields go only if you switch on Also remove form fields. It runs in your browser, free and with no account.
Step by step
Drag one or more PDFs into the drop zone or click Choose PDF files. Each file is cleaned separately and gets its own download.
Leave Keep links on to preserve clickable web and page links, or turn it off to remove them too. Switch on Also remove form fields to delete fillable fields and the values typed into them.
Start the task. Each PDF comes back with -clean added to its name, with the markup gone and the page content exactly as it was.
Features
Comments, sticky notes, highlights, underlines, strikethroughs, freehand drawings, shapes and stamps are removed from all pages in one pass, along with the popup windows that hold comment text.
Keep links is on from the start, so a table of contents, cross-references and web links keep working in the cleaned file. Turn it off when you want a document with no clickable areas at all.
Fillable fields are left alone unless you switch on Also remove form fields. With it on, the fields and the values typed into them are deleted, leaving the printed form underneath.
Annotations are objects stored alongside a page, not part of its printed content. The tool reads each page’s list of annotations and drops every entry except the kinds you chose to keep: links by default, and form fields unless you ask for them to go. Popups attached to comments are removed with them. Text, images and vector drawings that belong to the page itself are not touched, and each file is saved as a copy ending in -clean.pdf.
A PDF that has been through review carries a second layer: highlights over the text, comments in the margin, sticky notes, ink circles and approval stamps. Viewers show that layer by default, and printing often includes it. This tool lifts the layer off so the document reads as it did before anyone marked it. Because annotations sit apart from the page content, removing them leaves every line of text and every image where it was.
The two switches decide what counts as markup. Links are technically annotations too, which is why Keep links starts switched on; turn it off for a print-only copy. Form fields are annotations as well, so Also remove form fields starts off and protects a filled form from losing its answers by accident. If you would rather keep the marks but stop anyone editing them, use Flatten PDF instead, which merges them into the page.
Cleaning a file is often one step before sharing. Remove PDF Metadata strips the author and editing history, and Redact PDF blacks out sensitive words in the page text itself, which removing annotations does not do. To add fresh comments to the clean copy, open it in Annotate PDF.
Remove Annotations runs in your browser, so your files never leave your device. Several PDFs can be cleaned in one task, and the tool is free with no account and no limit on how often you use it.
Compared
Last checked 22 October 2026. Competitor facts come from their public pages on that date; prices and limits change, so confirm before you decide.
| Feature | Siliph | Adobe Acrobat online | Smallpdf | iLovePDF |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price for this tool | Free, every tool, unlimited tasks | Free online tools; Acrobat Standard $14.99 per month (annual plan) | About 2 free tasks per day; Pro about $15 per month (about $9 billed yearly) | Free with per-tool limits; Premium 500 INR per month (242 INR billed yearly) |
| Free file size limit | 200 MB per file, 2000 pages | Not stated on the page we checked | Not stated on the page we checked | 15–200 MB depending on the tool (4 GB on Premium) |
| Files per task on the free tier | Up to 50 files per task | Not stated on the page we checked | Not stated on the page we checked | Set per tool (merge 25, compress 2, PDF to Word 1) |
| Account required | No account needed | Sign in to save or share the result | Not stated on the page we checked | Not stated on the page we checked |
| Where files are processed and when they are deleted | Encrypted upload, deleted within 2 hours | Cloud processing; deletion window not stated on the page we checked | Cloud processing; files deleted after 1 hour | Cloud processing; deletion window not stated on the page we checked |
| Watermark on output | None | Not stated on the page we checked | Not stated on the page we checked | Not stated on the page we checked |
Comments, sticky notes, highlights, underlines, strikethroughs, freehand drawings, shapes, stamps and the popups attached to comments. Links and form fields are kept unless you change the two switches.
No. Only the annotation layer on top of the pages is removed. The text, images and drawings that make up the page content stay exactly as they were.
Keep links is on by default so tables of contents and web links keep working. Turn it off before you start the task and links are removed with the other annotations.
Yes. Switch on Also remove form fields. The fillable fields and the values typed into them are removed, and the printed boxes and labels of the form remain on the page.
Some files have highlights flattened into the page, so they are part of the content rather than an annotation. Those cannot be lifted off; this tool only removes marks that are still separate annotations.
Yes. Cleaning happens in your browser, so the PDF stays on your device. The tool is free and needs no account.
Add Remove Annotations to your blog or website for free. The attribution snippet includes a link back to Siliph.
Embed code (iframe)
<iframe src="https://siliph.com/remove-annotations/?embed=1" title="Remove Annotations — Siliph" width="100%" height="620" style="border:0;border-radius:12px;max-width:900px;" loading="lazy" allow="clipboard-write"></iframe> <p style="font-size:12px;color:#666;margin-top:8px;"><a href="https://siliph.com/remove-annotations/" title="Remove Annotations — Siliph">Remove Annotations</a> powered by <a href="https://siliph.com/" title="Siliph — Free PDF Tools">Siliph</a></p>
Link for blog posts and tool lists
<p style="font-size:12px;color:#666;margin-top:8px;"><a href="https://siliph.com/remove-annotations/" title="Remove Annotations — Siliph">Remove Annotations</a> powered by <a href="https://siliph.com/" title="Siliph — Free PDF Tools">Siliph</a></p>
Direct link: https://siliph.com/remove-annotations
Strip comments, highlights, drawings and stamps from a PDF, and optionally its form fields, in your browser.
or drop files here
Strip comments, highlights, drawings, stamps and other annotations from every page, and optionally the form fields too, while links stay. Siliph is free, needs no account, and processes files on secure servers in Europe and India, or directly in your browser where possible.