How to Remove Highlighted Text in PDF? (Free & Online Included)

A highlight in a PDF is not text formatting — it's a comment. It's a separate layer floating on top of the page, like a sticky note or a scribble. That's why you can't just "delete" it as you would in Word.

But here's where it gets tricky: not all highlights behave the same way.

• Some are comments — you can click, select, and delete them.
• Others are "burned in" — they've become part of the page itself, and no amount of clicking will remove them.

This guide walks you through both scenarios. Find your situation below and jump straight to the section that fixes it.

Part 1. Key Points Before Removing Highlighted Text in PDF

Before you dive into the solutions, take a moment to identify what you're dealing with. This one step will save you from trying the wrong approach and getting frustrated.

Ask yourself two questions:

Did you add this highlight yourself, or was it already there when you received the file?

Can you click on the highlight and see a border or selection box around it?

In PDFs, a highlight isn't like changing the background color of text in Word. It's a separate annotation layer sitting on top of the page — like someone drew a line with a highlighter pen on a printed document. To remove it, you need to enter Comment Mode, not Edit Mode.

And if the highlight won't select at all? It's likely no longer a comment — it's been "flattened" into the page content itself. That requires a different approach (covered in Part 3).

Part 2. How to Erase Highlighted Text in PDF (Comment‑Type)

This is the most common scenario for most users. The highlight is a proper comment annotation that you can interact with.

For single highlights: Any tool works. If you're in a browser, Smallpdf or Adobe Acrobat online will do the job. If you're on desktop, the built‑in comment mode in any PDF reader is sufficient. The process is essentially the same across all tools, though the exact menu names may vary slightly. Upload your editable PDF files with highlights and then choose to delete them one by one. The following is an example of the online tool - Smallpdf.

For bulk deletion: Online tools like Smallpdf lack a "remove all" button — you have to delete highlights page by page. Desktop tools like PDFgear support batch deletion via the comment list. Tools like Foxit and UPDF have no "Remove All" button. But you can see all highlighted texts in the comment section and choose to delete them one by one.

For filtering and organizing: UPDF and Foxit, Adobe stand out with the ability to filter highlights by page, author, type, color, and date — a level of control that online tools and PDFgear simply don't offer.

Price advantage: UPDF costs a fraction of Adobe Acrobat and Foxit (one‑time payment $79.99 vs ~$240/year subscription vs $129.99 per year) while delivering comparable core functionality — plus advanced filtering that online tools lack entirely.

Sometimes you may need to copy or extract all highlighted text from a PDF. This can be helpful when you have highlighted thousands of important words in a lengthy document. Instead of scrolling through the entire file again, you can keep those highlights in a separate file for quick review in the future. Or, you may want to share these key points with a colleague.

In any case, UPDF makes it simple! It allows you to export all highlighted text into a separate text-based file. Then you can copy it all at once. You can even include the page numbers alongside the extracted text. So, you can trace back to the original source whenever you need.

Here’s how it works.

Step 1. Open your PDF in UPDF. Then, select the “Comments” tool from the left panel.

Step 2. You will see a list of all comments and annotations on the left side. From here, click the “Filter Comments” option at the top.

Step 3. From the pop-up window, uncheck the box for “Types” to deselect all annotation types. Then, select “Highlight” and click “Apply.” Now only the highlighted text will be visible in the comments list.

Step 4. Now, click the “Export PDF” option above the list of highlights. From the popover menu, click “Export as Text.” Then, select a location to save your file.

Step 5. Once you save the file, it will automatically open in UPDF. Now, select the text you want to copy if it only has one page. Then, click “Copy” from the floating toolbar.

For multiple pages and copy them all, you can click on the “Tools” > “Word” to export the PDF to Word and copy all the highlighted texts.

If the highlight you're trying to delete is unresponsive — it won't select, won't show a border, and won't respond to right‑click — that means it's not a comment at all. It's been "burned in" to the page. The next part covers how to handle that.

Part 3. How to Remove Burned‑In Highlighted Text in PDF?

This is the "stuck" scenario. The highlight won't select, won't respond, and seems permanently fused to the page.

• You click the highlighted area → nothing happens (no border, no handles, no menu)
• You try to drag‑select it → it won't select
• It behaves like part of the page itself, not something you can interact with

If this is what you're seeing, then you need to enable OCR and then make it editable.

Why Does This Happen?

Scanned PDFs: The PDF is essentially a photo. Any highlights on it are part of the image itself.

Flattened Document: Someone "flattened" the PDF, which merged all comments and annotations into the page content, removing the annotation layer.

Imported from Other Software: Highlights created outside the PDF ecosystem are sometimes rendered as content, not as annotations.

After comparing PDFgear, Adobe, Foxit, and so many other desktop free or paid tools, UPDF is the best tool to remove and erase highlights on PDF. Scanned files can enable OCR on online tools or free desktop software like PDFgear, but it can just make the file searchable, not editable.

Check the following steps to remove all highlights on a PDF in simple clicks! Open your scanned or flattened PDF file on UPDF and then enable OCR. After converting to an editable PDF, you can enter Edit mode to delete the background. Then you can get a clear page without highlights!

Part 4. Why Do Most Tools Not Offer a "Delete All" Button?

You might wonder why most PDF tools — both online and desktop — don't offer a single "Delete All Highlights" button. Here's why:

• Technical complexity: PDF annotations are stored across various locations in the file structure. A universal "select all" is more complex to implement than it appears.
• Accidental deletion risk: A one‑click delete‑all is dangerous — if you click it by mistake, you could lose hours of collaborative review work. Most tools prefer to make you go through the comment list so you can see what you're about to delete.
• Varied user scenarios: Not everyone wants to delete every highlight. Many users only need to remove a few. For those who need bulk deletion, the comment list method provides both safety and control.

Common Issues and Fixes for Removing Highlighted Text in PDF

Even with the right approach, things don't always go smoothly. This section tackles the most common "it still won't work" scenarios.

Q1: I click the highlight, but nothing happens.

Why this happens: You're probably in "View" or "Read" mode, not Comment Mode.

Fix: Look for a toolbar button or menu item labeled Comment, Annotate, or Review. Switch to that mode, then click the highlight again.

Q2: I deleted the highlight, but it reappeared after saving.

Why this happens: You likely deselected the highlight instead of deleting it. Clicking away from a selected highlight doesn't remove it — it just stops showing the selection border.

Fix: Make sure you perform an actual deletion action: right‑click → "Delete," press the Delete key, or click the trash can icon. Then save the file.

Q3: The highlight is "stuck" — I can't select it at all.

Why this happens: The highlight is no longer a comment annotation. It's been "flattened" into the page content.

Fix: This is a different problem with a different solution. Jump to Part 3 to check how UPDF solves it in clicks for the full walkthrough on handling burned‑in highlights.

Q4: How do I bulk‑delete highlights on a Mac?

Mac Preview Users:

• Open the PDF in Preview → click the "Inspector" icon (a toolbox) from the top toolbar
• Select the Annotations tab → select all highlights from the list → press Delete
• Alternatively, click each highlight one by one and press Delete

For more control: Consider using a third‑party tool like UPDF, which offers proper comment list management on Mac.

Now that you've seen all the possible solutions and edge cases, the summary below provides a quick final reference to help you choose the right approach for your specific situation.

Conclusion

That wraps up my rundown of how to remove highlighted text in PDF. With UPDF, it is simple and easy. All you need to do is remove highlights and then delete the text. And if you want to copy highlighted text, you can extract it in a separate document.

Beyond this, UPDF is an all-in-one toolkit to help you manage your documents more productively. It’s available across all major platforms. Plus, you can get started for free. So, try it today. Click below to download it now!

🔍 Related guide: If you found this helpful, you'll want to check out How to Annotate PDF — a complete walkthrough on adding, managing, and removing all types of PDF annotations, from highlights and underlines to sticky notes and freehand drawings.