How to Remove Highlighted Text in PDF? One or All Highlights

In most PDF files, highlighting is stored as a separate annotation. This means you can select and delete the colored highlight while keeping the original text unchanged.

However, not every highlight works the same way. Some highlights are editable comments, while others have been flattened into the page and cannot be selected directly.

This guide explains how to remove highlighted text in PDF files in every common situation. It covers UPDF, Smallpdf, Adobe Acrobat, Foxit PDF Editor, and PDFgear, as well as methods for handling highlights that cannot be selected.

Part 1. Before You Remove Highlighted Text: Identify the Highlight Type

Before choosing a removal method, click the highlighted area under Comment mode and check whether a selection border, floating toolbar, or comment box appears. This will help you determine whether the highlight is an editable annotation or part of the PDF page.

What happens when you click it?	Highlight type	Recommended solution
A border or floating toolbar appears	Editable highlight annotation	Select the highlight and delete it in Comment mode
The highlight appears in the comment list	Editable highlight annotation	Delete it from the page or comment list
Nothing happens when you click it	Scanned or flattened content	Find the original PDF or edit the page content carefully
The colored area can be selected in Comment mode	Shape or background object	Delete the object after confirming that it is separate from the text
You want to delete the words underneath the highlight	Editable PDF text	Remove the highlight first, then delete the text in Edit mode

If the highlight can be selected, proceed to Part 1. If it cannot be selected, jump to Part 4 for solutions for scanned and flattened PDFs. If you want to delete the actual words rather than the colored highlight, go to Part 5.

Part 2. How to Remove Highlighted Text in PDF with UPDF

UPDF lets you remove PDF highlights without affecting the underlying text. You can delete a highlight directly from the page or through the comment list.

This method works on both Windows and Mac when you need to remove highlights individually. UPDF also provides additional tools to annotate PDFs with highlights, underlines, strikeouts, notes, shapes, and other markup.

Step 1. Open the Highlighted PDF

Download and launch UPDF on your Windows or Mac computer. Click Open File and select the PDF containing the highlighted text.

After opening the document, consider using Save As to create a copy. This gives you an original version in case you remove an annotation accidentally.

Step 2. Enter Comment Mode

From the top toolbar, choose Comment.

Highlights are usually stored as comments or annotations rather than ordinary PDF text. If you remain in Edit mode, you may not be able to select the highlight correctly.

Step 3. Select the Highlighted Text

Click the highlighted area on the PDF page. Once selected, a border or floating toolbar should appear.

You can remove the highlight in any of the following ways:

• Click the Delete or trash icon on the floating toolbar.
• Right-click the highlight and choose Delete.
• Press the Delete key.
• Locate the highlight in the comment list and delete it there.

The colored highlight will disappear, but the original text will remain on the page.

Step 4. Save the PDF

Go to Save to update the existing PDF, or choose Save As to create a clean copy.

Open the saved file again and confirm that the highlight has been removed successfully.

Part 3. How to Remove All Highlights from a PDF on Windows

If a PDF contains dozens or hundreds of highlights, deleting them individually is inefficient.

UPDF for Windows allows you to select multiple highlights from the comment list and delete them together.

Windows-only feature: The Ctrl and Shift multi-selection methods described below are currently available only in UPDF for Windows. UPDF for Mac does not currently support this workflow, so Mac users need to remove highlights individually.

Step 1. Open the Comment List

Open the PDF in UPDF for Windows and enter Comment mode. Then open the comment list from the sidebar.

The panel displays the annotations in the document, including highlights, underlines, strikeouts, shapes, notes, stamps, and other comments.

Step 2. Filter the List by Highlight

Click the Filter Comments option at the top of the comment panel.

Deselect the other annotation types, select Highlight, and apply the filter. The list should now display only the highlight annotations in the document.

Filtering first helps prevent you from accidentally deleting sticky notes, text comment, shapes, or other comments that you want to keep.

Step 3. Select Multiple Highlights

UPDF for Windows provides two ways to select multiple items:

• Hold Ctrl and click the highlights you want to remove one by one.
• Click the first highlight, hold Shift, and click the last highlight to select a continuous range.

To select all the filtered highlights, click the first item and then hold Shift while clicking the last item in the list.

The selected highlights will be visually marked in the comment panel.

Step 4. Delete the Selected Highlights

After selecting the highlights, right-click the selected items and choose Delete, or click the available Delete button.

UPDF for Windows will remove all the selected highlights in one operation.

Step 5. Review and Save the Document

Scroll through the PDF and confirm that the required highlights have been removed. Then save the file.

If the document includes important annotations from other reviewers, save the cleaned version as a separate PDF instead of overwriting the original.

Part 4. Other Ways to Remove Highlights from a PDF

UPDF is not the only tool that can remove highlighted text from a PDF. You can also use Smallpdf, Adobe Acrobat, Foxit PDF Editor, or PDFgear.

The best choice depends on whether you want to work online or offline, the number of highlights you need to remove, and whether the PDF contains sensitive information.

Tool	Type	Price	Single Delete	Bulk Delete	Filter/Sort Capabilities	Platform	Key Differentiator
Smallpdf	Online	Free (limited)	✅	❌ (per‑page only)	None	Browser	No installation, quick for small files
Adobe Acrobat Pro	Desktop	Subscription (~$20/mo)	✅	✅ (Comments panel → three‑dot menu → Delete Comments)	Sort by page, author, type, date, color	Win/Mac/iOS/Android/Web	Industry standard, full comment management
UPDF	Desktop	One‑time payment	✅	✅ (Comment list → select → delete; filter by page/author/type/color/date)	Filter by page, author, type, color, date — online tools lack this	Win/Mac/iOS/Android	Best value — one‑time payment vs subscription; advanced filtering unmatched by online tools
Foxit PDF Editor	Desktop	Paid	✅	✅ (Comments panel → select → delete)	Sort by type, page, color, status	Win/Mac/iOS/Android	Word‑like interface
PDFgear	Desktop	Completely free	✅	✅ (Annotations tab → clear all)	Basic	Win/Mac/iOS/Android	Completely free, no registration

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.

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.

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

If clicking the highlighted area does nothing, the highlight may no longer be an editable annotation.

This normally happens in one of three situations.

1. The PDF Is a Scanned Image

A scanned PDF is essentially a collection of page images. The highlight and the text may both be part of the same image.

UPDF's OCR technology can recognize the text in a scanned PDF, but OCR alone does not automatically separate or remove the highlight color.

Possible solutions include:

• Obtain an original, unhighlighted version of the document.
• Use OCR and recreate the affected text.
• Edit the page image carefully.
• Cover and replace the affected area if document accuracy permits.

Always save a backup because image editing may affect both the highlight and the text underneath it.

2. The PDF Has Been Flattened

Flattening merges annotations with the PDF page. Once this happens, the highlight no longer exists as an independent comment.

The safest solution is to return to the original, unflattened PDF and remove the highlight from that version.

If the original file is unavailable, you may need to edit or recreate the affected page content carefully.

3. The Highlight Is Part of the Page Background

Some PDFs use colored shapes or background elements instead of standard highlight annotations.

Go to Tools > Background in UPDF and check whether the colored object can be selected separately. If it can, delete the object and confirm that the text remains unchanged.

If the colored area and text are part of the same image, treat the document as a scanned or flattened PDF.

Part 6. How to Delete the Actual Highlighted Text

“Remove highlighted text” can have two different meanings:

• Remove the highlight color but keep the words.
• Delete both the highlight and the words underneath it.

The previous methods remove the highlight annotation only. If you want to erase the actual words, use the PDF editing feature instead.

For an Editable PDF

To delete the actual highlighted text with UPDF:

1. Open the PDF in UPDF.
2. Go to Comment from the top to remove the highlight annotation first if it prevents you from selecting the words.
3. Then, click Close to exit Comment mode and go to Edit.
4. Select the text you want to remove.
5. Press Delete.
6. Adjust the remaining text or layout if necessary.
7. Save the PDF.

You can learn more about using UPDF to edit PDF text, images, and links.

Deleting the actual text changes the document’s content, so make a backup before proceeding.

For a Scanned PDF

If the PDF is scanned, use UPDF’s OCR PDF tool to recognize the text first.

After OCR:

1. Open the processed PDF.
2. Enter Edit mode.
3. Check whether the recognized text can be selected.
4. Delete or replace the required words.
5. Review the page layout.
6. Save the result as a new PDF.

OCR accuracy depends on the scan quality, language, fonts, and page layout. Proofread the edited section before sharing the document.

Part 7. 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 5 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 Inspector 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.

Part 8. Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

Removing highlighted text from a PDF is straightforward when the highlight is an editable annotation. Open the document in UPDF, enter Comment mode, select the highlighted area, and delete it without affecting the words underneath.

If the PDF contains many highlights, UPDF for Windows lets you filter the comment list and use Ctrl or Shift to select multiple highlights before deleting them together. This multi-selection workflow is currently not supported on Mac, where highlights need to be removed individually.

Smallpdf, Adobe Acrobat, Foxit PDF Editor, and PDFgear provide additional ways to remove PDF highlights. Their support for online editing and multiple-comment management varies, so choose the method that matches your device and document.

For flattened or scanned highlights, check whether you can access the original PDF before editing the page content. If you need to delete the actual highlighted words rather than the colored markup, use Edit mode or OCR as appropriate.

For more ways to add, manage, and remove PDF annotations, see UPDF’s guide to annotating PDFs.