How to Remove Highlights from PDF | Online & Offline Ways

Published 2022-08-21

Highlighting text phrases in PDF files is vital to remember what’s important and what needs the reader’s attention. But not just marking important stuff, knowing how to unhighlight in PDF is also imperative, as it breaks the neat cohesiveness of the document. If you’ve over-highlighted your document or accidentally highlighted the wrong parts, you can easily fix it using a highlights remover tool to prevent unwanted distractions.

Keep reading this blog post and learn multiple ways to erase highlights in PDF via offline and online ways.

You might want to read: 8 Best PDF Managers for PDF Management

How To Erase Highlights From PDF Files

We will focus on some great software you must use to undo highlighting in PDF. You will also learn about some practical online web-based applications and web browsers that facilitate unhighlighting in PDF.

1. Adobe Acrobat Reader DC

Adobe Acrobat is a well-known software designed to manage single or multiple PDF files. It is a freemium software with various tools to create, print, and manipulate PDF files according to users’ needs & preferences. Its free version facilitates viewing, printing, and annotating PDF files. In contrast, the paid version of Adobe Acrobat provides tools to edit, digitally scan, convert PDF files, and undo highlighting in PDF.

How to remove highlights from PDF using Adobe Acrobat Reader DC?

Step 1: Download and Install Adobe Acrobat on your Computer/ Laptop.

Step 2: Select the Edit PDF option in the Tools menu, located at the top-left corner of the screen.

Step 3: Open the PDF you want to remove highlights from.

Step 4: Select the text you want to unhighlight in PDF and Click on the Comment option on the right-side toolbox.

(Once you click on Comments options, a pop-up box will appear in front of your screen, showing the list of highlighted texts/comments.)

Step 5: Right-click on the highlight you wish to remove from the PDF and click the Delete option.

Thus, in 5 easy steps, you can erase highlights in PDF using Adobe Acrobat.

2. Wondershare PDFelement

Wondershare PDFelement is another user-friendly software that comes packed with various PDF-editing and management tools like editing texts/images, converting the PDF into Word docs, Excel sheets, PPTS, combining many files into a single PDF, and more. It also facilitates batch-editing functionality to manage a couple of PDFs easily. Most importantly, its highlights remover does a decent job erasing highlighted sections!

How to remove highlights from PDF using Wondershare PDFelement?

Step 1: Download and Install Wondershare PDFelement on your PC.

Step 2: Open the software Click on the Edit option on the Quick tools page

Step 3: Open the PDF from which you wish to remove highlights.

Step 4: Click the Edit Tab option under the Menu Tab and Select the highlighted text in the PDF.

Step 5: Right-click on the selected text and select the Delete option.

That’s it! Now you have a PDF that is highlight-free, thanks to Wondershare PDFelement!

Apart from these two PDF editing and highlight remover tools, there are different applications that you can install and get the job done, like Nitro PDF, Foxit PDF editor, and PDFEscape. With the first option – Nitro PDF, you can follow the same process as Wondershare PDFelement to remove highlights from PDF. Select the highlighted text > Right Click > Click Delete.

And, the process to undo highlighting in PDF using Foxit PDF editor and PDFEscape is similar to what we did using Adobe Acrobat Reader DC. Select the highlighted text > Click Comments > Choose the highlight you want to remove > Delete.

Must-Read: 10 Best Free PDF Writer for Windows 10,8 and 7

How To Remove Highlights From PDF Using Web-Based Applications?

If you don’t want to install a highlights remover tool on your PC/laptop, consider using an online tool to get the job done.

1. Smallpdf

Smallpdf is an excellent web-based application for all PDF functions like convert & compress, split & merge, view & edit, convert from PDF, convert to PDF, sign & security, and most importantly, undo highlighting in PDF.

How to remove highlights from PDF using Smallpdf?

Step 1: Open the Smallpdf website online.

Step 2: Go to the Tools menu and Select PDF editor. Choose the file from which you want to erase the highlight in PDF.

Step 3: Click on the text to undo highlighting in PDF.

Step 4: Click on the Delete option to remove highlights from PDF.

With these 4 easy steps, you now know how to use the Smallpdf application as a highlight remover!

2. PDF4me

PDF4me is a web-based application that facilitates PDF conversions into & from Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Image formats. You can also optimize and edit PDFs easily. PDF4me also allows you to password-protect your PDF. You can remove highlights from PDF in 3 easy steps.

How to remove highlights from PDF using PDF4me?

Step 1: Open the PDF4me website online.

Step 2: Go to the “All Tools” menu and Select PDF editor. Choose the file from which you want to erase the highlight in PDF.

Step 3: Click on the text and Select the Delete option to undo highlighting in PDF.

There you have it! An easy 3-step process to erase highlights from PDF using a web-based application.

Must-Read: How To Easily Edit PDFs On Mac: Offline & Online Ways (2022)

How To Remove Highlights From PDF Using In-Built Web Browser?

Fortunately, using a web browser like Microsoft Edge, you can remove highlights from PDFs easily.

Microsoft Edge

Microsoft Edge is a secure web browser that helps you protect your data. It allows you to open PDFs and provides you with a minimal yet essential set of tools for PDF manipulation. Microsoft Edge can also be used as a highlight remover in 2 easy steps.

How to remove highlights from PDF using Microsoft Edge?

Step 1: Open the PDF file in Microsoft Edge and Select the highlighted text.

Step 2: Click on the highlights option > Select None to remove highlights from PDF.

And now you have a web browser, too, that you can use as a highlight remover!

You might want to read: 10 Best PDF Reader Extensions For Chrome, Firefox, and Other Browsers

Wrapping Up The Guide On How To Undo Highlighting In PDF (2022)

Highlighting the text is very important to understand where to focus while reading, but being able to undo highlighting is equally essential when a need arises. The software and web-based applications mentioned above aim to be the highlights remover for your PDF files.

You can go through these software’s website pages and learn more about them before installing and using them. But if you want our suggestion, we recommend you go with Adobe Acrobat Reader DC!

Since Adobe Acrobat Reader DC is the best application to remove highlights from PDF and for performing PDF manipulation & editing, we recommend you use it the most. It has free and premium versions, so all kinds of customers’ needs & requirements can be fulfilled! Follow us on social media – Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

NEXT READ: