Add Comments to PDF: Real Comments with Your Name

1. 00

   What's great about our PDF comment tool

   • Your PDFs never leave your device. Every comment is added right in your browser.
   • Real PDF comments, with your name and the date, that a viewer lists in its comments panel.
   • Five comment colours.
   • Move, edit, Undo and delete any comment before you save.
   • Add comments to many PDFs at once, with a ZIP download.
   • Free, no limits, no watermark, and it works offline after your first visit.
2. 01

   Add your PDFs

   Choose PDFs or drag them into the preview. The first PDF opens as a vertical list of large pages, which is the easiest place to place comments. Use Add More to add others later.

3. 02

   Add comments

   • Write your name in Author, and type your comment. It appears at once on the page you are looking at, already selected, so pick a colour and drag it where it belongs. Click on another spot of a page to add the comment there too.
   • Choose Every Page in Pages to put the same comment in the same spot of every page. Use Position to place it at a corner, an edge or the centre, and 1-Click Mode to add a comment with a click or a double click.
   • Click a bubble to select it. The preview shows a card with its words, as a viewer would. Drag the bubble to move it, edit it in the box, or press Delete. Undo steps back.
   • Press Ctrl+A (Cmd+A on a Mac) to select every comment in your PDFs, then change the options to change them all.
   • Press Ctrl+C then Ctrl+V (Cmd+C then Cmd+V on a Mac) to copy the selected comment and paste it where your pointer is on the page.
4. 03

   Add Comments and download

   Click Add Comments, then Download. Change anything and the button goes back to Add Comments, ready for another run. Several PDFs download together as a ZIP.

5. 04

   Loved it?

   • If you're on computer, bookmark this page to your browser.
   • If you're on mobile, add it to your home screen for one-tap access and offline use.
     • Android: Visit this page in Google Chrome > tap three-dot icon (⋮) at top > Install and create shortcut.
     • iPhone and iPad: Visit this page in Safari > tap menu icon in address bar > Share > Add to Home Screen.

How it works

A comment is saved the way a PDF viewer saves its own: as a Text annotation on the page, with the words, the author, the date and a speech-bubble look. The page itself is never redrawn, so its own text, images, links and forms stay exactly as they were.

After the file is made, it is opened again and compared with your original: the page count, page sizes, rotation, text and links must all match what they should, and every comment must be there. If anything differs, no file is produced for that PDF.

Frequently asked questions

• Is my PDF uploaded anywhere? No. Everything happens in your browser, on your device. Your PDF is never sent to a server.
• What is a PDF comment? A comment is a small note stored on a page, apart from the page itself. A PDF viewer shows it as a speech-bubble icon, opens it as a pop-up note when you click it, and lists it in its comments panel with the author and the date. It does not change the page, and it can be hidden, replied to or deleted in the viewer.
• How do I add a comment? Type your comment and it appears on the page you are looking at. Drag it where it belongs, or click on another spot to add more. Click a bubble afterwards to select it, and whatever you type or change changes it.
• Where is the author name from? From the Author box. Every comment gets the name that is in the box when it is made, and the name of a selected comment changes when you change the box. With no name, the author is Reviewer.
• Why does the PDF show only the bubble, not the author and my words? That is how a PDF comment works. The page holds a small bubble, and the author, the date and your words are stored inside it. A viewer shows them when you hover over or click the bubble, and lists them in its comments panel. If you need the words to show on the page itself, and to print, use Add Note to PDF.
• Can I add the same comment to many pages? Yes. Choose Every Page in Pages and the comment is put in the same spot of every page of that PDF. Moving or changing one of them moves or changes them all. Use Position to send it to a corner, an edge or the centre of every page.
• Why does the preview show a card with my words? It shows what a viewer shows when you click the bubble. The card is only in the preview, and it is not drawn on the page.
• Which viewers show the comments? Chrome, Adobe Acrobat and most other full PDF viewers show the bubble and open the comment when you hover over or click it. Mac's Preview and some phone and browser viewers do not show the comments, so open the PDF in Chrome or Adobe Acrobat to read them.
• Can the comments be removed later? Yes. Any PDF viewer can delete them, or use Remove Comments from PDF to remove every comment at once. Keep your original file if you want a copy with no comments.
• How is this different from Add Note to PDF? Add Note to PDF draws a coloured box with your words on the page itself, so it shows everywhere and prints, but it is not a comment. Add Comments to PDF makes a real comment that the viewer manages, and it does not print by default.
• Which PDFs are not supported? Password-protected PDFs cannot be processed. Remove the password first with PDF Password Unlock. Digitally signed PDFs can be processed, but rewriting the file invalidates the signature.

What happens to your file

Nothing is uploaded, stored on a server or tracked. Your PDFs stay in your browser's memory until you remove them or close the page. The comments are stored in each PDF, where any viewer can change or delete them.

How to get the most out of it

• Put your name in Author, so the people who open the PDF know who wrote each comment.
• Use a different colour for each person or kind of comment.
• Put a comment beside the text it is about, not on top of it.
• To mark text, use Highlight PDF. To write words that show on the page and print, use Add Note to PDF.
• Keep your original file if you want a copy with no comments.