How to Add Notes to a PDF in 4 Efficient Ways [Updated]

Read this article to learn how to add notes to a PDF with SwifDoo PDF and three other methods for different devices.  

How to Add Notes to a PDF with SwifDoo PDF

When you ask for a handy PDF annotation or comment app, SwifDoo PDF is always the best choice. The tiny and powerful software lets you add notes to PDF, insert carets, stamps, and stickers, and permanently highlight text in a PDF document. So, the recipients of your file can view the changes in any PDF reader and browser. If needed, you can freely edit, reply, and remove notes from a PDF with SwifDoo PDF.

• Add text, sticky notes, and callouts to a PDF;
• Draw lines, circles, rectangle,s or other shapes to give a note;
• Add notes to a markup or highlight or other annotation;
• View and manage the added notes in one place conveniently. 

Let’s see how to add notes to a PDF in the SwifDoo PDF software for Windows or Mac.

Step 1: Download and launch the software, then click Open to import the PDF you need to add notes to;

Step 2: Tap Annotate on the top to open the toolbar;

• Add sticky notes: click the Note drop-down button - the small triangle icon, choose a note color, locate and hit a position on the PDF, and write your note in the note box. You can move the note box where you like. 

• Add text Notes to a PDF: choose the Typewriter or Text Box tool in the annotation toolbar, click on the PDF, and enter the text. You can select the text to change the font and size. 

• Add notes to a PDF annotation: when you have highlighted or marked up text, you can add a note by right-clicking on the annotation and choosing the Add Note option. Then, a comment note box appears. 

• Write notes on a PDF document into a drawing shape: use the Shapes or Line tool to draw a line, oval, or another shape, right-click on the drawing markup, choose Add Note, and input your note. 

When you need to change the note color, click it and open the color palette in the top left corner, then directly select or use the color picker to select your desired color. To remove notes from the PDF, right-click on them and choose “Delete”.

After you add comments or notes to your PDF, click the “Annotation” icon on the left sidebar to open the annotation panel and see all the notes. All the text comments can be re-edited and replied to. The “Delete all annotations” icon can clear all annotations in a PDF.

This is all about how to add notes to a PDF and manage them with SwifDoo PDF on a Windows PC or Mac. You can also utilize the software to add links and images to PDF files. When you need to edit the existing text or convert, compress, and organize PDFs, look no further than the program. Get SwifDoo PDF for free.

Add Notes to PDF with Preview

Users can natively add notes in a PDF on Mac devices (such as Macbook) with the vendor-supplied PDF and image viewer Preview. The Preview app also allows you to highlight, underline, strikethrough text, and add text boxes to PDFs. The free photo and PDF viewer can even help with image-to-PDF conversion with the export function. Check out how to add notes to a PDF on Mac.

Step 1: Right-click on a PDF file in a file folder to choose Open with and Preview;

Step 2: Click the Show Markup Toolbar icon to open the markup toolbar, then hit the Note button and type the text you want to add as notes.

Preview can help change the note color and edit and delete notes from PDF. In addition to adding a note to a PDF file, you can add a speech bubble by choosing Tools > Annotate > Speech Bubble.

How to Add Sticky Notes to PDF in PDF Expert

PDF Expert is a PDF editor and annotator designed for all Apple devices. With this app, you can easily highlight text, draw lines on a PDF document, and add notes to a PDF document. It allows you to add full pages to a PDF as comments if required. Thanks to the clean and intuitive interface, it has been one of the best sellers in the App Store. The following steps explain how to take notes on a PDF on a Mac and iPad.

Step 1: Open your PDF file with the PDF note-taking app;

Step 2: Go to the Annotate menu on the top and choose the Note tool, then tap on a position in the PDF to add a note or comment.

Excluding the mentioned way, you can add a note to a PDF document by right-clicking on the selected text and selecting “Note” in the context menu. You can drag the note icon to move the note to a different place when necessary.

How to Add Sticky Notes in PDF Using a Browser

Microsoft Edge

When talking about how to add notes to a PDF file, it's safe to say you can do that in a web browser. Microsoft Edge makes it as simple as ABC to take notes on PDF with its built-in PDF viewer and annotator. It has text and sticky notes. When you save the changed PDF and open it in another browser or PDF reader, the notes remain there.

Look at how to add notes on a PDF on Windows or Mac in Microsoft Edge.

Step 1: Open the PDF file with Microsoft Edge;

Step 2: Select the text to which you want to add a comment and highlight, then a menu will pop up. Click the Add comment icon;

Step 3: Add your sticky note. Then, tap the checkmark or X mark to save or close the comment window.

Step 4: Choose the Add text option and tap on a page to add typed notes to PDF. 

That’s how you make notes on and edit a PDF for free in Edge without using an extension or third-party software. To show the comment again after closing it, hit the note icon in the top left corner of the text or click the text to choose “Open comment”. Within the text box, you can tap the “More Options” icon to delete the note if needed.

Google Chrome

Some people who do not have an Edge browser may wonder how to add notes to Adobe PDFs in Chrome. The truth is users cannot do that, and the way to do that is to use Google Drive or an extension.

Follow the instructions below to add notes to a PDF without Acrobat using Google Drive.

Step 1: Open your PDF file in your Drive in Chrome browser;

Step 2: Select specific text and tap the pop-up plus icon to insert comments in the PDF.

Alternatively, you can right-click on the selected text and choose “Add a comment” to add a sticky note.

Kami is the ideal choice for adding notes to a PDF in Chrome with an extension. This PDF note-taking app enables you to add shapes and text boxes to PDF and markup a PDF for free in the browser. Here are simple instructions on how to add a note to a Chrome PDF.

Step 1: Add the extension to your Chrome from Chrome Web Store, allow its access to file URLs, and open your PDF file in Chrome;

Step 2: Click the extension icon to open the PDF, choose Comment, tap the Text Comment icon, and then click anywhere on the PDF to add a note.

When all notes have been added, you can save the PDF to Google Drive or OneNote or download it to your local computer.

What is the Best PDF Annotation App?

The best PDF note-taking or annotation app should be multipurpose. It will let you make notes on PDFs and reply, edit, and delete them with ease. Furthermore, it may allow you to freely hide and show all the notes and comments while reading a PDF.

That being said, for Windows users, SwifDoo PDF perfectly meets the requirements and is light and quick to use. Get it to start your trial!

Conclusion

PDF documents have become commonplace in our lives. It’s not difficult to answer how to add comments in PDFs. If you manipulate PDF files occasionally, the browsers may be enough to use. However, frequent PDF users are recommended to adopt dedicated and affordable PDF software. This software not only allows you to add notes to PDFs but also can handle almost everything related to PDFs.