2 Simple Ways to Annotate a PDF in Chrome

Want to add notes, highlight text, or draw on PDFs directly in Chrome? In this guide, I’ll show you how to annotate PDFs using a free online PDF editor and an Adobe Chrome Extension.

Whether you’re studying, reviewing documents, or collaborating on projects, these tools make it easy to mark up PDFs without leaving your browser.

Quick Answer

Annotate a PDF in Chrome with a Free Online PDF Editor

PDFgear online PDF editor is the best tool to annotate a PDF in Chrome. It’s completely free to use and doesn’t require any registration, making it incredibly convenient and accessible.

With PDFgear, you can easily add comments, highlight text, and make other annotations directly in your browser. Follow these detailed steps to annotate your PDF in Chrome using PDFgear.

Step 1. Open the PDFgear editor in Chrome

Open Chrome and go to the PDFgear online PDF editor. Click on the “Upload PDF files” button. This will open a file explorer window.

Select your PDF file and click “Open.” You can also drag and drop your file directly into the upload area.

Step 2. Annotate the PDF File Online

Once your PDF is uploaded, it will open in the PDFgear editor.

Click “Add or Edit annotations” in the top right corner to open the annotation toolbar. Now you can use the tools to annotate the PDF:

Notes: Click the note icon, click where you want to add a note, and type your comment.

Shapes: Click the shapes tool to add rectangles, circles, lines, or arrows. Click and drag to draw.

Text: Click the text tool, then click where you want to type.

Stamps and Signatures: Click the stamp tool for stamps or the signature tool to add your signature.

Drawing: Click the drawing tool to draw freehand. Adjust thickness, color, and opacity as needed.

Highlight, Strikethrough, and Underline: Click the highlight, strikethrough, or underline tool and drag over the text.

Step 3. Download the Edited PDF

When you’re done annotating, click the “Download” button in the top right corner. Your annotated PDF will be downloaded.

Annotate PDFs on Google Chrome with Adobe Acrobat Extension

Adobe Acrobat Chrome Extension is a reliable and efficient tool for annotating PDFs in Chrome, offering a wide range of features and seamless integration with Adobe Acrobat. It provides essential annotation tools like highlighting, commenting, and drawing.

It allows you to open PDFs directly in the browser and start annotating without needing to download the file first.

Step 1:  Go to the Chrome Web Store. Search for “Adobe Acrobat” and click on the extension. Click “Add to Chrome” and then “Add Extension” in the pop-up.

Step 2: Click on a PDF link to open it in Chrome, or drag and drop a PDF file into a Chrome tab.

Step 3: Click the Adobe Acrobat icon in the Chrome toolbar (use the puzzle piece icon to pin it if needed). You can use the toolbar to:

Highlight Text: Click the highlight tool and drag over the text.

Add Comments: Click the comment tool (speech bubble icon), click where you want to comment, and type.

Draw: Select the draw tool (pencil icon) and draw on the PDF.

Underline/Strikethrough: Use these tools to mark text.

Step 4. Click the save icon (disk icon) in the toolbar to save your annotated PDF.

The Adobe Acrobat extension allows document annotation but has a confusing interface with many buttons. Its features are somewhat limited, and advanced options require a paid subscription.

FAQs

Does Google have a PDF editor?

Google does not have a specific PDF editor, but it allows you to edit PDFs through Google Docs. You can edit a PDF file with Google Docs as you would a Word file.

Google Docs converts PDF files into Word documents, allowing you to edit them. Once done, you can save the file back in PDF format.

How to draw on a PDF in Chrome?

PDFgear’s online PDF editor offers many drawing tools for you to use in Chrome. You can use your mouse or touchpad to draw on the PDF and adjust the color and thickness of the lines.

Can I annotate a PDF without Adobe?

You can annotate PDFs without Adobe using PDFgear. Its web-based editor and standalone software offer various annotation features like highlighting, drawing, and adding text.

Can you annotate PDFs directly in Google Chrome?

Yes, you can annotate PDFs directly in Google Chrome using online PDF editors. One highly recommended option is PDFgear.

PDFgear offers a user-friendly interface and a variety of annotation features, making it an excellent choice for annotating PDFs directly in Chrome.