How to annotate a PDF on iPad (free, no app needed)

You've got a PDF on your iPad (a reading for class, a form, a contract someone emailed) and you want to highlight a line, scribble a note in the margin or sign the last page. Good news on how to annotate a PDF on iPad: you probably don't need to download anything. Markup is already built in. And when you want neater, typed notes, Edit PDF on printfriendly.com runs right in Safari.

Use the Markup tools already on your iPad

The quickest route is the Files app, and it's free.

1. Open Files and tap the PDF to open it.
2. Tap the Markup button.
3. Pick a tool from the tray: a pen, a highlighter, a pencil or the eraser. Tap a color.
4. Write or draw on the page with your finger or an Apple Pencil.
5. Tap Done.

Your marks are saved right into that file, so the next time you open it, or share it, they're there. The plus button in the Markup tray has a few extras: a text box, your signature and shapes like arrows and boxes.

Notes and Preview have the same Markup tools, if that's where your PDF already is.

What the built-in tools are good at, and where they stop

Markup is great at the things you'd do with a real pen. Underlining, circling, scribbling a question in the margin, highlighting a paragraph you'll come back to, and dropping in a quick signature all feel natural, especially with a Pencil.

Where it's less handy:

• Highlighting the text itself. Markup's highlighter is a stroke you drag across the page.
• Comments for someone else. If a coworker or teacher has to read your notes, a neat comment pinned to a spot beats handwriting squeezed into a margin.
• Changing what the PDF says. Markup draws on top of the page. It won't fix a typo in the original text.

That's when it's worth opening the PDF in a real editor.

Annotate a PDF in Safari with PrintFriendly

Edit PDF is a page on our site, so there's nothing to install. It works in Safari on your iPad.

1. Open Edit PDF in Safari.
2. Tap the upload box and choose your PDF from Files.
3. When it opens, pick a tool from the toolbar:
   • Markup has Highlight, Underline and Strikethrough. They follow the actual lines of text, so a highlight sits exactly on the words.
   • Add Text drops a text box anywhere on the page.
   • Comment leaves a note on a spot, for whoever reads the file next.
   • Draw is freehand, in any color and seven line thicknesses.
   • Add Shape gives you lines, arrows, rectangles, ellipses, check marks and cross marks.
   • Sign adds a signature.
   • Add Image places a picture on the page, like a logo or a photo of a stamp.
   • Edit Text changes the words already in the PDF.
4. Tap Download, then PDF.

Using the editor is free. Downloading the finished PDF takes a free account. The file limits and what the account covers are in What Each PDF Tool Does.

One thing to know before you send the file: when you download a PDF you've drawn, typed, highlighted or signed on, there's a Lock annotations box under PDF, and it's ticked already. Leave it ticked and your drawings, text and highlights become part of the page, so nobody can move or delete them in another PDF app. Untick it if you'll want to keep editing those marks later.

Write, draw and sign: which tool for which job

Writing by hand. If you want to write on a PDF on iPad the way you'd write on paper, Markup in Files is hard to beat, because it's right there and a Pencil feels like a pen. Edit PDF's Draw tool works for this too.

Typing. A typed note is easier for someone else to read than handwriting. Use Add Text in Edit PDF for a note that sits on the page, or Comment for one that's pinned to a spot. To change a word that's already in the document, that's Edit Text, and it's the one thing Markup can't do at all. It works best on PDFs with real, selectable text, not scans.

Drawing arrows and boxes. A freehand circle drawn with a finger usually looks a bit lumpy. Shapes fix that: an arrow points exactly where you put it, and an ellipse looks like you meant it. Markup has shapes behind its plus button, and Edit PDF has them under Add Shape. There's more on this in our post on how to draw on a PDF.

Signing. To sign a PDF on iPad, Markup's signature is the quick way for your own files. In Edit PDF, tap Sign, then Add Signature, or Upload image if you already have a picture of your signature. Signatures you've added show up in that same menu. If signing is the only thing you need to do, Sign PDF is a page made just for that, and it can add your name and the date along with the signature.

When a dedicated app is worth it

For a PDF now and then, the two free routes above cover it. If you annotate every day for school, a note-taking app like Goodnotes or Notability keeps notebooks and handwritten notes organized in a way Files doesn't. And if reviewing documents is your whole job, a full PDF app adds things like stamps and exporting a list of every comment. Most people never need either.