Whether you're a student, professional, or researcher, you often have to spend hours taking notes from PDF books, reports, and papers.
This process sometimes becomes tiring without the right tools, especially when you need to highlight important sections, add comments, or organize your notes effectively.
Here, we’ll explore the best PDF note taking app for different devices so you can easily select the one that suits your needs.
Part 1. Best PDF Note Taking App Windows
The best app for reading PDFs and taking notes on a Windows PC should offer ease of use and a simple interface. So here are a few programs that stand out from the rest and make the whole process efficient for you.
1. Afirstsoft PDF
When it comes to the best free PDF note taking app, Afirstsoft PDF provides you with multiple options to bring attention to important points, insert explanations, and even attach pop-up notes while studying or reviewing detailed reports.
The best part? Afirstsoft PDF offers these features for free. It also has a premium plan that will cost you $7.99 per month, $44.99/yr, or $55.99 for three years, which comes with more cloud storage and PDF file size.
Features:
- Highlight or underline important points in the book, paper, or report.
- Strike out or tilde content that is not related to your work.
- Attach text boxes on the PDF to include extra info or extract key data from the file.
- Use over 100+ stickers in note, number, summer, mood, write, tips, mark, and other categories.
Pros
- Set the opacity and color of the notes on the file.
- Use the eye-dropper tool to extract specific color pixels for the notes.
- Different font styles, sizes, and alignment options for text notes.
- Comment panel to access all the text notes, pop-up notes, and other markups.
Cons
- No pen or pencil tool for freehand drawings or handwritten notes.
2. Microsoft OneNote
Microsoft OneNote is another best PDF note taking app for Windows free of any cost. The app supports handwriting and typed notes, which allow you to choose how you want to interact with your documents. You can also highlight your text, add shapes, create a to-do list, and even attach audio/video files to your PDFs.
Features:
- Use a solid or multi-color pen tool to add handwritten notes to the PDF files or draw shapes.
- Highlight text in different colors.
- Add Important pop-up notes to the right panel with the PDF file.
- Record lecture or meeting minutes to attach to the PDF so you can take notes later.
- Add lines, basic oval, rectangle, parallelogram, triangle, and graph shapes to the PDFs.
Pros
- Lasso tool to select all the notes.
- Eraser tool to remove the highlights, shapes, and notes from the PDF.
- Full page view to add handwritten notes and drawings in the right side panel with the PDF file.
Cons
- Does not have underline, strike-out, or squiggly tools.
3. Evernote
When talking about a best free PDF note taking app, one can not ignore Evernote, which supports adding text or handwritten notes, annotating key information, and blurring unwanted content on the PDF file.
Evernote has a free version with limited features and a premium plan that costs $14.99 per month or $10.83/yr.
Features:
- Use the pen or area highlighter to bring attention to important data on PDFs.
- Add text boxes or use the pen tool to include additional information in the notes.
- Use checkmarks, crosses, question marks, and other stamps on your PDF notes.
- Rectangle, ellipse, rounded rectangle, and line shapes to select specific content.
- Pixelated tool to blur unnecessary parts of the PDF notes.
Pros
- Different line thickness options for pen, highlighter, and shape tools.
- Multiple colors to choose from for highlighting text or writing content on the PDFs.
- Clear annotations option for removing unnecessary notes from the file.
- Share and collaborate on notes with anyone.
Cons
- The AI note summarization feature is unreliable.
Part 2. Best PDF Note Taking App for Mac
Afirstsoft PDF not only works smoothly on Windows, but it is also the best program for taking notes on PDF on Mac PCs. However, we’ll discuss a few other alternatives below:
1. Apple Notes
Apple Notes is a pre-installed, free note-taking app on Mac devices that comes with tools to add handwritten content, draw diagrams, or add text boxes. It stores your notes on iCloud, which has up to 5 GB of free space.
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Image alt: Apple Notes for pdf note taking
Features:
- Highlight text on your documents with different thicknesses and colors.
- Draw anything or add handwritten notes on the PDFs using the Pen tool.
- Add text boxes on files to summarize content in bullets or add additional information.
- Use shapes like circles, rectangles, and others to highlight key data.
Pros
- Multiple font styles and sizes to add text notes.
- Fill and stroke options for filling the shapes as you prefer.
- Password lock protection for notes.
- Sync notes across Mac and iOS devices.
- Collaborate on PDF notes with your peers.
- Add additional pages to PDF notes and import images or other media attachments.
Cons
- Has no undo feature to go back to the previous changes.
2. Bear
Bear is an amazing note-taking app that takes impromptu notes, adds tags to organize the points, and even creates links between them for better navigation.
The app has a basic free version with limited features and a premium Bear Pro plan that costs $2.99/month.
Features:
- Organize notes in headings for better readability.
- Bold, underline, or strikethrough text to mark up key points for the notes.
- Add different tags to the notes to find them quickly or group different content together.
- Attach another note file to PDFs.
- Add text notes to the file with different font styles, colors, and sizes.
Pros
- Saves a copy of PDF notes on iCloud so you can access them later.
- Protects PDF notes with a password to prevent others from going through them without your permission.
- Word count feedback and focus mode for taking notes on the file without any distractions.
- Cross-link feature to link one note with another.
Cons
- Has no web, Android, or Windows version.
3. Simplenote
Simplenote, developed by Automattic (the company behind WordPress), is a completely free app for those who want to quickly jot down ideas, create to-do lists, or organize thoughts without any distractions.
Features:
- Take notes in multiple text styles, sizes, and colors.
- Add notes with headings to better understand the content.
- Use tags to group similar content or topics and organize the notes.
- Publish notes online and share them via a public link.
- Collaborate option to work on notes with your peers or colleagues.
Pros
- Sort tags alphabetically to organize them.
- Saves notes automatically and synchronizes them across devices.
- Version history option so you can go back to your original file at any time.
- Search option to find any content in the PDF notes.
- Cross-linking between notes.
Cons
- No markup features to highlight, underline, or strikethrough text.
Part 3. Best Android App for Taking Notes on PDF
Having the right tool makes all the difference when you are taking notes in PDF files on your Android device. That’s why we’ve listed some of the best apps for this purpose:
1. Flexcil
Flexcil is a free note-taking and PDF reader app that lets you quickly add text or handwritten notes, mark up important content, and attach diagram images.
Features:
- Use the simple pen tool to draw diagrams or write notes.
- Add sticky notes to PDFs alongside the original content.
- Use Highlighter with a ruler to highlight content on PDFs for note-taking.
- Record the audio and attach it to the PDF so you can take notes.
- Use the Shape tool to draw any shape on the file and fill it with the desired color.
- Attach Word, Excel, and other files with the PDF to explain the text.
Pros
- Lasso tool to select all the notes on the PDF file.
- An Undo option to reverse the last action you’ve performed while taking notes.
- Eraser tool with up to 50px thickness.
- A sticker library to add shapes and illustrations to PDFs.
Cons
- Pens, highlighters, and stickers libraries are limited.
2. Obsidian
From personal notes to knowledge bases, project management, and journaling, Obsidian is specially designed to help you manage complex information on Canvas and link PDF notes together.
The app is free for personal use, but it has a paid version for additional features that costs $50 per year for commercial use.
Features:
- Take notes using different templates and organize the content into bullets.
- Insert tables in the file to make information more clear and simple.
- Attach a callout to the file to add your notes.
- Use Highlighter to point out important paragraphs in the file.
- Add code lines, blockquotes, or math blocks to the notes.
- Bold, italicize, or strike out text on the file.
Pros
- Organize notes into numbered or dot bullets and checklists.
- Undo and redo options for reverse or repeat your previous actions while taking notes.
- Add hashtags to your notes.
Cons
- UI is slightly complex and may be difficult for novice users to use.
3. Google Keep
Known for its ease of use, Google Keep allows you to take handwritten or digital text notes, create checklists, and set reminders to go study or update them later. Google Keep is completely free to use.
Features:
- Sketch and draw diagrams or shapes on PDF notes using the Pen or Pencil tools.
- Add text notes to the file.
- Bold, italicize, underline, or strike out text in the PDF notes.
- Highlight key points on the file.
- Add a background and color code to PDF notes to find them quickly.
- Use the recording option to dictate and transcribe notes.
Pros
- Attach labels with names to the notes to organize them.
- Collaborate on the PDF notes with your colleagues or study groups.
- Add images of tables or diagrams to the PDF notes.
- Share notes via a link with others.
Cons
- No option to export the notes.
Part 4. Best PDF Note Taking App for iPad
For iOS users looking for the best iPad app for taking notes on PDF, below are some top choices:
1. Notion
Being the best iPad app for PDF note taking, Notion provides you with options to highlight paragraphs, add comments, or attach media files of diagrams on your PDFs while making notes for your exam or studying a report.
Notion offers a free version with essential features. It also has three premium plans, starting with Plus, which is $10 per seat/month.
Features:
- Use Highlighter to bring attention to specific content on the PDF.
- Add callouts to PDF notes
- Use AI assistant to summarize PDF content or take notes automatically.
- Attach line, horizontal bar, donut, vertical bar, or other charts to your notes.
Pros
- Different heading styles for organizing PDF notes.
- Create to-do lists on your file.
- Add emoji icons on your PDFs for different purposes while taking notes.
Cons
- Use blocks for every element that requires a bit of a learning curve.
2. Notability
Notability is often praised as the best free PDF note-taking app for iPad because it lets you convert your lengthy books, articles, or blogs into summarized form without costing you a dime.
It does come with in-app purchases that cost $14.99 per year and gives you access to unlimited edits.
Features:
- Use the Pen tool to write notes with a stylus or fingers.
- Draw or sketch on the PDF notes using the Pencil tool.
- Highlight text on the PDFs.
- Record lecture while taking notes.
- Add pages with different styles to PDFs to take notes.
Pros
- Partial and whole eraser tools for removing drawings.
- Convert handwriting to text.
- Add images to your PDF notes.
- Tape to hide key information in your notes and take a quiz.
Cons
- No callouts or sticky note options.
Part 5. Conclusion
In conclusion, we’ve discussed the best PDF note taking apps for Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS. We’ve explored their pricing, features, pros, and cons to give you a bigger picture.
In these apps, Afirstsoft PDF offers far more advanced features that let you quickly take notes. We highly recommend installing the app now and interacting with your PDFs without much hassle.
