How To Undo Highlighting in PDF Using 7 Top Tools

Part 1. How to Undo Highlighting Text in PDF on Mac and Windows

If you want to undo highlighting text in PDF on your Mac or Windows computer, below are the top three software programs to get this done in no time.

1. Afirstsoft PDF

Afirstsoft PDF, although a relatively new player in the market, has all the tools to remove highlighted parts in your PDF documents. Here’s how:

1. Go to the Afirstsoft PDF web page and download either the Windows or the macOS version of the software on your computer.Then, open the Downloads folder and click the installation file to install the app.
2. Open Afirstsoft PDF on your computer, sign in to your account, click Open or + at the top left corner, browse to your PDF file, and click Open. To import files from the Afirstsoft PDF cloud, Files in the top corner, click Cloud Files, search for the PDF, and click it. You can also simply right-click the PDF and choose Open With Afirstsoft PDF from the menu.
3. Now, scroll to the page where you’ve highlighted text, right-click it, and choose Delete to undo it.

4. To access all the highlights in one place, click the Comments icon located on the left sidebarto open the Comment List panel. Here, click the Filter option at the top, choose Highlight, and click Apply. This will only show the highlighting annotation in the Comment List panel.

5. Now, right-click the markups one by one and choose Delete to undo the highlighting.

2. Adobe Acrobat Reader

Many users prefer Adobe Acrobat Reader to edit their PDF files, and luckily, you can use this software on your Windows or Mac PC as well to remove the highlighted annotation, too. Here are the steps:

1. Open your computer's Microsoft Store or Mac App Store, find Adobe Acrobat Reader using the search option, and click Install or Get. You can also download and then install the Adobe Acrobat Reader file version from its official website.After that, click the installation file in the Downloads folder and go along with the on-screen instructions to install the app.
2. Right-click the PDF file on your computer, select Open With, and click Acrobat Reader from the list of available applications. Alternatively, Open Acrobat Reader, choose Your Computer under Other File Storage, click Browse, and select your file from the PC. If the file is saved in the Adobe Cloud, simply choose Your Files, Scans, Shared By You, or Shared by Others under Adobe Cloud Storage and import it from here.
3. Simply go to the highlighted section, click Tools on top, select Comments, and click on the highlighted text.
4. Now, click the three dots in the right pane and choose Delete. 

5. To undo all the highlighting in the PDF file, click the Chat icon in the left sidebar to open the Comments pane. Here, click the Filter icon at the top corner of the panel, choose Highlight under Type, and click Apply to save the changes.
6. Next, just right-click the highlighting and select Delete. Otherwise, click one highlighted markup, press Shift, and select the rest one by one, right-click on them, and click Delete.

3. Preview

Preview, a default macOS app, offers a quick way to get rid of highlighted sections in your PDF file this way:

1. Right-click the PDF on your Mac, select Open With, and select Preview from the list. Otherwise, open Preview, click File at the top left corner of the screen, choose Open, select the PDF file with highlighting to import, and click Open.
2. After that, control-click the text on the PDF and simply click Remove Item from the shortcut menu to undo the highlighting.

3. You can also click any highlighted parts of the text to open the Toolbar and then click the Delete icon.

Part 2. How to Undo a Highlight In a PDF Online

Online PDF tools let you edit, markup, and even get rid of annotations like undo highlighting right on your browser. Below are the two tools that offer the best experience for this task.

1. SmallPDF

The lightweight browser version of SmallPDF has everything you need to easily delete highlighted portions in your PDF document. Do these steps:

1. Visit the SmallPDF Annotator websiteusing a browser on your computer, then click Explore All PDF Tools from the homepage and select PDF Annotator from the list of tools.
2. Next, sign into your account, drag and drop your PDF onto the webpage, or click Choose Files, locate your file, and click Open to access the editor. Otherwise, click the drop-down menu next to Choose Files, and select SmallPDF cloud storage, Google Drive, and Dropbox to import your PDF from there.
3. Now, scroll to the highlighted text, click it, and choose the Delete icon that appears below to undo.

2. Drawboard

Drawboard is yet another online PDF tool that you can use to undo highlighting text in a few simple steps. Here’s how:

1. Launch Drawboard online and open the PDF file where you want to remove the highlighting.
2. Click the Eraser tool in the right pane.
3. Select the highlighted text to erase the entire annotation.

Part 3. How to Undo Highlighting Text In PDF - Android and iOS

It’s possible that you may want to remove the highlighted text in your PDF file on the go. For this purpose, PDF mobile editing apps can serve you best. Here are the two tools that can greatly help you get along with this process.

1. PDF Expert

Undoing highlighted text in the PDF Expert app on iOS is a quick and simple process. If you've accidentally highlighted text or no longer need a particular highlight, follow these steps to remove it.

1. Begin by launching the PDF Expert app on your iPhone or iPad. Open the PDF document that contains the highlighted text you wish to undo.
2. Navigate through the document to find the text that has been highlighted. Once you’ve found the highlight, tap directly on the highlighted text. This action will result in a context menu appearing on your screen, offering several options related to the selected annotation.
3. In the context menu, you will then see an optionto "Delete" the highlight. Tapping this option will immediately erase the highlight, returning the text to its original, unhighlighted state.

4. After you’ve removed the highlight, it’s very important to save your PDF document to make sure the changes are not lost.PDF Expert typically saves changes automatically, but it’s always a good practice to confirm that your document is saved.

2. Xodo PDF Editor

Xodo PDF editor works great on Android and iOS devices for managing and editing your PDFs. The same can be said while you are stuck with undoing highlighting text in your document.

1. Open Search for Xodo PDF Editor in the App Store/Play Store on your iOS or Android device.
2. Tap Get or Install to install Xodo PDF Editor.
3. Go to the Files tab from the navigation menu and tap +.
4. Tap Open File, select On My Device, Xodo Drive, or any Cloud Storage option under Other Storage, and choose your PDF file to import.
5. Scroll and go to the page where you want to remove the highlighted section of the text.
6. Tap and hold the highlighted part, and a sub-menu will open.
7. Tap the Recycle icon and the highlighting color will be removed from that particular annotation in your document.

Part 4. FAQs Related to Undoing Highlightext Text In PDF

How do I recover highlighted text in PDF?

If you’ve just removed the highlight and haven’t closed the document yet, press the Ctrl + Z (Windows) or Command + Z (Mac) keys on the keyword, and the highlighted text in your PDF will show up again.

How do I remove shading from a PDF document?

Whether you have shaded your Highlight, Underline, or Strikethrough annotations in different shades on Afirstsoft PDF, you can simply remove them by clicking on them, right-clicking, and selecting Delete.

How to undo highlight in PDF?

Download the Afirstsoft PDF Windows or Mac version and install it on your computer. Then, import the PDF file on which you want to undo a highlight. Next, go to the page where you see the highlighted text, right-click it, and click Delete to undo it.

How do you undo highlighting in PDF preview?

First, open the PDF document on the Preview macOS app, control-click the text on the document, and then click Remove Item from the shortcut menu to undo the highlighting. You can also do this by clicking the highlighted part, which will open the Toolbar, and then clicking the Delete icon.

Part 5. Conclusion

In this guide, you’ve learned how to undo highlighting in PDF while using desktop programs, online (browser-based) tools, and mobile apps.

If you are a Windows or Mac user who wants to fix mistakes or refine notes in your PDF documents, Afirstsoft PDF can take your PDF editing to the next level. Try Afirstsoft PDF for even more powerful features that simplify document management, allowing you to create, edit, and perfect your PDFs with ease. So download it today and experience the difference!