How to Remove Text from PDF in One Click

To ensure that the content you've created is final, you have it saved as a PDF. However, revisions may follow that would lead you to delete some text from the PDF. Here are 5 methods for you to remove text from PDF:

• PDFelement: Open your PDF in this PDF editor, click Edit Text to add, change, or remove text.
• PDFelement Online: Upload your PDF online, select the text, and delete the text using keyword.
• PDFelement for Mobile: Install the app on your mobile phone, open a PDF, and tap the Edit button.
• Acrobat: Open the PDF editor, click Edit PDF, and delete unnecessary text using the keyboard.
• Microsoft Word: Open a text-based PDF document in Word, delete unwanted text, and save it back to PDF

Method 1: How to Delete Text in PDF with a PDF Editor

If you want a direct way to remove text from a PDF without converting the file first, PDFelement is a straightforward choice. It is designed for PDF editing, so you can click into editable text and remove words, sentences, or entire paragraphs much like you would in a word processor. It can not only delete selected text but also delete text from scanned PDFs.

Moreover, it can help you remove highlights, watermarks, images, and more from PDFs.

The steps to erase text from PDF with PDFelement are very straightforward.

• Step 1. Open the PDF Text Remover

  Open your PDF file. On the Home window, click on the "+" button at the bottom and select the PDF file that you want to edit. If you have recently used a PDF file, you can select it from the recent files list.

  

• Step 2. Delete Text from PDF Permanently

  Click on the "Edit" tab on the top right to enable the editing mode. Place the mouse cursor behind the text you want to delete, and use either the "Backspace" key or press the "Delete" button from your keyboard to delete the text.

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• Step 3. Save the Change

  Now click on the "File" tab in the top menu and hit the "Save As" button to save the PDF file. The text is now deleted permanently from the PDF file.

  

  If you mistakenly remove text from PDF files, you can instantly get it back using the UNDO command (Ctrl + Z) from your keyboard.

Tips for Deleting Text from a Scanned PDF

PDFelement can help you delete text from scanned PDF, for example, deleting handwriting from scanned PDF, which can't be done by an online or free method.

• Open a scanned PDF in PDFelement.
• The program will detect that it is a scanned file and ask you whether to perform OCR on the file.
• Click "Perform OCR," which can create an editable version of the PDF file.
• After OCR, you can delete any text from the PDF files.

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PDFelement is more than just a PDF eraser. It is a feature-rich and easy-to-use PDF editor. You can download it for a free trial.

- Best PDF editing toolkits

Users can adjust almost everything across a PDF document, similar to how users edit files in Microsoft Word. You can Remove highlights from PDF, delete images, links, etc. from PDF.

- Delete text from scanned PDF with OCR

The scanning feature in PDFelement makes it possible to delete text from scanned documents.

- Redact text in PDF

If you need to erase some sensitive texts, you can blackout them to permanently remove them.

- White out text in the PDF

It can also white out existing content from any PDF document.

Method 2: How to Remove Text from PDF Online Free

An online editor is useful when you do not want to install software or when you need to work from a shared or temporary device. PDFelement also offers online PDF tools for you to edit, convert, and organize PDFs with ease.

PDFelement Online lets you edit PDFs online directly in the browser, including changing, replacing, or deleting text. You can follow the steps as explained below.

• Step 1: Open PDFelement Online Text Remover

  Go to the online PDF editor page in your browser. Tap on "Upload" to upload the PDF file to the online tool.

  

• Step 2: Erase Text from PDF

  As the file is uploaded, click the content you want to delete or change. When the text become editable, use keyboard to delete the unwanted content.

  

• Step 3: Save Your Changes

  As you are done with erasing the text from the PDF, tap "Export" to save the PDF with changes.

  

Method 3: How to Delete Text in PDF on a Mobile

If your PDF is stored on your phone or tablet, using a mobile PDF editor can save time. PDFelement is available on mobile, making it possible to edit PDFs without switching to a desktop. This is especially useful for quick corrections to contracts, school files, reports, or forms when you are on the go.

• Step 1: Install and Open PDFelement

  Download and install the PDFelement app on your mobile device, then open the app.

• Step 2: Import Your PDF

  Add your PDF file from your folders, the Files app, Google Drive, OneDrive, or other sources.

  

• Step 3: Make the PDF Editable

  Tap the "+" button and select "Edit" to enable editing for your PDF.

  

• Step 4: Delete the Text

  Select the text you want to remove, tap the three dots, and choose 'Delete' to erase it from your PDF.

  

Method 4: How to Erase Text in PDF on Adobe Acrobat

Acrobat Pro supports direct PDF editing, while Adobe Reader is much more limited and is generally better for viewing, commenting, and form filling. If you have Acrobat Pro, you can delete text directly in the following steps.

Open the PDF in Adobe Acrobat

Start Acrobat and load the file you want to edit.

Choose the PDF Editing Tool

Open Edit PDF so Acrobat can detect editable text and objects in the file.

Remove Text from PDF

Select the word, line, or paragraph you no longer need. Press Delete or Backspace to remove the selected text directly from the PDF.

Save the File.

Save your changes to keep the updated version.

Important note: If the PDF is scanned or image-based, Acrobat may require OCR before the text becomes editable. Also, if you only have Adobe Reader, you usually cannot permanently delete text. At best, you may be able to place a white shape or use annotation-style tools to hide the content visually.

Method 5: How to Remove Words from a PDF for Free(Not for Scanned PDF)

Not all PDF files are created equal. Some PDF files are created with digital text, which means you can easily convert them to editable Word, Excel and delete unwanted text.

• Step 1: Open the PDF in Word

  Right-click a PDF file and select "Open with" > "Microsoft Word" to open the PDF as an editable Word document.

• Step 2: Confirm the Conversion

  Microsoft Word will remind you that it will convert the file to editable Word. Click Yes to confirm.

  

• Step 3: Edit Your PDF

  Now the PDF file is editable, allowing you to delete or add any text you want. After editing, click "File" > "Save as" and save the document back to PDF.

Tip: your PDF files might lose formatting after opening in Word. If you want to keep the formatting, use a PDF editor like PDFelement for text removal.

Erase Text in PDF - FAQs

1. How do I edit and remove text from a PDF?

You need a PDF editor, such as Wondershare PDFelement, to edit and remove text from a PDF. A PDF editor is very useful when you need to fix typos in PDF files.

2. Why can't I delete text from PDF？

The PDF file format is the most stable form of keeping files and their content intact. Offices and many other platforms consider using the Portable Document Format (PDF) so that they cannot be necessarily or mistakenly modified and can be easily shared across different platforms.

However, when you need to modify a PDF file that you recently created, and you are unable to convert it into Word format, a platform that can edit or delete text in your PDF file is the best choice to solve the issue. In other cases, you might feel the need to modify a PDF file before presenting it to your class. Rather than converting the file into another format, a perfect tool would help you delete text from PDF.

3. Can I delete text from a PDF using Adobe Reader?

You may have Adobe Reader on your computer and wonder if you can use it to delete text in PDF for free without downloading a PDF editor. If you only need to delete some words from PDF, Adobe Reader can help you with that. Here is how it works.

• Launch Acrobat Reader on your device and open a PDF document with the words you need to delete.
• Go to "Sign" > "Fill & Sign" and select "Add Dot."
• Pick the white color. Then select the words you want to delete and add white dots on the word until it is covered.
• Click "File" > "Save" to save the change. The word is now invisible on your PDF.

Although the word is not removed from the PDF, it looks like that. It is a workable way if you just need to hide some words in a PDF file.

4. How to remove text from PDF without changing background?

You can remove text from a PDF without changing the background by using a PDF editor that lets you edit only the text layer. Open the PDF in the editor, select the text you want to remove, and delete or replace it. If the background is a separate design element, it should stay untouched.

If the PDF is actually a scanned image, the text may be part of the background itself. In that case, you usually need OCR first or a whiteout/redaction tool, and perfect background preservation may require manual touch-up.

5. Online vs offline PDF text remover: what's the difference?

There are two different platforms whenever PDF editors are taken into discussion: the online and offline platforms. However, there are certain advantages that a user needs to keep in mind while selecting a PDF editor for this purpose.

Advantages of Offline PDF Text Remover:

• Offline PDF editors such as Wondershare PDFelement provide higher security features and guarantee privacy to users while they share their documents across the platform.
• They can operate without an internet connection.
• Feature-rich platforms comprise tools that can offer almost everything an editor supports.

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Benefits of Online PDF Text Remover:

• Online PDF editors are device-compatible, as they run across a variety of devices and systems.
• They are usually free, very easy, and convenient to use.
• Do not usually occupy any static memory of the device across which they operate.

Based on the above comparison, you can select the right solution to delete text in PDF according to your needs. In fact, if you don't mind downloading PDF software on your PC, it is believed that offline PDF platforms are much better than online platforms.

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