Delete key does not delete notes in Preview

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Level 1

35 points

Delete key does not delete notes in Preview

Whenever I add a note that is not attached to a highlight, I am unable to delete it. The 'Delete' key option does not work and there is no right-click-menu option to delete it either.

Attaching the note to a highlight is not a good option either because the note obscures the text next to the highlight.

Preview's great for annotating PDFs but the bugs are way too annoying to make it a sustainable PDF reader. Adobe Reader is way better at handling notes.

Posted on Feb 14, 2021 5:24 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Barney-15E

Level 10

122,006 points

Feb 14, 2021 6:23 AM in response to ade6438

When a note becomes active, it is in edit mode, so the delete key is acting on the text.

You have to move the cursor to the border and click on the border with the hand cursor. You can then delete the note.

If the insertion carat blinks, then you are back in the text editing mode.

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Answer 2

VikingOSX

Level 10

123,126 points

Feb 14, 2021 6:30 AM in response to ade6438

In Preview, when you want to delete an annotation, press ⌘+i to open the Inspector panel. The right-most tab in that panel is your ordered annotations. Click the one you want to remove, press the backspace key, and then click once in the PDF and the annotation will disappear.

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Answer 3

VikingOSX

Level 10

123,126 points

Feb 14, 2021 7:33 AM in response to ade6438

If this is a PDF that you already saved as PDF via the print menu, or exported to PDF previously from Preview, then that note annotation will not be removable from the PDF.

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Answer 4

VikingOSX

Level 10

123,126 points

Feb 14, 2021 10:44 AM in response to ade6438

I am on macOS 11.2.1. I open an existing PDF in Preview, add a Note annotation, watch it appear on the document icon, and then manually save the PDF and exit Preview. Upon opening the same PDF in Preview, I can remove the Note annotation as I described earlier. I cannot however duplicate your circumstances as you have described.

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