Pencil Annotations on PDF Files Disappeared - Recurring Issue

Question

Level 1

4 points

Pencil Annotations on PDF Files Disappeared - Recurring Issue

Just lost 12 pages worth of annotations on my PDF lecture notes. This has happened to me multiple times before regardless of file size, but this time I lost about 5 hours of work which is completely unacceptable. The whole point for me getting an iPad instead of a laptop was to be able to use the pencil annotation feature to directly write/draw on documents.

As I understand, this has been an ongoing issue that Apple has yet to remedy or even address as all the prior instances of similar complaints have been archived or disappeared. I'm assuming this will never be properly fixed, so I'll be migrating to a different OS and platform, but I would appreciate any suggestions in the meantime that could prevent this from happening again.

Things I've tried with varying degrees of success:

Massively reducing the PDF size by breaking it up into smaller files

Keeping iPad plugged in for the duration of the annotating session

Running on low power mode

Converting to .docx format and annotating through Office 360 (Has it's own host of issues)

Annotating files saved locally and through iCloud

These are just the ones I remember off the top of my head, but I've still lost annotations using these methods before. Suggestions for other tablet devices would also be appreciated.

Posted on Oct 7, 2026 2:08 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

LotusPilot

Level 10

329,940 points

Oct 7, 2026 4:35 AM in response to Zurarczurx

Zurarczurx wrote:

I've fixed it for me by using my Mac. I go to print the document then instead of hitting the print button in the print dialogue I use the arrow at the bottom left to open in preview as pdf. This embeds annotations in a new pdf. Unfortunately I haven't found a way to do this on an iPad so if you haven't got a Mac or other PC which can do this then I'm not much help I'm afraid. You might want to experiment with the "copy" function to see if you can get the same effect.

For iPad and iPadOS, you can flatten any printable document to a new PDF by invoking the Print dialogue - either directly using the Print button where available, or using the Share function and then Print...

With the Print dialogue open, you will see thumbnail images for each page. Expand any of the thumbnail images (using the reverse pinch-gesture) to open a preview page - and from here tap the Share button. From the available options, choose Save to Files.

This technique to create a saveable/flattened PDF works consistently across iOS/iPadOS.

Reply

Answer 2

Zurarczurx

Level 5

6,956 points

Oct 7, 2026 2:25 AM in response to GreenMango7

I've fixed it for me by using my Mac. I go to print the document then instead of hitting the print button in the print dialogue I use the arrow at the bottom left to open in preview as pdf. This embeds annotations in a new pdf. Unfortunately I haven't found a way to do this on an iPad so if you haven't got a Mac or other PC which can do this then I'm not much help I'm afraid. You might want to experiment with the "copy" function to see if you can get the same effect.

Reply