How to Extract Comments and Attachments from a PDF

Comments are annotations. A sticky note, highlight, text box, drawing or stamp is a separate object attached to a page, with its own author, date, color and text. The page content underneath doesn't change, which is why comments can be listed, exported or removed without touching the page.

Attachments are whole files stored inside the PDF. They sit in one of two places. The document's embedded files list, which Acrobat shows in its Attachments panel, holds files attached to the document as a whole. A file attachment annotation pins a file to a spot on a page, shown as a paper clip or pin icon. The PDF standard defines both, so a tool that checks only one place can miss files.

PDFToolz Extract PDF Comments reads every annotation in the file and writes one entry per comment. Each entry has the page, type, author, date, note text, color, the comment it replies to and its review status. For highlights, underlines and strikethroughs it also recovers the words under the mark by matching the marked area against the page text.

The PDF is read in your browser on Windows, Mac, iPhone or Android. Nothing is uploaded and you don't need an account.

Choose CSV. The file is UTF-8 with a byte order mark, so Excel shows accents and non-Latin text correctly when you double-click it. In Google Sheets, open File, choose Import and upload the CSV. Line breaks inside a comment stay inside one cell.

Sort by Page to work through the document in order or by Author to split the work between reviewers. Filter the Status column to find comments nobody has accepted or rejected yet. A comment that starts like a formula, such as =SUM(A1) or @name, gets a leading apostrophe, so Excel shows it as text and doesn't run it.

Acrobat keeps its comment exports in the options menu of the comments list. Export All To Data File saves the comments as an FDF or XFDF file. That file holds only the comments, and you or another reviewer can import it into the same PDF with Import Data File. Export Selected To Data File does the same for the comments you select. You can't open an FDF or XFDF file on its own, so the format suits moving comments between copies of a PDF, not reading them in a spreadsheet.

Create Comment Summary builds a new PDF that lists the comments. You choose a layout, a sort order, a page range and whether to include all comments or only the ones currently shown. Acrobat opens the summary as a separate PDF, ready to save or print.

Pick the method by what you do next with the comments. A spreadsheet needs CSV. A printed review pack needs a summary PDF. Moving comments into another copy needs FDF or XFDF.

PDFToolz Extract PDF Attachments lists every embedded file with its name, type, size, the date it was last changed and where it sits, in the attachments panel or on a page. Files come out as the exact bytes that were embedded, so a spreadsheet stays the same spreadsheet. A file listed in both places is saved once.

This is also how you get the XML data out of a ZUGFeRD or Factur-X e-invoice. The invoice data is an embedded XML file, often named factur-x.xml or zugferd-invoice.xml, and you save it like any other attachment.

In Acrobat on Windows, select Menu, then View, Show/Hide, Side panels and Attachments. On a Mac, the path starts at View. The panel lists every file attached to the document. Right-click a file to open it or save it to a folder.

Acrobat and Acrobat Reader refuse to open attachment types they treat as a risk, such as programs. Since the August 2018 release, the blocked list also covers macro-enabled Office files such as .xlsm, .docm and .pptm. If you trust the PDF and need one of those files, Extract PDF Attachments saves it without opening or running it. Scan it with your antivirus before you open it.

A PDF portfolio, also called a PDF package, wraps several files into one PDF. Each file keeps its own format, so one portfolio can hold PDFs, spreadsheets, emails and images. In Acrobat, select a file in the portfolio and use Extract From Portfolio to save it to a folder.

Portfolio files are stored as embedded files, so Extract PDF Attachments lists them too. It doesn't recreate portfolio folders, and every file goes into one folder of the ZIP. A viewer that doesn't support portfolios shows only the cover page. Extract PDF Attachments reads the embedded files directly, so it also works on a phone.

An empty result usually means the marks or files you see are not stored the way the tool looks for them.

Once the comments are in a spreadsheet, you may want a clean copy of the PDF to send on. Remove Annotations deletes every comment, highlight, drawing, stamp and pinned file in one pass and leaves the page content untouched. You choose whether links and form fields stay.

To strip embedded files from the attachments panel along with other hidden data, use Sanitize PDF. Keep the original if you might need the comments or files again.