How to draw on a PDF on Windows and save the changes?

Microsoft Journal is worth considering if you use a pen-enabled Windows device. It’s a free handwriting app that lets you import PDFs, write over the pages, and export the result.

1. Install Microsoft Journal from the Microsoft Store and create or open a journal.
2. Use Import PDF to bring the document into that journal.
3. Choose a pen or highlighter and adjust its color and thickness. Add handwritten notes, circles, and arrows over the imported pages.
4. Remove unwanted ink with the eraser, Undo, or Journal’s scratch-out gesture when enabled.
5. Open the journal menu and use its Export to PDF option. Choose the pages you need and save a new PDF.
6. Open the exported file in another viewer to check that the annotations and all required pages are included. Keep the journal for later editing.

The main limitation is input: Journal is designed primarily for a digital pen and touch, so it isn’t the best choice for a mouse-only laptop. It also isn’t a full shape-drawing or PDF-editing application; expect to draw arrows and circles by hand. Export creates a new PDF, and you shouldn’t rely on it to preserve the original document’s links, forms, bookmarks, or individually editable PDF annotations.

Okular is a free PDF viewer with annotation tools, and it’s available for Windows. It can save your markings into the PDF without changing the original text.

1. Open the PDF in Okular.
2. Press F6, or choose Tools > Annotations, to display the annotation toolbar.
3. Choose Freehand Line for handwriting. Use the ellipse, polygon, or line tools for other shapes. For arrows, select a straight-line annotation and set an arrowhead in its properties where available.
4. Adjust the appearance. Right-click a completed annotation and open Properties to change its color, opacity, or line width, depending on the annotation type.
5. Remove unwanted marks by selecting or right-clicking the annotation and choosing Delete, or use Undo immediately after drawing.
6. Choose File > Save As, save a new PDF, and open that copy in another viewer to confirm the annotations appear.

Okular is particularly useful if you want PDF annotations rather than drawings baked into the page. Its main drawback for handwriting is that deleting a whole freehand annotation is more straightforward than erasing small portions of a stroke. Some restricted PDFs may also prevent annotations from being saved.

If you’re comfortable with a little Python, PyMuPDF can add freehand ink, circles, and arrows to a PDF and save them as annotations without changing the original text. Everything runs locally.

The relevant methods are add_ink_annot(), add_circle_annot(), and add_line_annot(). You can set the annotation color and line width, then save a separate copy with doc.save("annotated.pdf").

The catch is that it’s a programming library, not a drawing interface. It works well for scripted markup, but drawing directly with a mouse or stylus would require a separate interface.

OneNote on Windows is an option if you already have it. 
Choose Insert > File Printout to place the PDF pages into a note, then use the Draw tab for pens, colors, thickness, an eraser, and shapes.

Once you’ve finished, use File > Export to export the OneNote page as a PDF. Open the exported file to check that the pages haven’t been cut off or resized unexpectedly.

There is one trade-off: this creates a new PDF from the printout and your drawings. It doesn’t preserve the original PDF’s selectable text, links, or editable annotations, so keep the original file.

Firefox can do this with its built-in PDF viewer, so you do not need a separate PDF editor.

1. Open the PDF in Firefox by dragging the file into a browser window.
2. Click the Draw button in the PDF toolbar. Choose the pen color, thickness and opacity.
3. Draw directly on the page with your mouse or stylus. You can handwrite notes and sketch circles or arrows without changing the original text.
4. To remove an unwanted drawing, select it and use its delete/trash control. For a mistake you just made, use Ctrl + Z.
5. Click the PDF viewer’s Save/Download button and save the edited PDF under a new filename. Reopen that saved file to check the annotations.

The marks are saved in the PDF, rather than only in the browser session. Processing a local file this way does not require uploading it to an online conversion service.

The main limitation is that Firefox’s drawing tool is freehand: it does not provide a full set of precise shapes or a stroke-by-stroke eraser. For everyday handwritten notes and simple circles or arrows, though, it is a practical free option. If the drawing button is missing, update Firefox first.

You need to add freehand notes and shapes to a PDF while retaining the original document text. First decide whether the annotations must remain editable or only be visible in a final shared copy, because those are different requirements. Microsoft Edge can provide basic PDF markup depending on the current version, but it is not a full PDF-authoring application and behavior can vary by annotation type. Test on a copy of the PDF, add a small mark, save, close Edge, and reopen the copy to confirm the annotations persist. If the required drawing tools or saved annotations are not available, use an organization-approved PDF editor rather than converting the document through unknown websites. Do not overwrite the original until the reopened copy is verified. If the PDF is protected, digitally signed, or used for a formal process, ask the document owner before modifying it.

On a Windows 11 or Windows 10 PC, you can draw on a PDF with Microsoft Edge, an online annotation tool, or a desktop PDF app, then save the marked-up file. Drawing adds annotations such as ink strokes, lines, and shapes; it does not change the PDF’s original text or images.

Draw on a PDF with Microsoft Edge

If you want to draw on PDF for free on Windows, Microsoft Edge is the quickest built-in option for a few handwritten marks. You can use a mouse, trackpad, or touchscreen without installing another app.

1. Right-click the PDF and open it with Microsoft Edge.
2. Select the Draw tool in the PDF toolbar.
3. Choose a pen color and thickness, then draw on the page.
4. Select the Save or Save as icon and save a separate copy.
5. Reopen the copy to confirm your marks are visible.

Edge is useful for freehand notes, but it offers fewer drawing and shape controls than a dedicated PDF annotator.

Draw on a PDF online for free with PDFgear

PDFgear’s online Annotate PDF tool lets you freehand draw on PDF pages without installing software or signing in. This specific tool processes the PDF locally in your browser rather than uploading the file data to a server.

1. Open PDFgear’s online Annotate PDF tool: www.pdfgear.com/annotate-pdf/.
2. Click Select PDF File and choose your document.
3. Click the brush icon for freehand drawing, or click Add Shapes to add shapes to PDF pages
4. Use the corresponding icons to change drawing color and thickness and adjust opacity.
5. Download the annotated PDF to save your changes.

For repeated annotation work in an installed app, PDFgear Desktop provides another free option that can be used offline.

Draw online with Adobe Acrobat

Adobe Acrobat’s free online PDF editor also supports freehand drawings, lines, and shapes. It requires an Adobe account to add annotations, and Adobe handles the file on its servers.

1. Open Adobe Acrobat’s online PDF editor.
2. Select a file and upload your PDF.
3. Sign in with an Adobe account.
4. Choose a drawing tool and mark up the pages.
5. Download the annotated PDF.

This is an option when you already use Adobe online services, but a local desktop workflow may be preferable for confidential documents.

Draw on a PDF offline with PDFgear for Windows

PDFgear is a free desktop PDF editor that does not require an account or sign-in. Its Windows app works offline, so the PDF does not need to be uploaded to a server. It offers ink along with line, rectangle, and oval annotations.

1. Open the PDF in the PDFgear desktop app.
2. Select the Comment tab.
3. Choose Ink for freehand drawing, or Line to draw lines on PDF pages.
4. Draw on the page and adjust the color or line thickness as needed.
5. Select Save As to keep an annotated copy of the PDF.

Unlike a screenshot, this workflow saves marks as PDF annotations without changing the original page content. After you save drawings on a PDF, you can reopen the file to view and edit those annotations again, making it useful for everyday markup.

Use Adobe Acrobat Reader on the desktop

You do not need Acrobat Pro just to draw on a PDF: the free Adobe Acrobat Reader includes drawing comments. Acrobat Pro is the paid option if you also need broader PDF editing tools.

1. Open the PDF in Acrobat Reader.
2. Select the Draw Freehand icon in the toolbar to start drawing.
3. Adjust the pen color and thickness if needed.
4. Save the PDF under a new name.

Before sharing any annotated PDF, reopen the saved copy in another viewer to make sure the drawings appear as intended. If the document is digitally signed or restricts commenting, adding annotations may invalidate its signature or be blocked by its permissions.