Introducing quick menu for PDF text annotations

Microsoft

Annotating PDF files is one of the many productivity features that users love in Microsoft Edge. But some of the text annotations like text comments are only available via context menu today which involves multiple steps to invoke. Moreover, it may not be the easiest way for touch users to access these features. We are glad to introduce a new quick menu for PDFs which would make the PDF annotations experience more efficient and make you even more productive in Edge. Here is how this menu works:  

 

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If you select any piece of text on a PDF file, a mini menu will automatically popup. The menu will have Highlight and Add comment options in addition to the regular Copy option to copy text quickly. To invoke the menu with mouse, you can drag and select any text with the mouse and a smaller version of the menu will appear upon completing the selection. You can hover over any of the options in the menu to expand it and click the items to activate as in the regular context menu. To dismiss the menu, you can just click outside of the menu or move pointer away and the menu will fade away.  

 

To invoke the menu with touch, you can select any piece of text with long press or double tap and by adjusting the grippers. The menu will pop up automatically in the expanded state and you can tap on any of the options to activate. To dismiss the menu without selecting any options, you can just tap outside of the menu.  

 

Like the regular context menu, the Highlight option on the menu will also have a sub-menu to pick highlight colors and Add comments option would open a pop up for you to type your comment. Clicking or tapping More actions would open the full context menu with all the options that we have today.  

 

The menu would also work on an existing highlight. Clicking or tapping on any text highlight will open the menu. You can change the color or the highlight or remove it using the Highlight options or add a comment on the highlight using the Add comment option.  

 

Do try out this improved interaction on PDFs let us know what you think! From within Microsoft Edge, you can go to “…” menu > Help and feedback > Send feedback, or simply use the Windows shortcut (Shift+Alt+I) to open the feedback tool 

 

27 Replies
A great feature once again, especially with the mini menu disabled. I wonder If there are keyboard shortcuts to either highlight (or toggle) selected text, or to toggle the highlighter on and off?

Besides, I wonder where the highlights and notes are saved? If my files are stored in OneDrive will I be able to access highlights on other devices and other tools?

So no dictionary till now? 

We've updated you to the latest build. (microsoftedgeinsider.com)

It says there is dictionary but can't see it in pdf.

For reference attaching a screenshot.

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Hi!
Like @Kostavier i do not see the dictionary or define option in the mini menu. Just the ordinary highlights etc. already implemented in the stable edge version.
I really appreciate the work on this feature! It could potentially make reading complex or foreign language texts so much more comfortable for me, a student working in three different languages.
Cheers, Max

@josh_bodner me gustaría que se agregue poder bajar la intensidad del color para que no sea tan fuerte el color del resaltado.

The function is improving but.... will we eventually be able to comment on a shared PDF in OneDrive? This is an option in Google Drive, and annotations can even be accessed via link, which is a huge bonus for sending students and co-writers to a specific paragraph in the literature,
Word has become good at opening PDF-files but being able to share comments directly on the PDF-file would be more straightforward.

@josh_bodner 
How can I find my comments later?! I made a note on a PDF file using Microsoft Edge and clicket the tick under it and it disappeared.

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Hi, I have the latest version of Edge and all I get when I click edit pdf's is the pens. No text or comment boxes. Nothing.

 

What a I doing wrong? Really desperately need this feature.

 

Cheers

Hello. There really is a need for the ability to convert PDF files into image files, don’t you agree?