Docmend
Add to Chrome
Which PDF apps’ notes can be imported into Google Docs?
With the Docmend Chrome extension, you can import notes from any app that saves standard PDF annotations: Adobe Acrobat and Reader, Mac Preview, Microsoft Edge, Foxit, Xodo, GoodNotes, Notability and most iPad markup apps. Each note becomes a real Google Docs comment on the matching text. Scans and photos of paper contain no annotations to read.
If you open a PDF with Docs, the text is converted and the annotations are dropped. The reviewer must save the PDF after marking it up: “Print to PDF” flattens the notes into the page, and after that no tool can read them as comments. See also how to turn PDF comments into Google Docs comments.
Need the text from a scan instead? OCR PDF reads a scanned PDF into a Word or text file.
How to import the notes
- Add Docmend to Chrome from the Chrome Web Store. It is free and needs no account.
- Open your Google Doc, click the Docmend icon in Chrome, and pick Use a Google Doc.
- Choose Import PDF notes and drop in the marked-up PDF.
- Docmend reads the highlights, strike-outs and sticky notes, then matches each one to the same words in your Doc.
- Review the list, untick anything you don’t want, and click Add comments to Doc.
Common questions
Which PDF apps’ notes can be imported into Google Docs?
With the Docmend Chrome extension, you can import notes from any app that saves standard PDF annotations: Adobe Acrobat and Reader, Mac Preview, Microsoft Edge, Foxit, Xodo, GoodNotes, Notability and most iPad markup apps. Each note becomes a real Google Docs comment on the matching text. Scans and photos of paper contain no annotations to read.
Can Google Docs import the notes by itself?
No. Google Docs has no feature that imports PDF highlights or sticky notes as comments. If you open a PDF with Docs, the text is converted and the annotations are dropped.
What if the text changed since the PDF was made?
Docmend marks each note as matched, close match, or not found. Close matches are placed on the nearest text. Notes that no longer have a home are listed so you can copy them.
Does my PDF get uploaded anywhere?
No. Docmend reads the PDF inside your browser. Nothing is sent to a server when you import notes.