Will my highlights and text boxes stay if I email the PDF to someone?

Yes, if you saved the PDF with Ctrl+S or Ctrl+Shift+S after adding your annotations, the highlights and text boxes become part of the file and will appear in any PDF viewer.

Can I undo a mistake in Edge's PDF toolbar?

Edge does not have an undo button for PDF edits. If you make a mistake, use the Erase tool to remove the annotation, or close the file without saving and reopen the original.

Does Edge let me change the font color or size of text I add?

When you use the Add text tool, you can choose a color from the toolbar before typing, but you cannot change the font family or size. The text appears in a default size and style.

How do I merge two PDFs if Edge cannot do it?

Use a dedicated Merge PDF tool such as the one on editpdf123.com. Upload your PDFs, arrange them in order, and download the combined file. No software installation is needed.

Edit a PDF in Microsoft Edge: Draw, Highlight and Add Text

Microsoft Edge includes a free PDF editor on every Windows 10 and 11 PC. The built in toolbar lets you draw, highlight, add text, erase marks, rotate pages, and read the document aloud. Knowing what Edge cannot do matters just as much. It cannot merge, split, or compress PDFs. For those jobs, use the tools on editpdf123.com. Save your work before closing the tab, or every annotation disappears.

How to Open a PDF in Microsoft Edge

Open Edge and press Ctrl+O. You can also go to the File menu and choose Open. Select the PDF from your computer. Edge displays it in a new tab with a small toolbar at the top. If the toolbar hides itself, move your mouse to the top center of the window and it slides back into view. That toolbar holds every editing tool you need.

What the PDF Toolbar Can Do

The PDF toolbar in Edge offers six main actions: Draw, Highlight, Add text, Erase, Rotate, and Read aloud. Each tool works on the current page only.

Draw and Highlight

Click the Draw icon, a pencil, to freehand sketch lines or shapes on the PDF. Pick a color and line thickness before you start. The Highlight tool works like a marker. Select it, then click and drag over text to color it. Change the highlight color the same way.

Add Text and Erase

To add text to a PDF in Edge, click the Add text button marked with a T. A text box appears on the page. Type your text, then move or resize the box by dragging its corners. Use the Erase tool to remove any drawing, highlight, or text box you have added. Erase works only on annotations, never on the original PDF content.

Rotate and Read Aloud

The Rotate button turns the page clockwise each time you click it. Read aloud reads the text on the page using your computer's text to speech voice. Neither tool changes the file permanently until you save.

What Edge Cannot Do

Edge is a viewer and annotator, not a full PDF editor. It cannot merge, split, or compress PDFs. You cannot change the original text or images that were in the document when it was created. For those tasks, you need a dedicated tool. The site editpdf123.com provides free online tools for Merge PDF, Split PDF, and Compress PDF that work in any browser without a watermark.

How to Save Your Edited PDF

Annotations you make with the Edge PDF editor are not saved automatically. Close the tab without saving and every drawing, highlight, and added text disappears. Use one of these keyboard shortcuts to keep your work:

Ctrl+S Save the edited PDF, overwriting the original file.
Ctrl+Shift+S Save as a new file, leaving the original unchanged.

You can also right click the PDF and choose Save as from the menu. After saving, the annotations become part of the PDF and can be viewed in any PDF reader.

Filling a PDF Form in Edge

If the PDF contains interactive form fields such as text boxes, checkboxes, or dropdown menus, Edge can fill them. Click into a field and type or select an option. No special setup is required. After you finish, save the document with Ctrl+S or Ctrl+Shift+S to keep the filled in data. Edge does not support signing forms with a drawn signature, but the Draw tool can add a handwritten mark.

Limitations of the Edge PDF Editor

The Microsoft Edge PDF editor is convenient, but it has hard limits:

You can only annotate one page at a time. There is no way to apply a highlight or text box to multiple pages at once.
Edge does not let you reorder, delete, or insert pages. For page level changes, use a tool like Split PDF or Merge PDF.
You cannot change the font, size, or style of existing text in the document. The Add text tool places new text on top of the page, separate from the original content.
Edge cannot reduce the file size of a PDF. Use a Compress PDF tool for that.

When to Use a Dedicated PDF Tool

For simple markups and form filling, Edge works well. But if you need to combine multiple PDFs, extract pages, or shrink a file for email, use a purpose built service. The free online tools at editpdf123.com handle Merge PDF, Split PDF, and Compress PDF without installing software and without adding a watermark. Upload your file, choose the operation, and download the result.