QuireHow to highlight, annotate and sign a PDF in Chrome
Short answer: on a computer, Chrome’s own PDF viewer can already highlight, draw with a pen, add text and draw a signature. Choose Draw or Add text in the viewer, then Download › With your changes.
For comments, images, a reusable typed or drawn signature, page tools, or a local library with recovery, use an extension such as Quire PDF.
Updated 12 October 2026. Chrome steps follow Google’s Chrome help; the tools you see depend on your Chrome version.
Annotate with Chrome’s built-in viewer
- Open the PDF in Chrome
Click a PDF link or drag a PDF file into Chrome. If it opens inside another page, open it in its own tab first.
- Highlight or draw
Choose Draw, then the Highlighter or Pen in the panel on the right. Pick a size and colour, then drag across the page.
- Add text
Choose Add text, set the font, style and colour, and click where the text should go.
- Sign
Choose Draw, then the Pen, and draw your signature. Zoom in first for a neater result.
- Download your copy
Choose Download, then With your changes. Use the eraser and the undo and redo buttons to fix mistakes before you do.
Chrome’s viewer can also make scanned PDFs searchable: Google says it converts them with on-device text recognition (OCR), so you can then select and highlight the text. Quire PDF has no OCR, so for scans Chrome is the better tool.
On a Chromebook, Google’s help notes that you can’t add text annotations in the Chrome browser, and PDFs open in the Gallery app instead, which can add text, highlights and signatures.
Annotate with Quire PDF
Quire PDF is our extension. It adds a few tools the built-in viewer doesn’t have, and keeps your documents in a local library.
- Open the PDF in Quire PDF
Click the Quire PDF toolbar icon and choose Open a PDF, or drop the file on the page. For a PDF on a website, right-click the link and choose Open PDF in Quire.
- Pick a tool
Highlight marks selected text. Note adds a comment. Text places new text on the page. Draw is freehand. Image inserts a picture.
- Sign
Sign places a typed or drawn signature. You can save it and reuse it on the next document.
- Tidy up the pages if needed
Open Manage pages to reorder or remove pages, bring in pages from another PDF, or export only the pages you select.
- Save a copy
Save a copy downloads the annotated PDF. Your original file is never overwritten.
What Quire PDF adds
- Comments (notes) and images on the page, as well as highlights, text and drawing.
- Typed or drawn signatures that you can save and reuse.
- Page tools: reorder, remove, combine PDFs and export selected pages.
- A local library of your documents and a recovery copy after each edit, so you can pick up unfinished work.
What it doesn’t do
- It adds to the page. It doesn’t change or replace the original text.
- No OCR for scanned pages.
- No secure redaction. Drawing a box over text hides it on screen but the text is still in the file. Use a dedicated redaction tool for anything sensitive.
- No certificate-based digital signing. A signature is a visual mark, which is fine for many everyday forms but not where a verified signature is required.
- XFA forms and PDF scripts aren’t supported. Files over 100 MB can’t be opened.
Other good options
- Adobe Acrobat Reader is free and supports comments, highlights, strikethrough, drawing and Fill & Sign.
- Preview on a Mac can add text and a signature to a PDF.
- The Gallery app on a Chromebook adds text, highlights and saved signatures.
- For a signature with verification and an audit trail, use an e-signature service rather than any PDF annotator.