Given the right tools, you can do a lot with PDFs. You can merge, convert, compress, resize, trim, split, rotate, and (un)lock PDFs, among others. Best of all, you can do all these for free. Another cool thing you can do with PDFs is to add or remove a watermark. But what about getting rid of one?

Here, you'll learn more about why people remove watermarks and, most importantly, how to remove a watermark from PDFs online.

Why You May Want to Remove Watermarks From a PDF File

If you're like most PDF users, you probably already know how to add a watermark to a PDF. But did you also know that you can remove a watermark from a PDF file and that you can do it online, for free?

Before we delve into how to remove a watermark from PDFs, let us see some reasons why people remove watermarks from PDFs in the first place.

  • The document has been declassified.
  • You no longer need the watermark.
  • The watermark needs to be removed and replaced.
  • The watermark is a logo or mascot and is being changed or rebranded.
  • The watermark is not well-placed.
  • The watermark interferes with reading, among others.

Now, let's jump into how to remove watermarks from PDFs using some free tools.

1. How to Remove Watermark From PDFs Using Soda PDF

Soda PDF homepage

Soda PDF is a powerful multipurpose online PDF editor. Its free online tools allow you to merge, compress, convert, split, resize, rotate, and modify PDFs with ease.

Here's how to remove watermarks from PDFs using Soda PDF Online.

  1. Go to Soda PDF Online and click on Open in the left toolbar. You may have to create an account if you don't already have one.
  2. After uploading the PDF file, go to the toolbar on top of the page and click on Edit.
    Soda PDF Edit watermark
  3. Locate the watermark you want to remove and click on it. This will select the watermark.
  4. Now, simply press the Delete key on your keyboard, and the watermark will be removed. You can also edit the watermark text.
  5. When done, click on any portion of the page outside the watermark to automatically save changes. Otherwise, click on the hamburger menu button in the top-left corner and click Save.
  6. You can also simply click on the X button next to the filename in the top-left corner of the screen. This action will automatically update the changes.

This tool is available in eight different languages, including English, German, and French. To view the other language options, simply click on the gear icon.

Soda PDF's watermark remover is the most straightforward way to remove watermark from PDFs online for free. In the rare case that it fails to remove the watermark, you can try other watermark removal methods explained below.

2. How to Remove Watermark From PDFs Using Microsoft Word

Watermarked document opened in Word

Microsoft Word is one of the most popular word-processing tools on the planet. You can also remove watermarks from PDFs using Microsoft Word. It is super easy and straightforward. To do so:

  1. Launch Microsoft Word and click Open.
  2. Select the PDF document and click Ok when the dialog box appears.
    PDF opening in Microsoft Word showing dialog box
    This will convert the PDF document into a Word doc.
  3. If you want to edit or delete the watermark letter by letter, simply click on any letter and press Delete.
    Watermark selected for deletion in Word
  4. Otherwise, click on any portion of the page outside the watermark. This will select the entire page.
  5. Now, press Delete to remove the entire watermark at once.
  6. When done, simply press Ctrl + S and save your watermark-free document.

Alternatively, you can equally remove watermarks from PDFs by first converting the PDF to Word, removing the watermark, then saving the document as a PDF. Here's how to do this using the Foxit PDF editor.

  1. Go to Foxit, scroll all the way down to the footer section of the page, and click on PDF to Word under the Online PDF column.
  2. Drag and drop or upload your PDF file, then click on Start Conversion.
  3. You'll see a success message pop up, click on Download your file.
    Foxit PDF converter page
  4. Now, open the converted file in Microsoft Word.
  5. Word may warn you about potential compatibility issues when converting your PDF to Word. Review it and click OK.
  6. Click on Enable Editing.
  7. Go to the Ribbon area and click Design, then click Watermark in the right-hand corner.
  8. When done, go to the bottom right of your screen and click Remove watermark.
    Word showing option to Remove Watermark
  9. Click on the watermark, then press Delete, and voilà, your watermark is removed. In some cases, you may have to select and delete the watermark letter by letter.
    Word doc showing watermark being deleted letter by letter
  10. When done, save the file as PDF and you have your watermark-free PDF.

Foxit's desktop software also allows you to directly remove watermarks from PDFs without going this long route using Microsoft Word.

3. How to Remove Watermark From PDFs Using Google Docs

Google Drive PDF editor home

You can use Google Docs to create, edit, and process documents. You can also add a watermark to Google Docs, as well as use it to remove a watermark from PDFs.

Here's how to remove watermarks from PDFs online using Google Docs:

  1. Sign in to your Google Drive account and click on the + New button.
  2. Click on File Upload and select the watermarked PDF file.
    Google Drive File upload menu
  3. You'll see an "…upload complete" notification in the bottom-right corner of your screen. Click on the filename.
  4. A preview will be generated. Click on the Open with drop-down at the top of the page.
  5. Click on Google Docs.
  6. If the watermark is not automatically removed, click on it > select it > press Delete on your keyboard.
  7. Click on File, select Download, then click on PDF Document and your watermark-free PDF will be saved to your computer.

If a PDF file is encrypted, you'll need to unlock it before you can remove the watermark.

4. How to Remove Watermark From PDFs Using PDF Zorro

PDF Zorro homepage

PDF Zorro is another robust PDF editor that allows you to merge, split, crop, rotate, secure, unlock, and convert PDF files, among others. With PDF Zorro, you can remove watermarks from PDFs using the whiten, blacken, or eraser tool.

Here's how to use PDF Zorro to remove watermarks from PDFs online using the eraser tool.

  1. Go to PDF Zorro and click on Edit PDF.
  2. To upload your PDF, click on Upload or drag and drop the file in the upload area.
  3. Click on the Start PDF Editor button underneath the file upload area.
    PDF Zorro showing watermark remover dashboard
  4. Go to the toolbar in the left pane and click on the page. This will make it active in the main window.
  5. Locate the watermark, click on the Erase tool, then drag the eraser over and across the watermark until it is completely removed.

This method works best if the watermark isn't layered over text; otherwise, it may cause the surrounding text to also be erased. Want to remove other text instead? You can just as easily remove regular text from a PDF file.

Don't Need It? Simply Remove It

Now that you know how to remove watermarks from PDFs online for free, you can go ahead and remove them if you no longer need them in your PDFs. However, ensure that you only remove watermarks from PDFs that you created yourself or that you have authority to modify; otherwise, you could be infringing on someone's copyright and could land in trouble.

There's so much you can do with PDFs, including adding and removing watermarks. Although you can do these for free online, there are also a number of other tools that allow you to edit PDFs on your Windows and Mac computer.