This is just one more in a long line of “marking up PDFs” posts, which we have to update often because Adobe can’t help themselves. They change the markup/comment interface with every new release, it seems.

The more comprehensive explainer is here; a shorter one for Acrobat X or XI is here. (That was a truly infuriating change, as the “Text Correction Tool” simply showed up and makes zero intuitive sense, but then again, Adobe gotta Adobe.) Anyway.

These days, most Acrobat tools – including comment and markup – are available in the Tools pane.

1. Click Tools to open the Tools panel.

   

2. Click Comment.

   

3. This will open up the Comment and Markup toolbar.

   

4. For simple text edits, click or make sure the “Selection tool for text and images” (good god, Adobe) is selected. This is perhaps better known by its common name “arrow.”

   

5. Then just click, select, and type as you would if you were editing the document itself. Deletions will be struck through, selected text replaced, inserted text will be marked with a caret.

And that’s it! You’re good to go.