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Incredible_youthd9c4
Participant
August 26, 2026
Answered

Recovering Apple Ipad Pro Pencil notations on pdf docs that have been deleted recently

  • August 26, 2026
  • 3 replies
  • 33 views

Hello, I notate pdf files on my Ipad Pro with an Apple Pencil. My Ipad was recently reset and though I backed up everything, I lost those files. I can restore the document but the notations are gone.

Can they be recovered?

    Correct answer Amal Jaiswal

    ​Hi @Incredible_youthd9c4 ,

     

    Hope you are doing well, and thanks for reaching out. We are sorry for the trouble you are experiencing.

     

    A couple of things that would help us narrow down:

     

    • Which app were you using to annotate, Adobe Acrobat Reader specifically, or a different PDF or notes app?

    • When you annotated, was the file saved inside that app to Adobe Document Cloud (synced to an Adobe ID), or only stored locally on the iPad?

    • Is the "restored" document itself coming back from a device backup (iCloud or iTunes/Finder) taken before the reset, or is it the original unannotated file pulled from somewhere else, like email or another cloud drive?

     

    Files saved within the app are uploaded to Adobe Document Cloud. So it's worth checking there first, either in the app or by signing in at Acrobat on the web https://adobe.ly/4qIyVm6, using the same Adobe ID you had before the reset. For more info Acrobat mobile app FAQ

     

    If the file was only ever a local file on the iPad and not saved to Document Cloud or another cloud location, that's the harder case. Once a local file and its annotations are removed during a device reset, there is no way to pull them back directly from within the app. 

    Hope this information will help

     

    ~Amal

     

    3 replies

    visual_Phoenixfed3
    Participant
    August 26, 2026

    Thanks for replying. The pdf file was saved to the Ipad in my files and then imported to an app on the Ipad. I then annotated it but never took any steps to save the annotations. When I would open the app on the Ipad the markings were always in existence. I never thought to save them again after doing so.

    The files are not the issue. I have those.  The notes are.

    Amal Jaiswal
    Community Manager
    Amal JaiswalCommunity Manager
    Community Manager
    August 26, 2026

    Hi ​@visual_Phoenixfed3 
    As described in my previous response, if the file backup was not created on any of the cloud storages, it would not be possible to recover the lost annotations on the PDF files.
    ~Amal

    Amal Jaiswal
    Community Manager
    Amal JaiswalCommunity ManagerCorrect answer
    Community Manager
    August 26, 2026

    ​Hi @Incredible_youthd9c4 ,

     

    Hope you are doing well, and thanks for reaching out. We are sorry for the trouble you are experiencing.

     

    A couple of things that would help us narrow down:

     

    • Which app were you using to annotate, Adobe Acrobat Reader specifically, or a different PDF or notes app?

    • When you annotated, was the file saved inside that app to Adobe Document Cloud (synced to an Adobe ID), or only stored locally on the iPad?

    • Is the "restored" document itself coming back from a device backup (iCloud or iTunes/Finder) taken before the reset, or is it the original unannotated file pulled from somewhere else, like email or another cloud drive?

     

    Files saved within the app are uploaded to Adobe Document Cloud. So it's worth checking there first, either in the app or by signing in at Acrobat on the web https://adobe.ly/4qIyVm6, using the same Adobe ID you had before the reset. For more info Acrobat mobile app FAQ

     

    If the file was only ever a local file on the iPad and not saved to Document Cloud or another cloud location, that's the harder case. Once a local file and its annotations are removed during a device reset, there is no way to pull them back directly from within the app. 

    Hope this information will help

     

    ~Amal

     

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