How to Stop One Reviewer from Adding Comments in a Shared PDF Review
Question details
The user wants to prevent a specific reviewer from publishing new comments in an active shared PDF review without ending the review for the rest of the participants.
- Product
- PDF Software
- Device & OS
- not provided
- Scenario
- Managing an active shared PDF review involving multiple participants where one individual's access to comment needs to be revoked.
- Observed behavior
- The standard shared review controls only allow the review to be ended for all participants at once, lacking a native option to selectively revoke access for a single reviewer.
Verify where your shared review is hosted (e.g., SharePoint, network folder, or Adobe Document Cloud), as server-level folder permissions may offer a workaround that the PDF software itself does not.
Use the Tracker to End and Restart the Review
Since individual reviewer access cannot be selectively revoked, the official method is to end the current review and initiate a new one excluding that participant.
PDF software like Adobe Acrobat does not natively provide a way to end a shared review for only one participant. The standard shared review controls are designed to manage the review lifecycle as a whole.
To effectively remove someone's ability to comment while keeping others engaged, you must end the current review session through the Tracker and distribute a fresh copy of the PDF to the remaining reviewers.
Launch your PDF application and navigate to View > Tracker to open the Tracker window where all active reviews are managed.
In the Tracker, expand the 'Distributed' section under 'Reviews' and select the specific PDF document you want to manage.
Click the 'End Review' button on the right-hand pane. This immediately prevents all participants from publishing any additional comments.
Open the PDF containing the existing comments, go to File > Save As, and create a new master copy.
Send the newly saved document out for a new shared review, ensuring you omit the email address of the reviewer you wish to exclude.
Manage PDF Comments and Permissions with WPS Office
WPS Office provides robust PDF editing and collaboration tools that allow you to manage document feedback securely. You can easily restrict editing, manage individual comments, and share documents safely without navigating complex server-side review trackers.
- 1. Open the PDF in WPS Office: Launch WPS Office, click on 'PDF', and open the document you wish to review or secure.
- 2. Review and manage comments: Navigate to the 'Comment' tab to view all annotations. You can right-click any comment to delete it if it is no longer needed.
- 3. Apply editing restrictions: Go to the 'Protect' tab and select 'Encrypt'. Check the box for 'Set password to restrict editing and printing' to lock the document from future alterations.
- 4. Share the protected file: Save the file and use the 'Share' tool to send the restricted PDF to your team, ensuring only authorized users can provide feedback.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I manually delete comments made by a specific reviewer in a shared PDF?
Yes. If you are the author or have administrative rights to the PDF, you can open the document, select the comment made by the specific reviewer, and press Delete. However, this does not stop them from adding new comments later.
How do I check who is participating in a shared PDF review?
You can check the participant list by opening the Tracker (View > Tracker), selecting your active review under the 'Distributed' category, and reviewing the 'Reviewers' list in the right-hand information pane.
What happens if I change the network folder permissions during a shared review?
If you modify the network folder permissions to restrict a user's write access, their PDF software will fail to sync when they attempt to publish new comments, effectively blocking them from contributing further to the review.
