Not able to annotate PDF in MSTEAMS using Ipad

Dear @Michelle Lo,

Thank you for posting your question in the Microsoft Q&A forum.

I understand that technical issues can be frustrating, and I’d love to help you resolve this. Before giving you the best solution, could you please confirm these questions below to help me diagnose the issue more effectively: 

• When you tap the PDF in Teams, do you see an option like “Open in OneDrive” or “Open in Adobe Acrobat,” and which one do you normally use? Are you using any specific PDF application to open the files before uploading to Teams?
• Has your organization recently set a default PDF viewer in Teams (e.g., Adobe Acrobat vs. the built‑in viewer)?
• Are other users facing the same issue with annotating PDFs in Teams, or is it just you?
• Do you notice any Sensitivity label (like “Confidential”) on the file in SharePoint or OneDrive?
  • If someone applied a Sensitivity label with encryption (or if your org auto‑labels files in SharePoint/OneDrive), many mobile viewers, including the Teams mobile preview, will open that PDF view‑only. Microsoft notes protected PDFs are supported for editing mainly in Edge on Windows/Mac; other viewers can show a “cover page” or read‑only experience. This is a common reason why the pencil is greyed out on iPad.
• Has this problem started occurring after a certain update?

In the meantime, here are some quick troubleshoot options I recommend you try:

Option 1: Update Teams App

Make sure you have the latest version of the Microsoft Teams app. Updates may fix bugs or issues that could be causing this problem.

Option 2: Presenting the PDF

If you are trying to use spatial annotations, you need to start presenting the PDF in the meeting. Tap on "Share" or "Present" in your Teams call and select the PDF to enable the annotation features.

Option 3: Restart the App

Sometimes, simply restarting the Teams app or your iPad can resolve these temporary glitches.

Option 4: Check Internet Connection

A stable internet connection is crucial for features like annotation to function properly. If you're on a flaky connection, it might affect your ability to annotate.

Option 5: Was the link shared “view only”?

• When a PDF is “sent as link,” the permission on that link might be view. In that case the inking tool is disabled.
• Check: In Teams, tap the file > ⋯ More > Open in SharePoint/OneDrive > Manage access. If you see “Can view,” ask the sender to reshare with Can edit, or open the file from the Files tab where you already have Edit rights.

Option 6: Is your tenant using the Adobe PDF experience in Teams?

Many orgs recently set Adobe Acrobat as the default PDF viewer in Teams (for desktop/web). That change does not apply to mobile, and mobile keeps a simpler, native preview. If your workflow previously relied on the desktop/web Acrobat app and now you’re on iPad, you may see read‑only behavior in the mobile preview.

Microsoft’s guidance: the Adobe PDF experience is desktop & web only, not supported on mobile. For reference: Set Adobe Acrobat as the default PDF viewer in Microsoft Teams

Option 7: Open in an app that can save back

• Open the PDF in OneDrive (or SharePoint app) > Use Markup (the pen icon) in OneDrive > Save. It writes back to the same file and version history.

I hope this information is helpful. Please follow these steps and let me know if it works for you. If not, we can work together to resolve this.

Thank you for your patience and your understanding. I'm looking forward for your reply.

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