How to Select and Highlight Text in a PDF Document

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Highlight text in Adobe Acrobat and other programs
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Need to make a certain line of text stand out in your PDF document? This wikiHow article will show you how to highlight text in a PDF on your PC or Mac using Adobe Reader DC and Preview.

Highlighting PDF Text

Open the PDF in a PDF reader like Acrobat. Then, click and drag your cursor over the text you want to highlight. Select the "Highlight" tool in the toolbar to highlight the text. You can also customize the highlight color with this tool.

Method 1
Method 1 of 2:

Using Adobe Reader DC

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  1. Do so by opening the red Adobe Reader app with the stylized, white A icon. Then click on File in the menu bar at the top of the screen, click on Open... , select the PDF document you want to type on and click on Open .
    • If you don't already have Adobe Reader, it's available for free from get.adobe.com/reader and can be used with Windows, Mac, and Android operating systems.
  2. It's the marker icon on the right side of the toolbar at the top of the window.
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  5. The text is now highlighted.
  6. Doing so saves your highlighting.
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Method 2
Method 2 of 2:

Using Preview on Mac

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  1. Do so by double-clicking on the blue Preview icon that looks like overlapping snapshots, then clicking on File in the menu bar and Open... in the drop-down menu. Select a file in the dialog box and click on Open .
    • Preview is Apple's native image viewer app that's automatically included with most versions of Mac OS.
  2. It's the marker icon in the right-center of the toolbar at the top of the window.
    • To change the color of the highlighting tool, click on the downward-pointing arrow to the right of the marker icon and click on the color you prefer for highlighting.
  5. The text is now highlighted.
  6. Doing so saves your highlighting.
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Community Q&A

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  • Question
    How can I highlight text in a PDF on a mobile device?
    wikiHow Staff Editor
    Staff Answer
    This answer was written by one of our trained team of researchers who validated it for accuracy and comprehensiveness.
    wikiHow Staff Editor
    Staff Answer
    One easy way to do it is to download a PDF highlighter or note-taker app. Try an app like PDFelement, PDF Expert, or Highlighter.
    Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
    Thank you for your feedback.
    If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow
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    Not Helpful 0 Helpful 3
  • Question
    Is there a way to highlight text in a scanned PDF document?
    wikiHow Staff Editor
    Staff Answer
    This answer was written by one of our trained team of researchers who validated it for accuracy and comprehensiveness.
    wikiHow Staff Editor
    Staff Answer
    You wouldn’t be able to use the highlighter tool in Acrobat Reader for this unless you first OCR the document (that is, run software that converts the images to text). You can do this with Acrobat Pro, or use a program like ExportPDF to turn the file into a text document.
    Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
    Thank you for your feedback.
    If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow
    Yes No
    Not Helpful 4 Helpful 4
  • Question
    How do I erase the highlight on text?
    Community Answer
    The best way to do this is to highlight the highlighted text using your cursor. After that, you will see that there will be an 'h' icon which will already be selected. Simply click that to get rid of the highlight.
    Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
    Thank you for your feedback.
    If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow
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    Not Helpful 8 Helpful 1
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      About This Article

      Article Summary X

      1. Open the PDF in Adobe Reader.
      2. Click the highlighter button.
      3. Click and hold the mouse before the text.
      4. Drag the cursor to the end of the text.
      5. Release the mouse button.

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