How to highlight text in a PDF on a Mac
Highlight a PDF on a Mac in Preview, change the colour, find and remove highlights, and what to do when the highlighter will not select anything.
To highlight a PDF on a Mac, open it in Preview, click the highlighter button in the toolbar and drag across the words. If nothing gets selected, the PDF is a scan with no text in it, and that has a fix too.
How do I highlight a PDF on a Mac?
- Open the PDF in Preview.
- Click the highlighter button in the toolbar. It stays on until you click it again.
- Drag across the text to highlight it.
The same commands are under Tools > Annotate: Highlight Text, Underline Text and Strike Through Text.
How do I change the highlight colour?
Click the small arrow next to the highlighter button and pick a colour, or underline or strike through instead. The choice sticks for the next highlight.
Why can I not highlight text in a PDF on my Mac?
Almost always because the PDF is a scan: a picture of a page with no words behind it, so there is nothing for the highlighter to select. Every page of our test scan had 0 characters of text. Press Command F and search for a word you can see; if Preview finds nothing, that is the cause. Make it searchable first, then highlight.
How do I find my highlights later?
Choose View > Highlights and Notes. The sidebar lists every highlight and note; click one to jump to it.
How do I remove a highlight in a PDF on a Mac?
Control click the highlighted words and choose Remove Highlight. To clear many at once, open the Highlights and Notes sidebar, select them and press Delete.
The one click way
Simply PDF's Mark tool highlights, underlines and strikes through in a choice of colours, writes them into the page so they show in every app, and its Time Machine lets you take back any single change. Editing needs a key; opening and reading are free. Other markup tools are in how to annotate a PDF on a Mac.
Questions
How do I highlight in a PDF on a Mac?
Open it in Preview, click the highlighter button in the toolbar and drag across the text.
Why can I not highlight text in my PDF?
It is probably a scanned page with no text layer. Run text recognition first, then the words can be highlighted.
How do I remove a highlight in Preview?
Control click the highlighted text and choose Remove Highlight.