Does this tool actually add real highlights to the PDF or just overlay colors?

This tool adds proper PDF highlight annotations using the PDF-lib library. These are real highlight annotations that can be viewed, edited, and removed in standard PDF readers like Adobe Acrobat, Preview (Mac), and most modern PDF viewers.

Can I remove or edit the highlights after they're added?

Yes, the highlights are added as proper PDF annotations that can be edited or removed using standard PDF editing software. Most PDF readers allow you to select and delete highlight annotations.

What's the difference between this and just coloring over text with a pen?

PDF highlights are digital annotations that preserve the original text and make it selectable. Unlike physical highlighting, digital highlights don't damage the document, can be easily removed, and work perfectly with screen readers and accessibility tools.

Does the tool work with scanned PDFs or only text-based PDFs?

This tool works best with text-based PDFs that have selectable text. For scanned PDFs (images of text), you would need OCR (Optical Character Recognition) first to make the text selectable before highlighting.

Is my PDF data safe when using this tool?

Absolutely! All processing happens locally in your web browser. Your PDF files never leave your device or get uploaded to any server, ensuring complete privacy and security of your documents.

Can I highlight multiple pages at once?

Yes, the tool automatically searches for your specified text across all pages in the PDF and adds highlights wherever the text is found. This means you can highlight content that appears on multiple pages with a single search.

PDF Text Highlighter

Add text highlights to PDF documents with multiple colors and adjustable opacity for better readability and note-taking. Perfect for study materials, document review, and important information identification.

highlight

text

annotate

Share this tool:

Upload PDF

Select a PDF file to add text highlights for better readability and note-taking

Drop your PDF here

or click to browse files

Supports: PDF files only

Continue Your Pdf Journey

More tools you might find useful

Extract Text from PDF

Pull text content from PDF files instantly

PDF to Images Converter

Transform PDF pages into high-quality images

PDF Splitter

Divide PDF documents into separate pages

PDF Merger

Merge multiple PDFs into single documents

🌈 Browse More Tools

All PDF Tools All Tools

Complete Guide: PDF Text Highlighter

Everything you need to know about using PDF Text Highlighter effectively

Related Tools

More tools you might find useful

PDF Page Counter

Determine total page count in PDFs

Convert images to PDF documents

Clean up PDF borders and edges from scanned documents

Hide sensitive text in PDF documents with redaction boxes

Transform PDF content into editable HTML format

Convert PDF colors for dark mode compatibility

color

invert

dark

Add Page Numbers to PDF

Add sequential page numbers to PDF documents

Make PDF forms non-editable and submission-ready

form

flatten

non-editable

Related Collections

Collections that include this tool - discover more tools in these curated collections

PDF Analysis & Enhancement Tools

Analyze and enhance PDFs. View metadata, search text, add watermarks, invert colors, analyze statistics, count pages, highlight text, clean scans, convert to B&W, and generate thumbnails.

View collection