Highlighting text works best when you finish a paragraph first, then mark roughly one key sentence per paragraph.
Digital highlighters in Word, PowerPoint, Pages, and Preview all work on the same principle, but the exact buttons differ by app. The real skill isn’t the click — it’s knowing what to mark so the color actually helps you later. Here’s the practical method for each program, plus the strategy that keeps your highlights useful.
The Smart Way To Highlight: Read First, Mark Second
Highlighting before you understand what you’re reading is wasted effort. Apple’s guidance and Microsoft’s own documentation both point to the same habit: finish the paragraph or section, identify the main concept, then mark it.
That pause changes everything. You stop highlight-ing and start highlight-choosing. The one sentence that captures the paragraph’s idea earns the color; the rest stays clean. When you review later, you’re re-reading your own thinking, not a page that’s 80% neon.
Limit yourself to roughly one sentence or phrase per paragraph, and prefer key words over full sentences. If you find yourself marking most of the page, stop — that’s the signal to slow down and pick the actual main ideas first.
Highlighting In Microsoft Word (And Removing It)
Word’s highlighter lives on the Home tab. Select your text, go to Home > Text Highlight Color, and pick a color. That’s the whole move for one block of text.
For multiple non-contiguous selections, turn the highlighter on first. Click Text Highlight Color, choose your shade, then drag across each text area in turn. The cursor stays in highlighter mode until you press Esc or select Stop Highlighting again.
To remove highlighting, select the marked text and choose No Color under Text Highlight Color. One pass clears it.
Highlighting In PowerPoint, Pages, And Preview
PowerPoint 2019 and newer works just like Word. Select text, use Home > Text Highlight Color, and choose a color. For multiple separate selections, start the highlighter first, mark each area, and press Esc to finish — same logic as Word.
Apple’s Pages on iPhone takes a different approach. Apple notes that if you want visible highlights in the final document, apply a background color to the text instead of relying on highlight styling. Highlight styling may not survive export or printing; background color does.
Apple Preview on iPhone handles PDFs and images differently again. Select the text, tap Highlight, and choose a color. You can also pick underline or strike-through instead of highlighting.
Highlighting That Survives The Printer
A common mistake is marking up a document that’s destined for grayscale printing. Microsoft advises using a light highlight color if you’re printing on a monochrome or dot-matrix printer — dark colors can render as unreadable gray blocks. When in doubt, test one page before committing to a full print run.
If your document is going to stay on screen, the full color palette is fine. The trade-off only appears at the printer.
Once you’ve mastered the technique, the right tool makes the physical act of highlighting more satisfying too. If you’re shopping for a marker that suits your workflow, our tested roundup of the best brush highlighters breaks down which ones glide smoothly and which ones bleed through thin paper.
FAQs
Why does my highlighted text disappear when I print?
Highlight colors don’t always translate to grayscale printing. If your printer is set to black-and-white, dark highlight colors can turn into solid black blocks that obscure the text underneath. Use a light highlight color, or print in color, to keep the mark visible.
Can I highlight text that isn’t next to other highlighted text?
Yes, in both Word and PowerPoint. Turn the highlighter on first, then select each separate text area one at a time. The highlighter stays active until you press Esc or select Stop Highlighting, so you can mark multiple non-contiguous passages in one pass.
What’s the best way to highlight in Apple Pages on iPhone?
Use a background color on the text instead of highlight styling. Background color stays visible in the final document and survives export, while highlight styling may not carry through. Select the text, then apply the background color from the formatting options.
References & Sources
- Microsoft. “Apply or remove highlighting.” Official Word instructions for highlighting and removing color.
- Microsoft. “Highlight your text.” Covers Word, PowerPoint, and monochrome printing guidance.
- Apple. “Highlight text in Pages on iPhone.” Official guidance on highlight styling versus background color.