To highlight or underline text in a PDF without uploading it anywhere, use what you already have: in Adobe Acrobat, select the text and choose the highlighter; in Microsoft Edge, right-click the selection and pick a highlight; on a Mac, Preview has Highlight Selection.
The steps come from Adobe, Microsoft and Apple official help, checked on October 8, 2026.
This guide is part of the Guide to saving articles to read later, which organizes every guide on the topic.
How do I highlight text in a PDF in Adobe Acrobat?
According to Adobe's guide to highlighting a PDF:
- Open the PDF in Acrobat.
- Click and drag the cursor to select the text.
- A small toolbox appears above the text: select the highlighter icon and the text is highlighted.
- To change it, click the highlight: the new toolbox lets you add a note, change the color or remove it.
Acrobat's help on commenting selected text (updated August 31, 2026) adds that, with text selected, the floating toolbar offers Add a comment: type the comment and select Post.
What if I want to print it with the highlights?
Adobe warns that printing a PDF prints only the document by default, without your markup. To include it, in File > Print (Ctrl + P on a PC, Command + P on a Mac), select Document and Markup in the Comments & Forms menu, then print.
How do I do it in Microsoft Edge?
Edge opens PDFs with nothing to install. According to Microsoft's documentation on the Edge PDF reader:
- Open the PDF in Edge and select the text.
- Right-click, select the highlight option in the menu and choose the color.
- For a note, select the text, right-click, choose Add Comment, type it and click the check mark. The text is highlighted and a comment icon appears.
The same page describes inking, to write by hand on the PDF with a color and stroke width, and Read aloud to listen to the PDF.
What about Preview on a Mac?
According to Apple's guide to annotating a PDF in Preview:
- Open the PDF in Preview.
- If the Markup toolbar isn't showing, click its button.
- Select the text and use Highlight Selection. Use Note to add a comment.
Apple explains how to save: File > Save, Export or Export to PDF keep annotations editable; File > Print > Save as PDF flattens them so they cannot be edited.
What if I cannot select the text?
The steps above highlight selected text. If your PDF will not let you select it, Apple's guide describes a highlight shape in Preview (Shapes > Highlight) that you drag over the area and resize with the blue handles, and Microsoft describes inking in Edge to mark by hand.
Before you highlight everything: three checks
These checks are an original KeepAnalog suggestion, not steps from Adobe, Microsoft or Apple:
- Work on a copy of the PDF, with the date in the file name, so the original stays clean.
- Use one color for one thing (say, yellow for ideas and another for data), so the highlights still make sense later.
- Write a note in your own words on what matters most, not only a color: the highlighting guide below explains why marking alone helps little.
What next?
For what research says, see Does highlighting help? What the evidence says about marking. If the PDF is long and you want it on paper, How to print a PDF as a booklet, and if it is still a web page, How to save a web page as a PDF on your phone. And if you prefer paper, KeepAnalog turns eligible public links chosen by one person (HTML pages or PDFs) into a monthly printed issue. Nothing is printed or charged until that person approves the issue. For now, KeepAnalog's pilot is in Argentina only, with no delivery in the United States.