Looking to emphasize a point for others—or for later? Studying a PDF and preparing its key passages for remembrance? Find out here how to highlight text in a PDF file with Preview on a Mac.
First, The Sky at About Two Thirds
“The sky at about two-thirds,” writes John Thomas Smith famously in a work on painting from 1797, “or else at about one-third, so that the material objects might occupy the other two.”
What Antiquity Smith describes here as an ideal for arranging elements in paints is, of course, the birthplace of the rule of thirds in writing. Smith even calls it so as he expands on the ideas of portrait painter Sir Joshua Reynolds. Reynolds had advised to “harmonize and reconcile” the light and dark parts of a painting.
Now, if there is not quite enough color in a PDF file, you can restore the harmony—or highlight passages like the one above for their own sake, of course:
How to Highlight Text in Preview on a Mac
Use Standard Text Highlighting
Time needed: 2 minutes
To highlight text in a PDF document using macOS Preview on a Mac:
- Click Highlights and Notes in the Mac Preview toolbar for the PDF file where you want to highlight text.
Preview keyboard shortcut: You can also press Command Control H.
In the menu: In the Preview menu’s hierarchies, you can also select Tools | Annotate | Highlight Text.
Pick a color: Click the downward-pointing arrowhead next to Highlights and Notes to choose a color for highlights from now on. - Use the text selection cursor to select text for highlighting.
Add: You can always make a bigger selection to highlight a larger portion of text.
Subtract: if you make a selection within highlighted text, the highlight will be removed from the selection; see below for removing a highlight altogether and start fresh.
In screenshots: How to Draw Boxes and Straight Lines on a Mac Screenshot
Remove a Highlight
To remove a text highlight in Preview:
- Click on the highlighted text with the right mouse button.
- Select Remove Highlight from the context menu that has shown.
Alternative: You can also select the existing color in the context menu to remove the highlight.
Add Underline
You can also underline in addition to or in lieu of highlighting with a background color:
- Select Underline from the Highlights and Notes drop-down menu in the toolbar.
Preview keyboard shortcut: Press Command Control U to pick underlining. - use the cursor the select the text you want underlined in red.
Sketch to Highlight in Mac Preview (Any Color)
To highlight portions of text or images with any color in a PDF document on a Mac using Preview:
- Bring up the markup toolbar.
Here’s how: Select Show Markup Toolbar in the main toolbar, for instance, or press Command Shift A. - Choose Sketch or Draw.
Why sketch: Using Sketch makes it easier to draw straight lines. - Draw the desired highlight.
- Use the Shape Style menu in the markup toolbar to pick the line style.
- Set the Fill Color to translucent.
- Open the Border Color menu.
- Select Show Colors….
- Pick a color and set the opacity to suit the highlight.
How to Highlight Text in Preview on a Mac
Can I change the color of an existing highlight?
Yes.
To change the color with which a passage is highlighted in Preview:
- Click on the highlight with the right mouse button.
- Choose from the available colors in the context menu that has appeared.
All black: How to Redact Text in a PDF with Mac Preview
Can I add custom highlighting colors to Preview?
No.
While the colors for highlighting are fixed, you can draw and sketch with any translucent color (see above).
Can I see an overview of all highlights in a PDF file?
Yes.
To see a list of all highlighted passages in a document:
- Select View | Highlights and Notes from the menu.
Keyboard shortcut: You can also press Command Option 4.
Toolbar: In the main Preview toolbar, you can click Choose sidebar display and select Highlights and Notes from the menu that has appeared.
(How to highlight text in Preview on a Mac tested with macOS Sonoma 14.3–14.6; first published March 2024, last updated August 2024)