Highlight PDF
Highlight PDF adds yellow, green, blue or pink highlights to text, or boxes on scanned pages, as standard PDF annotations, entirely in your browser.
Drag and drop, or click to upload a PDF
PDF file ยท processed on your device, never uploaded
At a glance
- Accepts
- One PDF file, with selectable text or scanned
- Outputs
- The same PDF with highlight annotations (removable in any reader) where you marked it
- Where it runs
- Entirely in your browser, on your device
- What leaves your device
- Nothing - the file never leaves your device
- Limits
- Scanned pages take box highlights only; copy-restricted PDFs must be unlocked first
- Account
- Not required - there is no sign-up
- Price
- Free, with no watermark and no usage cap
- Made by
- Visrut
- Last updated
- 8 October 2026
Highlight PDF marks up a PDF the way you would with a pen: drag across the words you care about and they turn yellow, green, blue or pink, or drag a box over a scanned page, a picture or a column of a table that has no words to follow. The pages are rendered and the text selection is resolved by pdf.js running inside this browser tab, so the file is never uploaded - and because the highlights are saved as standard PDF highlight annotations, the text underneath stays selectable and searchable, and any PDF reader can remove them later.
How to use it
- Drag and drop, or click to upload a PDF.
- Pick a colour: yellow, green, blue or pink.
- In "Text" mode, drag across words to highlight them. In "Area" mode, drag a box over anything: a picture, a signature, a column of a table. Use Previous and Next to move through the document.
- Got one wrong? Undo (or Ctrl+Z) removes the last highlight, and Clear all removes every one.
- Click "Download highlighted PDF" when you're done.
What you can highlight
- Normal text PDFs (exported from Word, a browser or an app): highlight follows the words, line by line, and saves the selected text as the highlight's note.
- Scans and photos of documents: there are no words to follow, so the page switches to Area and you drag boxes instead. A photo that isn't a PDF yet can be turned into one with JPG to PDF first.
- Tables: a whole row works in Text mode; a column or a block of cells needs Area mode, because text selection runs across the full width of the page.
- Copy-protected PDFs: files that open without a password but block copying and editing can't be saved with highlights as they are. If you're allowed to edit the file, unlock it with Remove PDF Password first.
- Password-protected PDFs (asking for a password to open): unlock them with the password first, on the same page.
Frequently asked questions
Is my PDF uploaded to a server?
No - the pages are rendered, the text selection is resolved, and the highlights are written back into the file by pdf.js and pdf-lib running inside your browser tab. The PDF never leaves your device.
Can I highlight a scanned PDF?
Yes, with boxes. A scan has no words in it, only a picture of them, so text highlighting has nothing to follow. On a page like that the tool switches to "Area": drag a box over the lines you want and it is saved as a real highlight annotation over that rectangle. It marks the spot but does not make the scan searchable; for that, run it through OCR.
Can I highlight a table, or one column of it?
A row, yes, in "Text" mode: drag from its first cell to its last. Text mode reads a table the way it reads a paragraph, line by line across the full width, so dragging down one column also picks up every cell to its right. For a single column or a block of cells, switch to "Area" and drag a box around them.
Can I pick a different colour?
Yes - yellow, green, blue or pink. The colour applies to the highlights you make after picking it, so you can mix colours in one document, for example green for agreed terms and pink for questions.
The PDF won't let me copy text. Can I still highlight it?
Often, yes. A PDF that blocks copying but opens without a password has owner restrictions, and those also block saving changes, so this tool tells you up front instead of failing at download. If it is your document or you are allowed to edit it, remove the restrictions with Remove PDF Password (no password needed for this kind of file) and highlight the unlocked copy. If text still won't copy afterwards, the page is a scan: use Area highlights.
Can I undo a highlight?
Yes. Undo removes the last highlight you made (Ctrl+Z, or Cmd+Z on a Mac, does the same), and Clear all removes every one. Nothing is written to the file until you download it.
Can I remove a highlight after downloading?
Yes - each one is saved as a standard PDF highlight annotation, so Acrobat, Preview, and other PDF readers list it and can delete it. It isn't painted onto the page.
Can it find a word and highlight every match?
No - each highlight is one drag. There is no search-and-highlight or highlight-by-font option.
Does highlighting change the text or the layout?
No. The page content is untouched - the highlight is added on top as an annotation, so the text stays selectable, searchable, and exactly where it was.
What's the highlighted file called?
Your original filename with -highlighted added, like contract-highlighted.pdf.