Will other people see my highlights?

Yes. Highlights are saved as standard PDF annotations, which Acrobat, Preview, browsers and most PDF apps display and print.

Can highlights be removed again?

Yes. Because they are annotations, any PDF editor can delete them, and noll's Remove Annotations tool removes all of them at once.

Does highlighting work on scanned PDFs?

Yes. You draw the highlight over an area of the page, so it works on scans as well as on digital text.

Highlight PDF

Powerful Highlight PDF Features

Like a Real Marker

Mark key passages in four highlighter colours.

Proper Annotations

Readers recognise them as highlights and can hide or remove them.

Private

Highlighting runs in your browser. Your PDF stays on your device.

How To Highlight PDF Online for Free

Open your PDF

Choose the PDF. It opens in your browser, nothing is uploaded.

Drag across the text

Pick a colour and drag across each passage you want to highlight.

Download the PDF

Download the PDF with highlight annotations added.

Highlight passages in a PDF in yellow, green, pink or blue, the way you would with a marker on paper. Drag across the text you want to mark and noll adds real highlight annotations, not painted rectangles, so Acrobat, Preview and other readers list them as highlights and can hide or remove them later. Useful for studying, reviewing contracts, marking changes for a colleague or pointing out key figures.

Everything You Need in a Highlight PDF

Four Colours

Yellow, green, pink and blue, like a set of markers.

Standard Highlights

Saved as PDF highlight annotations, not painted boxes.

Text Stays Searchable

The text under a highlight can still be selected and searched.

Adjustable

Move or resize highlights until they fit the text.

Removable

Delete highlights anytime, here or in any PDF reader.

Local Processing

Nothing leaves your device.

Frequently Asked Questions

Document Work Made Easy

Process your PDFs with our collection of free, privacy-first tools. No uploads to servers, no registration required. Everything runs directly in your browser.