Highlight Text in PDF — Free, No Watermark
Highlight important text, mark key sections, and annotate your PDF directly in your browser. Your file is processed locally and never leaves your device.
or drop PDF here
No account needed — highlight as many PDFs as you like, at no cost.
How to highlight text in a PDF online
Three steps, entirely in your browser — no software to install and nothing to upload.
1. Open your PDF
Click "Select PDF File" or drag your file into the drop zone. It loads in your browser instantly.
2. Select and highlight
Choose a highlight color, then click and drag across any text to mark it. Switch colors to annotate different sections, or highlight areas and shapes too.
3. Save to your device
Save the annotated file directly to your device. No watermark is added — the file is yours, exactly as marked.
Why people highlight PDFs
Highlighting is one of the most common ways to work with a PDF. Whether you're reviewing a contract, studying for an exam, or marking up a report before a meeting, adding color to text makes your most important information impossible to miss.
Reviewing and proofreading
When you annotate a PDF for review, highlights let you flag sections that need attention without editing the source text. Mark a clause in a legal document, emphasize a paragraph that needs a rewrite, or color-code feedback for different team members — all without changing the original content.
Studying and research
Students and researchers use text highlight tools to break dense documents into scannable sections. Color-coded markup — yellow for key definitions, green for supporting evidence, orange for follow-up — makes it faster to return to the material and recall what mattered.
Collaboration and feedback
Sharing an annotated PDF is faster than writing a separate summary. Highlight the relevant passages, save the marked-up file, and send it. Your collaborator sees exactly what you're referring to, with no ambiguity.
What highlight options are available?
The tool supports several ways to mark up a page, depending on what you're annotating.
- Text highlight — select any text in the PDF and apply a highlight color. Works across single words, sentences, and multi-line paragraphs.
- Area highlight — highlight any part of the page, including images, diagrams, or sections with non-selectable text.
- Multiple colors — choose from yellow, green, blue, pink, and orange to color-code your annotations.
- Undo and clear — remove individual highlights or clear all markup before saving.
Your files stay on your device
Most free online PDF tools add a watermark to your file or force you to create an account before you can save your work. itsmypdf does neither.
More importantly, your PDF never leaves your device. The highlight tool runs entirely in your browser. The tool sends nothing to a server, your file never touches the cloud, and no third party sees your document — ever.
This matters when you're working with sensitive files: legal agreements, financial reports, medical records, or anything you wouldn't want stored on someone else's server. You open the file locally, make your annotations, and save the result directly to your device. That's it. No signup. No watermark. No upload. 100% free, every time.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. There are no plans, no trials, and no hidden fees. The highlight tool is free to use as many times as you need.
No. The tool runs entirely in your browser. It never transmits your file to a server, stores it in the cloud, or shares it with anyone.
Never. Your annotated PDF looks exactly as it does on screen when you save it, and the tool adds no watermark or itsmypdf branding to your file.
Yes. The tool works on any modern browser, including Chrome, Firefox, and Safari, on Android and iOS.
Yes. Use the area highlight option to mark any part of the page, even if the text is part of an image or scanned document.
The tool handles most standard PDFs. Very large files (100MB+) may load more slowly depending on your device.
Tools that work well with this one
Prepare your PDF before or after highlighting, or combine your annotated files into one.
Ready to highlight your PDF?
Select your file and start marking up key sections in seconds — free, with no account needed.
Select PDF File