How to Highlight Pages on Mac: Step-by-Step

Highlighting text in Pages on your Mac is a straightforward way to emphasize key passages, mark up notes, or collaborate with others. This guide walks you through the entire process—from selecting text and applying a highlight color to removing or changing highlights later. You’ll also learn how to manage highlights when sharing documents, and what to do if the highlight option isn’t working. No special setup is needed; you just need a Mac with Pages installed (version 10.0 or later is recommended).

What You’ll Need

• A Mac running macOS (any recent version).
• Pages app (free from the Mac App Store if not already installed).
• A document open in Pages—either a new one or an existing file.

Step-by-Step

1. Open your document in Pages. Double-click the file in Finder, or launch Pages and choose the document from the Recent list or iCloud Drive.
2. Select the text you want to highlight. Click and drag your cursor over the text. To select a single word, double-click it; to select a whole paragraph, triple-click anywhere in that paragraph.
3. Find the highlight tool. With the text selected, look at the top-right of the Pages window. You’ll see a small “A” icon with a colored underline—that’s the text highlight button. Alternatively, you can go to the menu bar and choose Format → Text → Highlight.
4. Apply a highlight color. Click the highlight button (the “A” with a colored line). A color palette appears. Choose a color—yellow, green, blue, pink, purple, or gray. The selected text will immediately be highlighted with that color.
5. Remove a highlight. To remove a highlight, select the highlighted text, click the same highlight button, and choose “No Highlight” (the option with a slash through it). The highlight disappears, but the text remains unchanged.
6. Change the highlight color. Select the highlighted text, click the highlight button, and pick a different color. The existing highlight is replaced instantly.
7. Highlight with the keyboard shortcut (optional). If you prefer shortcuts, you can assign one in System Settings → Keyboard → Shortcuts → App Shortcuts. Add a shortcut for “Highlight” in Pages, then use it after selecting text.
8. Use the Inspector for more options. If you want to fine-tune the highlight (e.g., make it a custom color), select the text, then go to the Format sidebar (click the paintbrush icon in the toolbar). Under “Text” → “Highlight,” you can choose a custom color from the color wheel.

Common Mistakes

• Highlighting the whole page instead of text. If you press Cmd+A, you’ll select everything—that’s not what you want. Always select just the portion you need.
• Clicking the wrong button. The highlight button is not the same as the text color button (the “A” with a solid color bar). The highlight button has a colored line below the “A,” not a solid bar.
• Expecting highlights to appear in PDF exports. By default, highlights are part of the document’s formatting, so they do show in PDF exports. But if you export as plain text (.txt), all formatting is lost.
• Using the highlighter in a shared document without permission. If you’re collaborating, make sure you have edit access, not just view-only. Otherwise, the highlight tool will be grayed out.

Tips

• Use different colors for different purposes. For example, yellow for key points, green for questions, and pink for action items. This helps you scan the document later.
• Combine highlights with comments. Select text, highlight it, then right-click and choose “Add Comment” to leave a note. This is great for feedback.
• Remove all highlights at once. If you want to clear every highlight in the document, select all (Cmd+A), then choose “No Highlight” from the highlight palette. This removes all highlights in one go.
• Use the highlight tool in the toolbar. If you highlight frequently, you can add the highlight button to the toolbar: View → Customize Toolbar, then drag the “Highlight” button to the toolbar.
• Work on a copy for drastic edits. If you’re marking up a draft, save a copy first. That way, you can revert if you change your mind.

Troubleshooting

Highlight option is grayed out. This usually means the document is in a format that doesn’t support highlighting (e.g., a plain text file) or you’re in a view-only mode. Make sure you’re in Edit mode (click “Edit” button in the top-right if it’s there). If the document is a .txt file, convert it to Pages format first: File → Convert → Pages.

Highlight color doesn’t show on screen. Some display settings or “Reduce Transparency” accessibility options can affect color rendering, but this is rare. Try changing the highlight color to a darker shade. Also, check that you haven’t accidentally set the text color to white—that can make highlights look odd.

Highlights disappear after reopening. If you’re editing a document that’s not saved in Pages format (e.g., a Word .docx), highlights should still be preserved, but there’s a small chance of compatibility issues. Save the document as a Pages file (File → Save As → Pages) to ensure full fidelity.

Can’t select text at all. This happens if the document is locked. Go to File → Lock (or unlock) in the menu. If you see a padlock icon in the toolbar, click it to unlock.

Highlight button missing from toolbar. If you don’t see the “A” with a colored line, you may have a minimal toolbar. Go to View → Customize Toolbar, and drag the highlight button back. Or use the Format menu as described in Step 3.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I highlight text in Pages on iPhone or iPad?

Yes. On iOS, select text, then tap the “Highlight” button (an “A” with a colored line) from the formatting pop-up. The process is similar to the Mac.

Do highlights show up in exported PDFs?

Yes, highlights are part of the text formatting, so they appear in PDF exports. They also appear when printing.

Can I highlight with a freehand marker like on paper?

No, Pages only offers uniform highlight colors applied to selected text. If you need freehand drawing, use a PDF editor or a note-taking app with drawing tools.

How do I remove all highlights from a document?

Select all (Cmd+A), then click the highlight button and choose “No Highlight.” This removes every highlight in one action.

Will my highlights be visible to collaborators?

Yes, if you’re collaborating in real-time, highlights appear to others as you make them. They can also edit or remove them if they have edit access.

Can I use a custom highlight color not in the palette?

Yes. Select the highlighted text, open the Format sidebar (paintbrush icon), go to Text → Highlight, and click the color well to choose any custom color using the color picker.

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