4 Methods to Change Highlight Color in Adobe Acrobat

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn a commission. Here’s how it works.

Are you a student or a beginner trying to facilitate your work with PDF files? Want to learn how to change highlight color in Adobe Acrobat for your future projects? Then this article covering 4 main methods for altering highlight color will come in handy.

Method 1. Change Highlight Color For Rendered Text

Using Adobe Acrobat, it's important to understand how to quickly and easily change the highlight color in order to focus readers’ attention on the important information, such as comments from an interview or important facts in your thesis.

select the desired text to change highlight color

Step 1. Select the needed text in your PDF file and click on the "Highlight" icon in the drop-down menu.

go to properties section to change highlight color

Step 2. Right-click on the selected text and in the menu that appears choose "Properties". There will appear the "Highlight Properties" window; make sure the "Appearance" tab is ticked. 

find a suitable color and apply settings to change highlight color

Step 3. Choose the color and opacity. You can also set the default color by checking the box next to "Make Properties Default".

Step 4. Click “OK”. That’s it.

Method 2. Change Highlight Color In Real Time

change highlight color using hotkeys

Step 1. Open the "Highlighter Tool Properties" menu using the "Ctrl + E" hotkey combination;

(This remains on until you close it; you can also move it to any convenient place).

select from color picker to change highlight color

Step 2. Choose the needed color.

adjust the opacity of the color to change the highlight color

Step 3. Adjust opacity from 5 available presets.

change highlight color in adobe acrobat

Step 4. Done. The color you’ve chosen becomes the default Acrobat highlight color, even if you quit and restart the program.

Method 3. Change Highlight Color Into Comment Mode

go to section to change highlight color

Step 1. To change Adobe Reader highlight color in the comment mode, open the additional toolbar by going to "View" → "Tools" → "Comment" → "Open".

select the desired color in the palette to change highlight color

Step 2. Find the "Color" tool in the that has opened.

Step 3. Select color and adjust the opacity with the slider.

Step 4. Done; any selected color is applied automatically until you switch to another variant.

Method 4. Change Highlight Color: iOS Versions

change highlight color for mobile version

Step 1. Select the desired text by holding and adjusting.

Step 2. Choose "Highlight" in the drop-down menu.

Step 3. Any color you choose replaces the current color and also becomes the default color for future selections.

BONUS Tools

professional tools for adobe acrobat

Professional FixThePhoto designers have compiled a pack of 10 best free fonts that you can import in Adobe Acrobat and use when creating your PDF documents. By having a pack of free fonts for Adobe Acrobat, you can enhance the visual appeal of your PDF documents. This collection includes a variety of options beyond the standard fonts that come with the software, so you can choose styles that best suit your specific needs or preferences. Besides, you may the Adobe Acrobat Pro free version to test all its features before a subscription.

If this list isn't sufficient for you, you can check out the Adobe Font Library.

Tata Rossi

Tech Trends Journalist

Tata Rossi is a photographer-advisor, key contributor at FixThePhoto, sharing her expertise about photography and 55% of photos you see at our blog are taken by her. She is a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Photography from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design. She is the main so-called teacher in our team, conducting courses on photography and editing for beginners and anyone interested.

Read Tata's full bio

Kate Debela

Hardware & Software Testing Specialist

Kate is a travel blogger with rich experience who specializes in videography. She’s spent many years trying out apps, software, and photography gear. She focuses on gear with an excellent price-performance ratio, enabling photographers to save costs while taking advantage of the advanced functionality. She has a love-hate relationship with Apple, preferring customizable and accessible Android devices and Windows PCs over Apple's ecosystem, despite regularly testing their products.

Read Kate's full bio

adobe special offer adobe special offer