Skip to main content
staceyd_iqv
Participant
Mar 13, 2019 9:30 PM UTC
Answered

Highlighter Doesn't Work

My highlighter tool in Acrobat Pro DC stopped working! Can anyone help me? I press the highlighter icon on top of my screen, highlight my text, and then nothing happens. If I click the area that I tried to highlight this blue box/border shows up - but nothing is highlighted.

First screenshot is my text as I'm highlighting it -

Second screenshot is after I "highlighted" it, but nothing happened

Third screenshot is when I click on the area that I had "highlighted", this annoying blue box appears.

Please help!

BaniVerma
BaniVermaCorrect answer
Community Manager
Oct 15, 2026 10:45 PM UTC

Hi everyone,

For issues with highlighting in Adobe Acrobat, including text that cannot be selected, scanned PDFs and OCR, highlight colors, and markup properties, see the consolidated annotation and commenting guide below. It also covers comments, drawing tools, text boxes, and other related annotation workflows.

Delete All Comments on a PDF at Once in Adobe Acrobat | Annotation and Commenting Guide

Thanks,
^BV

View reply

14 replies

BaniVerma
Community Manager
BaniVermaCommunity ManagerCorrect answer
Community Manager
Oct 15, 2026 10:45 PM UTC

Hi everyone,

For issues with highlighting in Adobe Acrobat, including text that cannot be selected, scanned PDFs and OCR, highlight colors, and markup properties, see the consolidated annotation and commenting guide below. It also covers comments, drawing tools, text boxes, and other related annotation workflows.

Delete All Comments on a PDF at Once in Adobe Acrobat | Annotation and Commenting Guide

Thanks,
^BV

Translate
Thomas17542722mvtk
Participant
Nov 23, 2022 10:13 PM UTC

My highlighter did work in Acrobat DC until recently but stopped.  I checked for updates and the updates are current.

I tried ctlE after pressing the icon.  I have rebooted, 

Translate
    Laura35506118c5n1
    Participant
    Feb 16, 2024 6:06 PM UTC

    I am having the same problem.  The highlight tool worked on the first document I opened but has not worked in any of the subsequent documents in the same work session.  Have you found an answer yet?

    Translate
    Peter32508209ww5k
    Participant
    Feb 23, 2024 8:37 AM UTC

    Same problem. Different pdf from same session: some get highlighter tool some do not, so not a univ security setting...

     

    Translate
      susymartinelli
      Participant
      Nov 17, 2020 12:02 PM UTC

      I have a similar problem, but mine, it doesn't show the "blue box", it doesn't show nothing. 

      Translate
      try67
      Community Expert
      try67Community Expert
      Community Expert
      Nov 17, 2020 1:16 PM UTC

      So what happens when you use the Highlight tool?

      Translate
      default5qx259todzx6
      Participant
      Sep 21, 2021 11:42 PM UTC

      My highligher icon disapeared aftere one use. How can I get it back? 

      Translate
        try67
        Community Expert
        try67Community Expert
        Community Expert
        Mar 13, 2019 9:33 PM UTC

        That "annoying blue box" is the highlight... You probably just set it to be transparent.

        After clicking it press Ctrl+E and you'll be able to change it via the floating toolbar that will open (it's the check-board icon).

        Translate
          try67
          Community Expert
          try67Community Expert
          Community Expert
          Mar 13, 2019 9:34 PM UTC

          PS. After making this change right-click the highlight again and select Make Current Properties Default and it should not happen when you create a new one.

          Translate
            Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement
            Using the community Terms of use Privacy Cookie preferences Do not sell or share my personal information ad choicesAdChoices