How to Highlight in Google Docs Specific Words, Change Color

Highlighting text in Google Docs can help emphasize important points, differentiate ideas, and improve readability. You may want to highlight words, phrases, or entire sections. Fortunately, Google Docs makes it easy to highlight text and customize the highlight color.

How to Highlight Text in Google Docs

Highlighting text in Google Docs is simple:

1. Select the text you want to highlight. You can highlight a letter, word, sentence, paragraph or the entire document.
2. Click the Highlight color icon in the toolbar. It looks like a text highlight marker.
3. Choose a highlight color from the palette or create a custom color.

Here is the step-by-step process:

Select the Text

• To select a word, double click on the word.
• To select a phrase, click and drag across the text.
• To select a paragraph, triple click inside the paragraph.
• To select the entire document, use the keyboard shortcuts:
  • Windows: Ctrl + A
  • Mac: Command + A

Open the Highlight Color Menu

Once you’ve selected the text, click on the Highlight color icon in the toolbar. It has a marker icon.

Choose a Highlight Color

The highlight palette provides several colors to choose from. Click a color to highlight the selected text.

To create a custom color, click Custom at the bottom of the palette. Use the color picker or enter a HEX code to define your own color.

Removing Highlights

To remove a text highlight:

1. Select the highlighted text
2. Click the Highlight color icon
3. Choose None at the top of the palette

The text will revert to its original color.

Highlighting Specific Words

You may want to highlight the same words throughout a document, like keywords relevant to your subject. Here are two approaches:

Manual Highlighting

Manually select and highlight each instance of the word or phrase you want to emphasize. This can be time consuming but allows custom highlight colors for different terms.

Add-ons

Install the Highlight Tool add-on to automatically highlight words. Configure highlight colors and rules to have specific words highlighted in your Google Docs.

Highlighting an Entire Document

To highlight all text within a document:

1. Press Ctrl/Command + A to select all text
2. Click the Highlight Color icon
3. Choose a highlight color

This will override any existing highlights in your document.

Keyboard Shortcuts for Highlighting

Use keyboard shortcuts to highlight text without touching your mouse:

Windows

• Ctrl + Shift + H: Show highlight color menu

Mac

• Command + Shift + H: Show highlight color menu

Select your highlight color using the keyboard once the menu is open.

Tips for Effective Highlighting

Here are some best practices when highlighting text:

• Use different highlight colors to color-code concepts
• Don’t over-highlight text or it will lose its effectiveness
• Combine with other formatting like bold or italic text to further differentiate ideas
• Highlight selectively to call attention to the most important content
• Be consistent with how you use highlight colors in a document

Conclusion

Highlighting text in Google Docs is easy and useful for emphasizing important ideas. Manually select terms to highlight or automatically highlight words with add-ons. Customize highlight colors to color-code concepts. Use highlighting judiciously to effectively guide your readers.