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Fix Unable to Select Text or Use Highlighter in Acrobat Reader Mobile
Question details
The user is unable to select text for copying or utilize the highlighter tool when viewing a PDF document in Acrobat Reader Mobile.
- Product
- Adobe Acrobat Reader Mobile
- Device & OS
- Android
- Scenario
- Attempting to highlight text or select specific words and lines to copy while reading a document on the mobile app.
- Observed behavior
- The text selection fails completely, and the highlighter tool does not highlight the intended words or lines.
Ensure your mobile device is connected to a stable Wi-Fi network before downloading app updates. Additionally, check that your PDF document is not a scanned image, as standard highlight and text selection tools only work on text-based PDFs natively.
Update Acrobat Reader Mobile and Restart Your Device
Updating to the latest version of the app resolves known text selection and highlighting bugs on mobile devices.
Software bugs can occasionally cause touch inputs for text selection and highlighting to fail. Adobe frequently releases patches to address these interaction issues.
Navigate to your device's home screen or app drawer and open the Google Play Store.
Type 'Adobe Acrobat Reader' into the search bar at the top of the screen and locate the official application in the results.
If an update is available, tap the 'Update' button. Wait for the download and installation to complete.
Hold down the power button on your device and select 'Restart'. Once rebooted, open the updated app and test the highlighter tool.
Verify PDF Permissions and Format
Ensure the PDF is a text-based document and allows content copying.
Highlight and Edit PDFs Seamlessly with WPS Office
If you continue to experience text selection bugs in Adobe Acrobat, consider switching to WPS Office. It is a highly capable, lightweight, and free alternative that makes reading, highlighting, and editing PDFs on mobile devices effortless. With an intuitive interface, it provides a smooth document management experience and easy migration.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why can't I select text in some PDF documents on my phone?
This usually happens if the PDF is a flattened image, such as a scanned paper document, rather than a text-based file. It can also occur if the author applied security restrictions to the document that prevent copying or extracting content.
Does updating the Acrobat Reader app delete my saved PDFs?
No. Updating the application through the official Google Play Store only replaces the application system files to fix bugs. Your downloaded documents, saved annotations, and account preferences will remain intact.
How do I highlight text in a PDF using the WPS Office mobile app?
Open your PDF file in the WPS Office app, tap the 'Tools' menu at the bottom, navigate to the 'Annotation' tab, and tap the 'Highlight' tool. You can then drag your finger over any selectable text to highlight it, and tap the highlight again to change its color.
Can I convert an image-based PDF into selectable text on my mobile device?
Yes. While standard PDF readers cannot select text from images, you can use applications like WPS Office that feature built-in OCR (Optical Character Recognition) to scan the image and convert it into selectable, editable text.
