PDF Editing Issues

How to Highlight Text in PDFs Stored on Acrobat.com

Rana Garcia Oct 22, 2026 869 views

Question details

The user needs to know how to add text highlights and markups to a PDF document that is saved in their Acrobat.com cloud storage.

How to Highlight Text in a PDF Stored on Acrobat.com

Product: Adobe Acrobat
Device & OS: not provided
Scenario: Accessing cloud-stored PDF files to add text highlights and ensuring the changes are saved back to the cloud account.
Observed behavior: The user is looking for the correct menu options and workflow to open an online file, mark it up in Adobe Acrobat, and synchronize the changes online.

Before you start

Ensure you have Adobe Acrobat installed on your computer and verify that you are logged into your Adobe account to access your Acrobat.com cloud files seamlessly.

Solution 1Recommended

Open and Highlight the PDF via Adobe Acrobat Desktop

Use the Adobe Acrobat desktop application to open your cloud file, apply highlights locally, and save the updated file directly back to your Acrobat.com account.

Although you are marking up the PDF offline in the desktop application, Adobe Acrobat provides built-in options to directly fetch and overwrite files on your cloud storage, making synchronization seamless.

Open from Acrobat.com

Launch Adobe Acrobat on your computer. Click on the 'File' menu at the top and select 'Open from Acrobat.com' to browse your cloud storage.

Select Your PDF

Locate the specific PDF document you want to edit from your online account and open it.

Highlight the Text

Select the Highlight text tool from the toolbar and drag your cursor over the specific text you want to mark up.

Save Changes to Cloud

Once you have finished highlighting, click on the 'File' menu again and choose 'Save to Acrobat.com' to push your updated document back to the cloud.

Open and Highlight the PDF via Adobe Acrobat Desktop

Sync Confirmation: Always use the 'Save to Acrobat.com' option instead of a standard 'Save' to ensure your highlights are synchronized with the online version.

Highlight and Sync PDFs Easily with WPS Office

WPS Office provides a comprehensive suite of powerful PDF editing tools, including highlighters and annotations, alongside seamless built-in cloud synchronization to keep your documents updated across all your devices.

1. Launch WPS PDF: Open WPS Office and select 'PDF' to launch the dedicated PDF editor.
2. Open Your Document: Open your PDF file from your local drive or directly from WPS Cloud.
3. Navigate to Comment Tab: Go to the 'Comment' tab on the top ribbon to access the markup options.
4. Select Highlight Tool: Click on the 'Highlight' tool and choose your preferred highlight color.
5. Highlight and Save: Drag your cursor over the text to highlight it, then click 'Save' or press Ctrl+S to sync your annotated PDF back to the cloud.

Easily highlight, underline, and annotate PDF textFree and lightweight alternative to premium PDF softwareBuilt-in WPS Cloud for effortless document syncingFully compatible with standard PDF formats across platforms

microsoft office alternative - wps office

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I highlight text in a PDF directly in my web browser?

Yes, if you access Acrobat.com or Adobe's online PDF tools via your web browser, you can use the online interface to highlight text and add basic comments without needing to download the desktop application.

Why can't I select or highlight the text in my PDF?

If the PDF is a scanned document or an image-based file, it does not contain selectable text layers. You must first use an OCR (Optical Character Recognition) tool to recognize the text before you can highlight it.

Do my offline highlights sync automatically to Acrobat.com?

Not automatically while offline. If you opened the file via 'Open from Acrobat.com', you must manually select 'Save to Acrobat.com' from the File menu while connected to the internet to push your offline markups back to the cloud.

PDF Troubleshooting