How to Use Highlight, Strikethrough, and Underline Tools in Adobe Acrobat App
Question details
The user needs instructions on how to access and apply highlight, strikethrough, and underline text formatting in Adobe Acrobat, particularly when these tools seem unavailable.
- Product
- Adobe Acrobat
- Device & OS
- Android
- Scenario
- Reviewing or annotating a PDF document by adding text markups on a mobile device.
- Observed behavior
- The user wants to markup text, but the highlight, strikethrough, and underline tools may fail to work if the PDF is a scanned image rather than a document with selectable text.
Verify that your PDF contains selectable, recognized text instead of flat scanned images. Try selecting a word with your finger or cursor; if you cannot highlight the text itself, you will need to run OCR (Optical Character Recognition) on the document first.
Use the Acrobat Comment Mode Toolbar
Accessing the dedicated Comment tool allows you to continuously select and apply different markup styles to text throughout your PDF.
The Acrobat mobile app organizes its markup tools inside a specific commenting workspace. This method is best if you plan on reviewing and marking up multiple sections of the document.
Tap the blue action button located in the lower-right corner of the screen. From the list of options (Comment, Fill & Sign, Edit PDF, Organize Pages), tap 'Comment'.
On the bottom toolbar, tap the first button (which looks like a brush or marker) to activate the text highlighting tool.
Alternatively, tap the button marked with a 'T' and a line through it for Strikethrough, or the 'T' with a line underneath for the Underline tool.
Drag your finger or stylus over the selectable text in the PDF to apply the active markup style automatically.
Use the Long-Press Context Menu
Quickly apply markups without opening the full toolbar by directly selecting text on the PDF page.
Highlight and Markup PDFs Easily with WPS Office
If you are struggling with scanned PDFs or complicated menus, WPS Office offers a free, highly intuitive PDF editor. It features easy-to-use annotation tools and powerful OCR to make unselectable text editable instantly.
- 1. Open Your PDF in WPS Office: Launch WPS Office and open the PDF document you want to markup.
- 2. Navigate to the Comment Tab: Select the 'Comment' tab from the top navigation ribbon to reveal the annotation tools.
- 3. Select Your Markup Tool: Click on 'Highlight', 'Underline', or 'Strikethrough', then drag your cursor over the text to apply the effect instantly.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why can't I highlight text in my PDF document?
If the highlight or strikethrough tools do not work, your PDF is likely a scanned image rather than a document with embedded, selectable text. You must process the document with an OCR (Optical Character Recognition) tool to recognize the text before you can annotate it.
How do I change the highlight color in Acrobat?
After applying a highlight, tap directly on the highlighted text. A small menu or color palette will appear, allowing you to change the color and adjust the opacity of the markup.
How can I delete a strikethrough or highlight mistake?
Tap or click on the existing annotation (the highlighted or struck-through text). A pop-up menu will appear where you can select 'Delete' or the trash can icon to instantly remove the markup without deleting the underlying text.
Does the mobile app support OCR to make text selectable?
The free version of the Adobe Acrobat mobile app does not natively run OCR. To recognize text on a scanned document from your mobile device, you typically need an Acrobat Pro subscription or a dedicated scanning application with OCR capabilities.
