The quickest way to add background color to text

To add background color to text in Word, select the words you want to highlight, then click the arrow next to the highlighter icon in the toolbar and pick a color. The highlighter icon looks like a marker pen and sits in the Home tab near the font formatting buttons. This is the fastest method and works the same way in Word on Windows, Mac, and the web version.

If you cannot find the highlighter icon, look for a small dropdown arrow next to what looks like a yellow marker. Click that arrow to see color options. The default is yellow, but you can choose from ten or more colors depending on your Word version. Once you pick a color, that color stays selected until you change it again.

The background color you add this way prints with your document, so it works for both on-screen reading and printed copies. If you change your mind about the color later, select the highlighted text again and pick a different color from the same menu.

Key Takeaways

  • Select text first, then click the highlighter dropdown arrow in the Home tab to choose a background color.
  • The highlighter tool applies color to text only, not to entire paragraphs or pages — use shading for larger areas.
  • You can change or remove highlighting by selecting the text again and choosing a new color or the "No Color" option.
  • Highlighting prints with your document, so it appears on paper copies unless you remove it before printing.
  • Word on Mac, Windows, and the web all use the same highlighter tool in the same location.

Using the Shading tool for paragraphs and larger areas

If you want to color the background of an entire paragraph or a larger block of text, use the Shading tool instead of the highlighter. Shading colors the whole paragraph background, not just the text itself, and gives a more polished look for headers or callout boxes. Find Shading in the Home tab — it usually sits near the highlighter and shows a paint bucket icon.

Click the arrow next to the paint bucket to open the color menu. Select your paragraph first by clicking anywhere inside it, or select multiple paragraphs by clicking and dragging across them. Then choose your color. Unlike the highlighter, shading fills the entire width of the paragraph, which works better for emphasis blocks or section breaks in longer documents.

Shading also prints with your document. You can remove it the same way you applied it — select the paragraph and choose "No Color" from the shading menu.

Coloring the entire page background

To change the background color of a whole page or all pages in your document, use the Page Color option instead. This is different from highlighting or shading text — it colors the page itself. Go to the Design tab (or Layout in older Word versions), then look for Page Color or Background Color.

Click that option and choose your color. This change applies to all pages in your document by default, though you can set different colors for different sections if you divide your document into sections first. Page color does not print on most printers — it appears on screen but usually not on paper, which is useful if you want a colored background for reading but a white background for printing.

If you want the page color to print, you need to change your printer settings, not the Word settings. Most printers have an option to print background colors, but it is turned off by default to save ink.

Removing or changing colors you have already applied

To remove highlighting from text, select the highlighted words, click the highlighter dropdown arrow, and choose "No Color." The text stays in place — only the background color disappears. This works the same for shading: select the paragraph, click the shading dropdown, and pick "No Color."

To change a color to a different one, you do not need to remove it first. Just select the text or paragraph again and pick the new color from the menu. The old color disappears and the new one takes its place when ready.

If you want to remove all highlighting or shading from your entire document at once, use Find and Replace. Open Find and Replace with Ctrl+H (Windows) or Command+H (Mac), then click More Options or Format to search for text with highlighting or shading, and replace it with the same text but no color. This is faster than going through a long document by hand.

Choosing colors that work well together

Word offers a set of colors that match your document theme, which means they are designed to look good together. When you click the highlighter or shading dropdown, the colors at the top of the menu are theme colors — these are the safest choice because they match your document's overall style. The colors below them are standard colors that work in any document.

Light colors like pale yellow, pale blue, and pale green work best for highlighting because they do not make text hard to read. Dark colors like dark red or dark blue can make text difficult to see, especially if your text is also dark. If you use a dark background color, switch your text to white or light gray so it stands out.

If you are printing your document, remember that some colors use a lot of ink. Yellow and light colors print more cheaply than dark blues or reds. Test a page before printing a whole document if you are unsure how the colors will look on paper.

Highlighting in tables and special layouts

Highlighting and shading work inside tables the same way they work in regular text. Select the cells you want to color, then use the highlighter or shading tool. You can color individual cells, entire rows, or entire columns by selecting them first.

If you want to color a cell background in a table, shading usually looks better than highlighting because it fills the whole cell. Select the cell or cells, then click the shading dropdown and pick your color. This is useful for making header rows stand out or emphasizing important data in a table.

In text boxes and shapes, highlighting and shading work the same way — select the text inside the shape, then explore color as you normally would. The color applies only to the text, not to the shape itself. To color the shape background, right-click the shape and choose Format Shape, then pick a fill color from that menu instead.

Keyboard shortcuts for faster highlighting

If you highlight text often, learning the keyboard shortcut saves time. On Windows, there is no single keyboard shortcut for highlighting, but you can add one by going to File, then Options, then Customize Ribbon, then Keyboard Shortcuts. Search for "Highlight" and assign your own shortcut key.

On Mac, Word does not have a built-in keyboard shortcut for highlighting either, but you can create one the same way through Word Preferences. Once you set up a shortcut, you can select text and press your chosen keys to explore the last color you used without opening the menu.

The fastest method without a custom shortcut is to click the highlighter once to explore the last color you used, without opening the dropdown menu. This works if you are using the same color repeatedly — just click the icon itself, not the arrow next to it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does highlighting print when I print my document?

Yes, highlighting prints by default. If you do not want it to print, remove the highlighting before printing or change your printer settings to not print background colors. Most printers have this option in their advanced settings.

Can I highlight text in the web version of Word?

Yes, the web version of Word has the same highlighter tool in the Home tab. Click the dropdown arrow next to the marker icon and choose your color. The process is identical to the desktop version.

What is the difference between highlighting and shading?

Highlighting colors only the text itself, like a marker pen on paper. Shading colors the entire paragraph background, which looks more formal and works better for large blocks of text or headers. Use highlighting for individual words or short phrases, and shading for whole paragraphs.

Can I change the default highlight color?

Word does not have a setting to change the default highlight color permanently. However, once you pick a color, it stays selected until you change it again, so you can pick your preferred color once and it will be ready the next time you use the highlighter.

How do I remove highlighting from my entire document at once?

Use Find and Replace (Ctrl+H on Windows, Command+H on Mac). Click More Options, then search for text with highlighting applied and replace it with the same text but no highlighting. This is much faster than removing highlighting manually from every instance.