Text that is highlighted attracts attention. But how to highlight text in PowerPoint?
You can only directly highlight text in PowerPoint if you have PowerPoint 2019 or a Microsoft Office 365 subscription. There are a few workarounds you can use to either highlight your text or create the same effect if you don’t have Office 365 or an older version of PowerPoint.
In this article, we’ll go over every method there is for highlighting text in PowerPoint. Let’s get started!
Also Read: How To Record Audio In Powerpoint?
Table of Contents
How To Highlight Text In Powerpoint?
1. Apply And Remove Highlighting (For Powerpoint 2019 Or 365 Users)
The Text Highlight Color command is present in PowerPoint’s Ribbon if you have versions 2019 or 365 of the program. Normally, highlighting would be used in the Normal view.
The Text Highlight Color command is located in the Font group on the Home tab of the Ribbon (for 365 and 2019) as shown below:
To highlight text in PowerPoint 2019 or 365:
- The text you want to highlight should be chosen.
- Select the Home tab from the Ribbon.
- In the Font group, click the arrow next to Text Highlight Color. A gallery of colors appears.
- Pick the highlight color you want from the gallery.
The PowerPoint Text Highlight Color command for Office 365 subscribers is listed below:
To select several pieces of non-continuous text for highlighting:
- On the slide, make sure no text is selected.
- On the Ribbon, select the Home tab.
- the arrow next to Text Highlight Color in the Font group should be clicked. A color gallery appears.
- Pick the highlight color you want from the gallery. A highlighter replaces the mouse pointer.
- To highlight a section of the text, drag it over. Drag over more than one instance of text to continue.
- To turn off the highlighter after you are done, press Esc on your keyboard.
To take away the text’s underlining:
- Pick out the highlighted text.
- On the Ribbon, select the Home tab.
- the arrow next to Text Highlight Color in the Font group should be clicked. A color gallery appears.
- Choose No Color from the gallery.
2. Draw A Shape Around The Text You Want To Highlight (All Versions)
Another way to highlight text is to draw a shape around the text you want to stand out, send it behind the text (you can also color-fill a text box or placeholder), and then click on the shape to send it behind the text.
Making a simple shape around text will highlight it:
- Show the slide that contains the text you want to emphasize.
- On the Ribbon, select the Insert tab.
- A shape, like a rectangle, can be chosen from the gallery after clicking Shapes.
- Click and drag to create the text’s border.
- To fit the text, drag the shape’s sizing handles.
- To move the shape, drag its edge. You can also move it with your keyboard’s arrow keys.
- Click the Drawing Tools Format tab in the Ribbon while the shape is selected.
- When choosing a color for the highlight, click the arrow next to Shape Fill.
- No Outline can be chosen by clicking the arrow next to Shape Outline.
- If you want to send the shape behind the text, select it first and then click the Drawing Tools Format tab again. Then, from the Send Backward drop-down menu, choose to Send to Back or Send Backward.
Draw a unique shape around the text to highlight it:
- The slide with the text you want to highlight should be displayed.
- On the Ribbon, select the Insert tab.
- The Scribble tool is the last selection under the Lines group when you click Shapes.
- To create a unique shape, drag the left mouse button around the text while keeping it pressed. To create a closed path (which you can color-fill), make sure to release the mouse button on the path’s beginning point.
- The shape can be moved by dragging its edge. You can also use the arrow keys on your keyboard to move it.
- To edit the shape’s points, right-click it and choose Edit Points. To move a point, drag it. To eliminate a point, control-click it. To add a point, CTRL-click the path. To get out of Edit Points mode, click outside the shape.
- Select the shape, then click the Drawing Tools Format tab in the Ribbon.
- The highlight color can be chosen from the gallery by clicking the arrow next to Shape Fill.
- No Outline can be chosen by clicking the arrow next to Shape Outline.
- To send the shape behind the text, with the shape selected, click the Drawing Tools Format tab once more and choose to Send to Back or Send Backward from the Send Backward drop-down menu.
3. Highlight Text In Powerpoint By Adding A Glow Effect
1. Go to the “Format” tab in the toolbar by clicking on your text box and selecting it. This tab might be referred to as “Shape Format” depending on the version of PowerPoint you are using.”
2. Using your cursor, highlight the text that needs improvement.
3. Click the glowing blue “A” icon for “Text Effects” on the right side of the “Format” tab.
4. Choose “Glow” (or any other effect you believe would be effective) from the drop-down menu.
5. Make your glow effect’s color and size selections.
4. Copy Microsoft Word Highlighting To Powerpoint (for Powerpoint 2010, 2013, Or 2016 Users)
The Text Highlight Color command is not present in the Ribbon if you have PowerPoint 2010, 2013, or 2016 and are not a subscriber to Office 365. The highlighting from Microsoft Word can, however, be copied and pasted into your PowerPoint slides. Typically, highlighting would be used in the Normal view.
From Word to PowerPoint, copy the underlining.
- Select the text you want to highlight and copy to PowerPoint in Microsoft Word. Make sure it has the same font and size as the PowerPoint placeholder or destination text box.
- On the Ribbon, select the Home tab.
- The arrow next to Text Highlight Color should be clicked. A color gallery appears.
- Pick the highlight color you want from the gallery.
- Press Ctrl + C to copy the text, or click and choose Copy from the menu that appears.
- Switch to PowerPoint.
- Wherever you want the highlighted text to appear on a PowerPoint slide, click inside a text box or placeholder.
- Keep Source Formatting can be chosen from the drop-down menu under Paste Options by performing a right-click. By doing so, PowerPoint will copy the highlighted text.
- Select the text that needs to be highlighted before copying it to another piece of text.
- Select the Ribbon’s Home tab.
- Tap the Format Painter.
- Drag over the additional text you want to emphasize.
To take away the underlining you copied from PowerPoint text in Microsoft Word:
- Pick any unhighlighted text anywhere on the PowerPoint slide.
- Select “Home” from the Ribbon tabs.
- Select the Format Painter by clicking.
- To remove the highlighting from the text, drag the cursor over it.
5. Draw On Slides During A Slide Show Using The Highlighter Tool (All Versions)
Using the Highlighter tool while a slide show is playing is another way to add highlighting. Annotation in ink is what this is.
Lines drawn with the Highlighter tool start out yellow, are semi-transparent and are thicker than those drawn with the Pen tool. During a slide show, the context menu (below) can be used to access the Highlighter tool.
During a slide show, in order to highlight and annotate a slide:
- Open a current presentation.
- In the bottom right corner, click the Slide Show button.
- Point to the bottom left of the screen when Slide Show mode is active. Icons will start to appear.
- A menu will appear if you click the Pen icon. From the menu, select the Highlighter tool. You can also choose Pointer Options and then Highlighter by selecting with the right mouse click or by pressing Shift + F10 to open a menu. The Highlighter tool’s default color is yellow, so the cursor now has a yellow line.
- On the slide, drag to write or draw. To draw straight lines, keep Shift depressed while drawing.
- Once the Highlighter has finished its work, press Escape. You’ll be questioned about keeping the ink annotations when you leave the performance. The annotations can either be kept or deleted.
The Bottom Line
The helpful hints for highlighting text in PowerPoint are all listed above. I sincerely hope that you can use this guide to help you with your problems.
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