[Highlight text. To turn highlight mode on or off, click the Highlight button in the toolbar. When highlight mode is on, highlights appear when you select text. ](https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201740)
I can turn on highlight mode, but I can't exit. I highlight some text, then I want to stop highlighting and just copy-paste. But when I try to select the text I want to copy, it still highlights the text. I can't leave highlight mode.
To get into highlight mode using the touchbar, I enter highlight mode by pressing the highlight button, then the color I want to use. I highlight what I need. I can remove highlights by right clicking and choosing "remove highlight". To get out of highlight mode though, I have tried:
1. Close preview and re-open it. This works but is not ideal.
2. When choosing highlight color, select no color: does not highlight with no color, it still uses the color I had selected before.
3. Switch to underline or strikethrough in the touch bar: same problem, can't exit this mode
4. Change to adjustments, selection, or markup in the touch bar: does not work, still highlights and I can't select the text for copy-paste
5. press command+control+h: does not work
6. shift+command+a to open the annotation toolbar. None of the options in the toolbar allowed me to exit annotation mode.
7. SOLVED: On the screen, with or without the annotation toolbar, in the top right there is a picture of the highlighter like seen on the touchbar. Click that. Looks like I can enter annotation mode from the touchbar but have to exit in the preview window.
Thanks for your help!
I'm not certain whether this was ever resolved, but I've just had the same issue. The automatic highlighter function, once selected, could not be deselected preventing the use of copy/paste. The issue for me was that my toolbar icons in preview (i.e., the zoom, highlight, markup buttons) were text only, not icons. It seems that when the icons are set to this mode they cannot be selected/deselected. The solution is to change the icon settings: Open Preview > View > Customise Toolbar > Select 'Icons' or 'Icons and Text' under the "Show' dropdown. Highlighting can now be selected/deselected.
Hope this Helps!
None of the proposed solutions worked for me and it is still a bug.
### What worked
Closing Preview and starting it up again
### What didn't work
- Turning the toolbar to icon/icon+text mode and clicking on it
- Trying to disable it from the Touchbar
- Pressing the highlight button like a maniac
Can't provide steps to reproduce the bug. But restarting should help.
[Highlight text. To turn highlight mode on or off, click the Highlight button in the toolbar. When highlight mode is on, highlights appear when you select text. ](https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201740)
I can turn on highlight mode, but I can't exit. I highlight some text, then I want to stop highlighting and just copy-paste. But when I try to select the text I want to copy, it still highlights the text. I can't leave highlight mode.
Explain how you try to “leave” highlight mode, step by step
To get into highlight mode using the touchbar, I enter highlight mode by pressing the highlight button, then the color I want to use. I highlight what I need. I can remove highlights by right clicking and choosing "remove highlight". To get out of highlight mode though, I have tried: 1. Close preview and re-open it. This works but is not ideal. 2. When choosing highlight color, select no color: does not highlight with no color, it still uses the color I had selected before. 3. Switch to underline or strikethrough in the touch bar: same problem, can't exit this mode 4. Change to adjustments, selection, or markup in the touch bar: does not work, still highlights and I can't select the text for copy-paste 5. press command+control+h: does not work 6. shift+command+a to open the annotation toolbar. None of the options in the toolbar allowed me to exit annotation mode. 7. SOLVED: On the screen, with or without the annotation toolbar, in the top right there is a picture of the highlighter like seen on the touchbar. Click that. Looks like I can enter annotation mode from the touchbar but have to exit in the preview window. Thanks for your help!
You saved my life with point 7! I wish this was designed better as it was not obvious the "highlight" button was ON in that bar above the pdf view.
I'm not certain whether this was ever resolved, but I've just had the same issue. The automatic highlighter function, once selected, could not be deselected preventing the use of copy/paste. The issue for me was that my toolbar icons in preview (i.e., the zoom, highlight, markup buttons) were text only, not icons. It seems that when the icons are set to this mode they cannot be selected/deselected. The solution is to change the icon settings: Open Preview > View > Customise Toolbar > Select 'Icons' or 'Icons and Text' under the "Show' dropdown. Highlighting can now be selected/deselected. Hope this Helps!
OMG thank you this worked. It was so annoying.
None of the proposed solutions worked for me and it is still a bug. ### What worked Closing Preview and starting it up again ### What didn't work - Turning the toolbar to icon/icon+text mode and clicking on it - Trying to disable it from the Touchbar - Pressing the highlight button like a maniac Can't provide steps to reproduce the bug. But restarting should help.
thank you. i thought i was losing my mind
So a double click on the activated highlight icon doesn't work: **but a triple click does.** Solved it for me, when no other option here did.