How to Highlight Text in Powerpoint

Highlighting text on a Microsoft PowerPoint slide can help draw attention to the text and increase its perceived importance to the viewer. The text highlight function is simple to use in earlier versions of PowerPoint, but for the 2007 version, Microsoft removed the process; to highlight text, you must use a more roundabout method to achieve the effect.

Instructions

PowerPoint 2003

1. Open the slide you wish to highlight text on.

2. Choose the "Rectangle" tool from the Drawing tool bar.

3. Draw a rectangle over the text you want to highlight.

4. Double-click the rectangle.

5. Choose the highlight color you want to use from the Fill Color list.

6. Choose 50 percent in the Transparency box.

7. Choose "No Line" in the Line Color box.

PowerPoint 2007

1. Open the slide containing the text you want to highlight.

2. Click "Text Box" from the Text group in the Insert tab, then drag to form a new text box.

3. Type the text to be highlighted in the new text box.

4. Click on and drag one of the text box handles to frame it around the text.

5. Click the "Home" tab, then "Drawing" group and "Shape Fill." Choose the color you want the text highlighted in.

References

• Microsoft Office: Highlight Text
• Microsoft Office: What Happened to the Text Highlight Option?