How to highlight multiple words on a web page

Three ways that work in Chrome, Edge and Firefox, from the one built into your browser to the one that remembers your words. Pick by how many words you look for, and how often.

1. The find bar: Ctrl+F

Press Ctrl+F (⌘+F on a Mac) and type a word. The browser marks every place where it appears on the page and shows how many there are. Enter jumps to the next one.

Good for: finding one word, right now, on any page, with nothing to install.

Where it breaks: it marks only the word you typed. Search for a second word and the first one loses its color, so you cannot see two words at the same time. In Firefox, tick Highlight All in the find bar to keep every match of that one word marked. The colors disappear when you close the bar or reload the page.

2. A link that highlights text: #:~:text=

Chrome, Edge and recent versions of Firefox can open a page with some text already marked. Add #:~:text=first to the end of the page address, and join more words with &text=: https://example.com/page#:~:text=first&text=second. The browser scrolls to the first marked text and colors each of them.

Good for: sharing a page with a few phrases already marked, in a message or a note.

Where it breaks: only the first place where each text appears is marked, not every occurrence. You have to build the address by hand for each page, and the marks are temporary: they do not stay when you move on. Some sites ignore these links, and text that a page loads after opening may not be marked.

3. A browser extension: your words, every time

An extension keeps your lists and marks them on the page you are reading. We make one, Ordelio Keyword Highlighter (free, no word limits):

1. Click the extension icon (or press Alt+Shift+K) and type your words, separated by commas. They light up right away, each list in its own color, with how many times every word appears.
2. Tick Highlight automatically on for a site: the next time you open it, your words are already marked, with no click.

It finds phrases even when the page splits them across links or bold text, marks every occurrence, and does not change the page: the browser draws the colors, so the site keeps working. You can also right-click selected text to add it to a list.

Where it breaks: you have to install it, and a site that you want marked automatically needs your permission, which the browser asks for once per site. It marks the text of the page; it does not read inside images or PDF viewers.

Ordelio Keyword Highlighter is in review in the Chrome Web Store, Microsoft Edge Add-ons and Firefox Add-ons.

Which one to use

In short: for a single word, use Ctrl+F. To point someone at a few passages, use a link. If you look for the same words again and again, on job ads, papers, shops or reports, let an extension keep the list.

Looking for a way to highlight words that none of these handles? Tell us, we read every message.