How to highlight text on web pages
Enable ZetaMarker, select text, and save a highlight on desktop browsers or Firefox for Android.
Prerequisites
- Install the extension
- Optional: Sign in from the extension for cloud sync
Desktop (Chrome, Edge, Brave, Opera, Firefox)
- Open any web page you want to read.
- Click the ZetaMarker toolbar icon (or press
Ctrl+Shift+K/Cmd+Shift+K) to activate ZetaMarker on that tab. - Select the text you want to keep.
- Click a color in the floating toolbar to save the highlight.
Configure shortcuts:
- Chromium:
chrome://extensions/shortcuts - Firefox desktop:
about:addons→ the gear menu → Manage Extension Shortcuts
See the sidebar Shortcuts button for a settings link when available.
Your highlight is saved locally in the browser immediately. If you are signed in with cloud sync enabled, it syncs to your dashboard as well.
Desktop toolbar actions
After you highlight, the toolbar lets you:
- Change color — pick another highlight color (yellow, green, blue, pink, red).
- Add a note — attach a short comment to the highlight.
- Copy — copy the highlighted text to your clipboard.
- Delete — remove the highlight from the page.
Desktop sidebar
Open the ZetaMarker sidebar with Ctrl+Shift+E / Cmd+Shift+E, or click the extension icon, to see all highlights on the current page, jump to each one, and edit titles or notes. See Open the sidebar for details.
Firefox for Android
- Open an article or page you want to annotate.
- On a new site, tap the ZetaMarker icon at the bottom of the page to enable ZetaMarker for that site.
- Long-press (or select) the text you care about.
- Tap a color on the toolbar to save the highlight.
- Tap an existing highlight to edit or remove it.
After the site is enabled, use the logo menu for Settings, Local pages, Open in app, a page note, or Don't run on this site.
There is no desktop-style sidebar or keyboard shortcuts on Android. Manage highlights from the page toolbar, logo menu, Settings, Local pages, and the web dashboard.
Full walkthrough: Android welcome guide.
Tips
- Desktop: for faster sequential highlighting with one preset color, see Quick Highlighter.
- Highlights work on most standard web pages. Some sites with heavy scripting or unusual layouts may behave differently — see Why some highlights are not shown.
- You do not need an account for local highlighting. Cloud sync, the dashboard library, and exports require a Pro trial or subscription. See Local highlighting vs cloud sync.
- PDF highlighting is available in the desktop extension — see Highlight PDFs in the extension. It is not available in the Firefox Android add-on yet.