Web Highlights is a browser extension I built to make it super easy to highlight and add notes to any website or PDF. It's perfect for reading, research, or just saving stuff you don't want to forget. It's one of the top Chrome extensions for productivity, and you don't even need to sign up to use it. Just install it and start highlighting. You can use different colors, add tags, and send your notes to second brain apps like Notion, Obsidian, or Capacities.

It's simple: Install the extension, or use one of our free online tools, select any text on a webpage or PDF, and you'll see a popup to highlight it. You can also right-click or use keyboard shortcuts if you prefer. Add notes, create tags, and everything is saved automatically. When you come back to the page, your highlights are still there. It's like having a digital marker for the whole web.

Yes! Web Highlights works with both online and local PDFs. Here's how:

• For online PDFs: Simply open them in your browser and click the "Highlight this PDF" popup or click the extension icon.
• For local PDFs:
  1. Open the PDF in Chrome (right-click > Open with > Chrome)
  2. Allow Web Highlights to access file URLs (one-time setup)
  3. Click the extension icon or "Highlight this PDF" popup

Once loaded in the Web Highlights viewer, you can highlight text, add notes, and organize with tags just like on websites. The PDF viewer makes it easy to read and annotate your documents and to take notes on the go. Read our complete guide to PDF highlighting →

Yep, most of the features are free! The main highlighter application is totally free. You can make as many highlights, notes, tags, and bookmarks as you want, and the web app stays free too. What the paid plans add is syncing across devices — free for 7 days, and after that your highlights stay where they are and only the syncing stops. You never need to pay to use the basics.

I built Web Highlights to be simple but powerful. Unlike most highlighter applications, you get things like cloud sync, formatted highlights, and easy export to second brain apps. Lots of users say it helps them keep their research and notes organized, whether they're reading for fun, studying, or working. It's all about making it easy to save and find what matters to you—without any fuss.