CSS: How to Highlight Text Color

Highlighting text is a powerful way to draw attention to important information on your webpage. Whether you’re designing a callout, emphasizing a keyword, or styling a selected area, CSS gives you simple yet flexible ways to highlight text with color.

In this blog, we’ll cover the most effective methods to highlight text color using CSS—along with practical examples you can apply right away.

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✅ Method 1: Change the Text Color with color

The most basic way to highlight text is by changing its font color using the color property.

💡 Example:

.highlight {
  color: red;
}

<p>This is a <span class="highlight">highlighted</span> word.</p>

🧠 Notes:

• Use this method when you want to emphasize text by changing the font color only.
• Make sure the text color has enough contrast with the background for accessibility.

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✅ Method 2: Highlight with a Background Color

If you want a highlighter-style effect, use the background-color property instead.

💡 Example:

.marked {
  background-color: yellow;
}

<p>This sentence has a <span class="marked">highlighted background</span>.</p>

✅ This mimics the effect of a physical highlighter pen.

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✅ Method 3: Combine Text and Background Color

For a more vibrant highlight, combine both color and background-color.

💡 Example:

.emphasis {
  color: white;
  background-color: orange;
  padding: 2px 4px;
  border-radius: 3px;
}

<p>Get your <span class="emphasis">limited-time offer</span> now!</p>

✅ This makes the text stand out sharply while staying readable.

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✅ Method 4: Use the <mark> HTML Tag (Semantic Highlight)

The <mark> element is used to semantically highlight text that is relevant to the user’s current activity (like search results).

💡 Default Usage:

<p>This is a <mark>highlighted</mark> word.</p>

Browsers render this with a yellow background by default.

🧠 You Can Style <mark> with CSS:

mark {
  background-color: lime;
  color: black;
}

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✅ Bonus: Highlight on Hover

You can make highlights appear only on hover for interactive effects.

p span:hover {
  background-color: lightblue;
  cursor: pointer;
}

<p>Hover over this <span>text</span> to highlight it.</p>

✅ Great for tooltips, inline buttons, or reading guides.

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🎯 Summary

Goal	CSS Properties Used	Best Element
Change text color	color	<span>
Highlight background	background-color	<span> / <mark>
Emphasize strongly	color, background-color, padding	<span>
Semantic highlight	Browser default via <mark> tag	<mark>
Hover effects	:hover, background-color	<span>

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✅ Final Thoughts

CSS gives you multiple tools to highlight text in creative and accessible ways. Whether you’re using a simple color, a vibrant background-color, or the semantic <mark> element, you can effectively grab your users’ attention while keeping your HTML clean and readable.

Keep contrast and readability in mind—and don’t be afraid to get creative with hover animations or gradients.