Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Word 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Word, click here: Controlling the Printing of Highlighting.

Controlling the Printing of Highlighting

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated July 28, 2018)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003


It is not unusual to use the highlighting tool to mark up a document for your own use. You may not, however, want the highlighting to print on your output. You can turn off the printing of highlighting by following these steps:

  1. Choose Options from the Tools menu. This displays the Options dialog box.
  2. Make sure the View tab is selected. (See Figure 1.)
  3. Figure 1. The View tab of the Options dialog box.

  4. Clear the Highlight check box.
  5. Click on OK to close the dialog box.

The highlighting in your document should disappear. It is still there, but you have simply hidden it so it is not visible. You can now print your document, and the highlighting won't show. To again display the highlighting, follow the same steps but make sure the Highlight check box is selected.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (1164) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Word (Word 2007 and later) here: Controlling the Printing of Highlighting.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

More than Three Conditional Formats

Conditional formatting is a great feature for making the data in your worksheets more understandable and usable. What if ...

Discover More

Protecting a Worksheet's Format

You can protect various parts of your worksheets by using the tools built into Excel. One thing you can protect is the ...

Discover More

Formatting a PivotTable

You can format PivotTables using either manual formatting or automatic formatting. You need to be careful, however, as ...

Discover More

Do More in Less Time! An easy-to-understand guide to the more advanced features available in the Microsoft 365 version of Word. Enhance the quality of your documents and boost productivity in any field with this in-depth resource. Complete your Word-related tasks more efficiently as you unlock lesser-known tools and learn to quickly access the features you need. Check out Microsoft 365 Word For Professionals For Dummies today!

More WordTips (menu)

Printing the Current Page

Want to print just the current page? Word can do it, if you know how.

Discover More

Printing On Both Sides of the Paper

A VBA macro to allow duplex printing.

Discover More

Correct Line Numbers When Printing Selections

Line numbers can be indispensable on some types of documents. When you print a portion of a document (a selection) Word ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is nine more than 3?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)


This Site

Got a version of Word that uses the menu interface (Word 97, Word 2000, Word 2002, or Word 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.

Videos
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.