Reading Highlighter

Highlight selected text in Obsidian's reading mode using ==markdown highlight== syntax.

Features

• A small toolbar appears next to your selection with Highlight, Highlight with note and Copy
• Notes are saved as ordinary Markdown footnotes, so they show up in reading view on every device
• Tap or click an existing highlight to add or edit its note, copy it, or remove it
• A highlights panel lists every highlight in the current note with its note, and tapping one jumps to it
• Undo the most recent highlight with a button or command
• Handles multi-paragraph selections, formatted text and links
• Keeps existing Markdown formatting (bold, italic, code and so on)
• Works on desktop, iPhone and iPad

Usage

1. Open a note in reading mode.
2. Select the text you want to highlight.
3. Tap a button in the toolbar that appears below the selection:
   • Highlight wraps the text in ==highlights== in the note's source.
   • Highlight with note opens a note editor, then saves the highlight and the note together.
   • Copy copies the selected text.

You can also run Highlight selection in reading mode or Highlight selection with a note from the command palette. On mobile, the highlighter icon in the ribbon highlights the selection too.

Notes

A note is stored as a footnote with an hl label:

Some ==quoted text==[^hl3] here.

[^hl3]: Your note. Extra lines are indented by four spaces.

The plugin only ever edits or removes footnotes labelled hl plus a number. Your own footnotes are left alone.

Editing an existing highlight

Tap or click a highlight in reading mode to open its menu:

• Add note or Edit note opens the note editor. In the editor, Delete note removes the note but keeps the highlight.
• Copy copies the highlighted text.
• Remove highlight removes the == markers, plus the note if there is one.

Highlights panel

Run Open highlights panel to show the panel in the right sidebar. It lists the highlights in the note you're reading, with their notes. Tap a highlight to jump to it in the note, or use the ⋯ button for the same menu as tapping the highlight.

Undoing a highlight

After you make a highlight, an undo button appears at the bottom of the screen. Tap it to remove the most recent highlight, including its note. The button stays visible until you use it, switch to a different note, or disable the plugin. You can also run Undo last highlight from the command palette and give it a hotkey.

To remove an older highlight, tap it and choose Remove highlight.

Settings

Toolbar position sets where the toolbar appears. Next to the selection is the default. Bottom of the screen keeps it in a fixed spot above the home indicator.

Hotkeys

No default hotkeys are set. To add one:

1. Go to Settings > Hotkeys.
2. Search for "Reading Highlighter".
3. Assign shortcuts to the commands you use.

Installation

Available in Settings > Community Plugins > Browse (search "Reading Highlighter").

Manual installation

1. Download main.js, manifest.json, and styles.css from the latest release
2. Create a folder called reading-highlighter inside your vault's .obsidian/plugins/ directory
3. Place the downloaded files in that folder
4. Restart Obsidian and enable the plugin in Settings > Community Plugins

Attribution

Originally created by Tintalectronico. Maintained by keithwithAI.