Use Shading to Highlight Text

Word provides a way you can shade the information in your document. This shading can be added in conjunction with any border you may specify for the paragraph. Word allows you to precisely control the degree of shading, as well. To add shading to a paragraph, follow these steps:

1. Position the insertion point in the paragraph that you want to shade.
2. Make sure that the Home tab is selected for the Ribbon.
3. In the Paragraph group, click the down-arrow to the right of the Shading tool. (This tool looks like a tilted paint bucket, spilling paint to the right.) Word displays a shading palette. (Click here to see a related figure.)
4. Select one of the theme colors at the top of the palette. There are ten colors, and each option under the colors represents a different percentage of shading for that color.

You can also apply shading to whatever text you select (instead of to an entire paragraph) by simply selecting that text in step 1.