Custom Highlight Color
Many devices and browsers provide less-than-ideal colors when selecting text on sites. Users may select text for a variety of reasons, including as a habit when reading or to share a quote. This plugin lets you…
Solid choice
Custom Highlight Color is a solid plugin choice in 2026, with a few things worth checking first. It runs on 900+ sites, is rated 5/5 and was last updated 3 months ago, and scores 73/100 on our health check.
- Small user base (900+ active installs)
How does it stack up?
Side-by-side on installs, updates, ratings & support
Daily downloads
Download spikes usually follow a new release — each site that auto-updates counts as a download.
Rankings
Where Custom Highlight Color stands todayWordPress.org search rankings
Live position in the plugin search, top 100| Keyword | Position |
|---|---|
| color | #2 |
| custom color | #3 |
| Highlight | #2 |
| selection | #8 |
Version adoption
Share of active sites per release.
Rating breakdown
★★★★★★★★★★ 5 from 5 reviews
About Custom Highlight Color
From the official readme · v1.2Description
Many devices and browsers provide less-than-ideal colors when selecting text on sites. Users may select text for a variety of reasons, including as a habit when reading or to share a quote. This plugin lets you customize this highlight color with live preview in the customizer.
Note that themes can also customize this color, and in cases where the theme sets the color, this plugin would allow it to be changed to a different color.
Installation
- Take the easy route and install through the WordPress plugin adder OR
- Download the .zip file and upload the unzipped folder to the
/wp-content/plugins/directory - Activate the plugin through the ‘Plugins’ menu in WordPress
- Go to Customize -> Colors and adjust the highlight color to your option. The highlight color is the selected text background color and the corresponding text color is set automatically.
Frequently asked questions
Issues with Firefox
Within the customizer preview, selection colors may not be visible in Firefox. However, the custom highlight color should work once your changes are saved and you leave the customizer.
Browser Compatibility
Not all browsers handle text selection the same way. This plugin attempts to provide the most consistent experience possible, but some devices and browsers may display highlight colors differently.
Where’s the settings page?
Go to the customizer (Customize) and open the color section. The Highlight Color option will be available here alongside any color options added by your theme or other plugins.
Changelog
Adjust priorities to improve compatibility with the Twenty Nineteen theme.
1.2
- Security improvements.
1.1
- Adjust priorities to improve compatibility with the Twenty Nineteen theme.
1.0
- Initial public release.
Screenshots
For developers
Is this your plugin? Show off the numbers.
Add a live badge to your site, docs or GitHub README. It updates on its own — no account needed.
Best Custom Highlight Color alternatives
All color plugins →
FAQ
Custom Highlight Color: quick answers
Straight answers, pulled from live WordPress.org data.
Live data from WordPress.org · checked Sep 29, 2026
Is Custom Highlight Color free?
Yes. Custom Highlight Color is free to download and use from the official WordPress.org plugin directory.
Is Custom Highlight Color safe to use in 2026?
Custom Highlight Color is a solid plugin choice in 2026, with a few things worth checking first. It runs on 900+ sites, is rated 5/5 and was last updated 3 months ago, and scores 73/100 on our health check.
How many websites use Custom Highlight Color?
Custom Highlight Color is active on 900+ WordPress websites and has been downloaded 12,225 times since it launched in July 2016. It was downloaded 268 times in the last 30 days.
Does Custom Highlight Color work with WordPress 7.1?
Custom Highlight Color is officially tested up to WordPress 7.0.6, while the latest release is 7.1.2. It may still work, but try it on a staging site first.
When was Custom Highlight Color last updated?
The latest version, 1.2, was released on July 13, 2026 (3 months ago).
Who makes Custom Highlight Color?
Custom Highlight Color is developed and maintained by Nick Halsey.
What are the best alternatives to Custom Highlight Color?
The most popular alternatives to Custom Highlight Color are Central Color Palette (10K+ installs), ACF RGBA Color Picker (6K+ installs) and The Events Calendar: Catego… (4K+ installs).
Powered by PageForge
Want thousands of pages that rank like these? Build them in an afternoon.
This directory runs on the same engine as PageForge. Turn any spreadsheet, CSV or API into thousands of fast, SEO-ready WordPress pages — with schema, internal links and AI-written copy baked in.
- CSV, Google Sheets & API data sources
- AI content, schema & internal links per page
- Works with Elementor, Gutenberg, Yoast & Rank Math
- Free on WordPress.org — no credit card
