The PDF annotation tool built for academic reading
Tailo’s text highlighter and comment tools let you annotate any document as you read, without leaving the page.
Everything you need to annotate academic texts properly
Whether you are highlighting a PDF or annotating an academic journal, Tailo’s text highlighter and comment tools keep everything attached to the source.
Colour-coded highlights
Assign different highlight colours to different categories of ideas. Arguments, evidence, definitions, and quotes each get their own colour, so navigation is faster when you return to the document.
Standalone notes anywhere on the page
Add a comment anywhere in the document, not just on highlighted text. Standalone notes let you record your thinking, flag questions, or add context that is not in the text.
A consistent system across every document
Your highlight categories carry across every document in Tailo. Whether you are highlighting text in an uploaded PDF or a saved web page, the same colour system is always available.
Review all your annotations in one place
All your highlighted text and comments are collected in the side panel. Review everything in one place, jump to a specific comment, or export your annotations for essay planning.
Turn passive reading into active thinking
Reading without annotating is mostly passive. You process the words, but very little sticks in a way that is useful later. Tailo’s text highlighter and comment tools turn reading into an active process, whether you are using online highlight tools through your browser or working with uploaded files. As one of the more capable highlighter online options for students, Tailo gives you an instant overview of the key ideas. Comments capture your thinking in the moment. By the time you finish the document, your annotation layer is already the foundation of your notes.
See how highlights and comments work in Tailo
Watch how Tailo’s text highlighter and comment tools turn any academic document into an organised, annotated reading workspace.
FAQs
Everything students ask about highlighting, annotating, and organising notes in Tailo.
How many highlight colours can I use in Tailo?
Tailo supports multiple highlight colours, each of which can be assigned a label or category. You can use different colours to distinguish between different types of content as you highlight text, such as arguments, evidence, key definitions, and direct quotes. The exact number of available colours is shown in the text highlighter panel in the app.
Can I add a note anywhere in a document, not just on highlighted text?
Yes. Tailo’s comment tool works as a standalone annotation, meaning you can place highlight notes at any point in the document regardless of whether the text highlighted there has already been marked. This is useful for flagging sections to return to, recording initial reactions, or adding context that you want attached to a specific part of the document but that does not relate to a highlighted passage.
Do my comment tags carry over to other documents?
Yes. The comment categories you set up in Tailo carry across every document you open, whether it is an uploaded PDF, a Word document, or a web page saved through the Chrome extension. You do not need to set up your commenting system from scratch each time. Your categories are part of your account, not the individual document.
Can I see all my highlights and comments without scrolling through the whole document?
Yes. All your highlighted text and comments are automatically collected in the side panel, which gives you a full overview of every highlight page and comment you have added to a document in one place. You can jump directly to any highlight or comment from the panel, filter by colour category, and export your annotations to use in your wider note-taking or essay planning workflow.
Do highlights and comments work on documents uploaded via the Chrome extension?
Yes. Tailo’s text highlighter and comment tools work across every source, including documents and web pages added through the Chrome extension.
How do highlights and comments support students with disabilities?
Highlights and comments help with a wide range of barriers to academic reading and research, whether that’s needing to mark important passages so you don’t lose your place, struggling to hold information in your head while reading, or needing a way to capture a thought before it slips away.
You can highlight in different colours to organise information your way, and add a comment directly next to the text it relates to, so nothing gets lost between reading and writing up your work. For more on the specific barriers Tailo supports, see our Who We Help page.
Trusted by students at universities across the UK
Thousands of students are already using Tailo’s highlights and comments to organise their reading, from first-year undergraduates to postgraduates managing heavy research loads. Tailo is used across UK universities and is available to all students, including those accessing support through the Disabled Students’ Allowance.
Francesca
I’ve been doing really well at uni – Tailo helps me focus on what matters.
Chase
I use Talio all the time now for all of my reading, I'm no longer skimming the reading lists in a panic before classes to get a vague idea of what's going on.
Jesse
I was sceptical because I didn’t think that Tailo would change the way that I engaged with information as much as it did. Just try it and you won’t uninstall it.
Megan
I have used ChatGPT to summarise a piece of text before, however Tailo is much better. I prefer how Tailo works and I feel it is more reliable.
