Have you ever highlighted extensively in a print Bible, then tried to re-read a passage you previously highlighted? I always found that once I had highlighted a passage, it became hard to see anything new in that passage. It was as though the highlighting permanently defined how I read that passage, and I began to find it distracting.

If you highlight a print Bible and later find the highlights distracting, your only option is to buy another Bible. But if you highlight in Accordance, you always have the choice of whether to show or hide the highlighting.

Last week, I showed how you can use Accordance’s Highlighting feature to set up a system for “tagging” verses with specific categories, topics, etc. In my second post in the series, I showed how to apply highlight styles to entire verses or selected words in a translation. Highlight just a few verses in this way, and you’ll soon wind up with passages that look something like this:

HideHighlight1

Again, all that highlighting is great when you want it, but it’s a distraction when you don’t. To hide it, simply choose Set Text Pane Display from the Display menu (or use the keyboard shortcut Command-T).

HideHighlight2

In the dialog that opens, simply check Hide verse highlighting. If you’ve done any Word Highlighting, you can check Hide word highlighting as well. When you click OK to close the dialog, the highlighting will no longer appear.

Of course, the highlighting is still there; it’s just hidden. You can show it again by using Command-T and unchecking the Hide highlighting checkboxes. You can even search for your highlights while they’re hidden—something I’ll show you how to do in my next post.