How to Highlight Text on an Instagram Story

Making your text pop on an Instagram Story can be the difference between a swipe-past and a pause. You have something important to say, and you need it to stand out against busy backgrounds or simply grab attention. This guide will walk you through seven different methods for highlighting text, from the simple and quick to the more advanced creative tricks that make your Stories look professionally designed.

The Simple Way: Using the Built-In Background Feature

Let's start with the quickest and most straightforward method. Instagram has a built-in feature designed specifically for this purpose. It places a semi-transparent or solid background behind your text, making it instantly more readable against any photo or video.

How to Use It:

1. Open Instagram Stories and either take a photo, record a video, or select one from your camera roll.
2. Tap the text icon ("Aa") at the top of the screen to open the text editor.
3. Type out the message you want to share.
4. With the text editor still open, look at the icons at the top of your screen. Tap the icon that looks like an "A" with two stars or a box around it (it's the second icon from the left). This will add a background to your text.
5. Tap the icon again. This will switch the background effect. Depending on the font you're using, it may toggle between a solid background and a semi-transparent one, or it might apply differently shaped backgrounds.
6. To change the color: While the text editor is still active, tap the color wheel at the top. The color you select will now change the background color. If you want to change the text color independently, first finalize the background color, then close the text editor, tap the text block again to re-open it, and highlight only the words themselves to select a new text color.

This is your go-to method for speed and clarity. It’s perfect for adding quick captions, asking questions, or making important announcements without much fuss.

Create a “Glow” Effect with the Neon Font

If you want a vibe that’s a little more electric and eye-catching, the neon "glow" trick is a fun one. It uses layering to make it look like your text is giving off its own light, perfect for evening event promos, music recommendations, or just a cool, futuristic aesthetic.

How to Add a Neon Glow:

1. In the Story editor, type out your text and select the Neon font (it’s the style with the cursive, illuminated lettering).
2. Choose a bright color for your glow. Let's say you pick a bright pink.
3. Place this text where you want it on the screen. Now, tap the text icon again to create a second text box.
4. Type the exact same text again, also using the Neon font.
5. This time, choose a lighter, complementary color. White or a very pale version of your original color works best. For our example, let's pick white.
6. Carefully drag this new, white text layer directly on top of your original pink text layer.
7. Slightly offset the top layer. Move it just a pixel or two up and to the side. You'll see the color from the bottom layer peeking out from behind, creating a convincing glow effect.

You can even take it a step further by adding a third or fourth layer with varying colors to create a more dynamic, multi-toned glow. This little bit of extra effort makes your Story look significantly more thought-out and visually interesting.

Designer-Level Looks: Creating Custom Background Boxes

Ever see those Stories with perfectly clean, opaque background boxes behind the text? It’s a super professional look that reinforces branding and ensures readability. This technique, sometimes called the "sticker hack," is easier to pull off than it looks.

There are two common ways to do this. Here's the easiest one first.

Method 1: The Layered Text Box

1. Open the text tool ("Aa"). Don't type your actual message yet.
2. Type a few spaces or a series of underscores ("___").
3. Select a font that has a strong background when the highlight option is active. The "Typewriter" font or the second bold font option often work best.
4. Tap the background icon ("A" with a box) at the top left to activate the solid background.
5. Now, use the color picker at the top to select your desired background color. This is a great place to use the eyedropper tool to pull a color from your image or use a branded hex code.
6. Use two fingers to resize this text box into a rectangle or square of your desired shape. It will look like a solid colored block, as the spaces or underscores are invisible.
7. Once your colored box is in place, tap the Text tool again to create a new, separate text layer. Type your actual message and place it on top of the background you just created.

This method gives you a clean, opaque block that makes your main text stand out. Because the text and the background are separate elements, you can easily adjust them independently.

Add Depth with a Classic Drop Shadow

A drop shadow is a subtle but effective graphic design trick that makes elements feel like they’re floating just above the background. It adds depth and a professional touch to your text, helping it separate from a busy background photo.

How to Create a Drop Shadow:

1. Open your text editor and type your message. Choose any font you like, but this effect works particularly well with bolder, blocky fonts.
2. Position this text where you want it. This will be your "shadow" layer, so pick a color for it - usually black or a dark gray works best.
3. Without deselecting it, duplicate this text. The easiest way is often to copy the text, create a new text box, and paste it.
4. You now have two identical layers of text. Change the color of the top layer to your desired primary color (e.g., white, yellow, pink).
5. Drag the primary color layer and place it directly over the shadow layer.
6. Now for the effect: carefully shift the top layer slightly up and to the left (or right, whatever looks best). The bottom layer will now appear as a shadow behind your primary text. Just a tiny offset is all you need for a sharp, clean look.

This tiny detail instantly makes your Story design feel more intentional and polished.

Go Viral with Eye-Catching Rainbow Gradient Text

This is a well-known Instagram hack that creates a beautiful, eye-catching gradient effect across your words. It’s perfect for grabbing attention immediately and gives off a fun, celebratory vibe. It can be a little tricky to master the motion at first, but once you get it, you’ll use it all the time.

How to Create Gradient Text:

1. Type your desired text into a text box. For this effect, it's best to write out a full sentence or a few words, as the gradient appears across the entire selection.
2. After typing, tap and hold on the text to bring up the "Select All" option. Make sure every letter is highlighted.
3. Now, prepare for a two-handed move. You will need to move both of your thumbs or fingers at the same time.
4. With the text still highlighted, place one finger on the text selection (at the very end of the highlighted area) and another finger on the color palette (at the end of the color spectrum, let’s say on the purple).
5. Now, at the same time, start dragging your finger on the color palette to the left (from purple toward red) while you drag your other finger across the highlighted text to the left, un-highlighting it letter by letter.
6. You need to coordinate the speed of both fingers. As you un-highlight each letter, its color will change to match wherever your other finger is on the color palette. If you move slowly and evenly, you'll create a smooth rainbow gradient across your text.

Don't get discouraged if you don't nail it on the first try! The timing takes a little practice. Once perfected, it’s one of the most impressive text effects you can create entirely within the Instagram app.

Get Creative: Using the Draw Tool for Organic Highlights

Sometimes, a perfect, clean box feels too corporate or stiff. If your brand is more organic, artistic, or playful, using the draw tool to create a manual highlight can be the perfect touch. This gives you complete creative freedom over the shape, style, and placement of your highlight.

How to Manually Highlight Text:

1. First, add your text to your Story and position it where you want it to be. This is important to do first so you know where to draw.
2. Next, tap the Draw icon (the squiggly line) at the top of the screen.
3. Select the Highlighter tool - it's the second pen from the left. It has a transparent quality that is perfect for drawing behind text without obscuring it.
4. Choose your desired color and use the slider on the left to adjust the brush size.
5. Now, carefully use your finger or a stylus to draw behind or underneath your text. Here are some ideas:
   • A thick, strikethrough-style line directly behind the words.
   • Quick, energetic scribbles behind an important word for emphasis.
   • A clean, simple underline.
   • Circling a specific word to draw attention to it.

What makes this method so great is its personal feel. A slightly imperfect, hand-drawn highlight can add a beautiful human touch to your Stories that perfectly formatted text just can't replicate.

Final Thoughts

From simple backgrounds and drop shadows to glowing neon and viral rainbow gradients, you now have a full toolkit to make your Instagram Story text impossible to ignore. Experiment with all these techniques to find a style that fits your brand personality and helps you create content that stops scrollers in their tracks.

Creating beautiful Stories is one part of a strong social strategy, but consistency is what really drives growth. When managing content across multiple platforms, a visual planner is a game-changer. We built Postbase to make content planning and scheduling feel effortless, especially for video-first content like Stories and Reels. It helps us stay organized and pre-plan all of our creative visuals, so we can focus more on the fun stuff - like making our text pop.