diff --git a/znai-docs/znai/release-notes/1.84/add-2025-11-23-search-highlights-improvements.md b/znai-docs/znai/release-notes/1.84/add-2025-11-23-search-highlights-improvements.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c14a45b3d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/znai-docs/znai/release-notes/1.84/add-2025-11-23-search-highlights-improvements.md
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+* Add: Remove search result highlights with Escape key
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/znai-docs/znai/release-notes/1.84/fix-2025-11-23-search-highlights-improvements.md b/znai-docs/znai/release-notes/1.84/fix-2025-11-23-search-highlights-improvements.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4c1934436
--- /dev/null
+++ b/znai-docs/znai/release-notes/1.84/fix-2025-11-23-search-highlights-improvements.md
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+* Fix: Search highlights apply highlights when user is already on the resulting page.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/znai-reactjs/src/App.jsx b/znai-reactjs/src/App.jsx
index 7af17c9f1..44c4108c2 100644
--- a/znai-reactjs/src/App.jsx
+++ b/znai-reactjs/src/App.jsx
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ import "./App.css";
 import "./layout/DocumentationLayout.css";
 import "./doc-elements/search/Search.css";
 
-import React, { Component } from "react";
+import React, { Component, useEffect } from "react";
 
 import { ComponentViewer, DropDowns, Registries } from "react-component-viewer";
 import { tabsDemo } from "./doc-elements/tabs/Tabs.demo";
@@ -243,9 +243,17 @@ window.znaiSearchIdx = createLocalSearchIndex();
 populateLocalSearchIndexWithData(window.znaiSearchIdx, window.znaiSearchData);
 registries
   .add("end to end")
-  .registerAsMiniApp("full documentation navigation", /\/preview/, { root: "/preview" }, () => (
+  .registerAsMiniApp("test documentation page", /\/preview\/testpage/, { root: "/preview/testpage" }, () => (
     <Documentation {...testDocumentation} />
-  ));
+  ))
+  .registerAsMiniApp("full documentation navigation", /\/preview/, { root: "/preview" }, () => {
+    useEffect(() => {
+      const pageId = documentationNavigation.currentPageLocation();
+      documentationNavigation.navigateToPage(pageId);
+    }, []);
+
+    return <Documentation {...testDocumentation} />;
+  });
 
 const dropDowns = new DropDowns();
 dropDowns.add("Theme").addItem("Default", "Alt 1").addItem("Dark", "Alt 2").onSelect(selectTheme);
diff --git a/znai-reactjs/src/doc-elements/Documentation.jsx b/znai-reactjs/src/doc-elements/Documentation.jsx
index 354b092cf..c3761cc56 100644
--- a/znai-reactjs/src/doc-elements/Documentation.jsx
+++ b/znai-reactjs/src/doc-elements/Documentation.jsx
@@ -77,6 +77,8 @@ export class Documentation extends Component {
       page: Documentation.processPage(page),
       toc: tableOfContents.toc,
 
+      searchResult: null,
+
       // previous version put footer inside props
       // we check props for backward compatibility with deployed docs
       // should be safe to remove props.footer after October 2021
@@ -115,8 +117,6 @@ export class Documentation extends Component {
     this.keyDownHandler = this.keyDownHandler.bind(this);
     this.mouseClickHandler = this.mouseClickHandler.bind(this);
 
-    this.searchResult = null;
-
     documentationNavigation.addUrlChangeListener(this.onUrlChange.bind(this));
   }
 
@@ -139,12 +139,20 @@ export class Documentation extends Component {
     }
   }
 
+  removeSearchResult = () => {
+    this.setState({ searchResult: null });
+  };
+
   componentDidUpdate(prevProps, prevState) {
     const isTocItemChanged = !areTocItemEquals(this.state.page.tocItem, prevState.page.tocItem);
 
     // reset searchResultId but only when navigating to a different page
-    if (this.searchResult && isTocItemChanged && !areTocItemEquals(this.state.page.tocItem, this.searchResult.id)) {
-      this.searchResult = null;
+    if (
+      this.state.searchResult &&
+      isTocItemChanged &&
+      !areTocItemEquals(this.state.page.tocItem, this.state.searchResult.id)
+    ) {
+      this.removeSearchResult();
     }
   }
 
@@ -159,6 +167,7 @@ export class Documentation extends Component {
       tocCollapsed,
       isSearchActive,
       pageGenError,
+      searchResult,
     } = this.state;
 
     const theme = this.theme;
@@ -179,7 +188,8 @@ export class Documentation extends Component {
     const renderedPage = (
       <elementsLibrary.Page
         {...page}
-        searchResult={this.searchResult}
+        searchResult={searchResult}
+        removeSearchResult={this.removeSearchResult}
         docMeta={docMeta}
         onPresentationOpen={this.onPresentationOpen}
         prevPageTocItem={this.prevPageTocItem}
@@ -525,7 +535,7 @@ export class Documentation extends Component {
 
   onSearchSelection(query, id, snippetsToHighlight) {
     this.onSearchClose();
-    this.searchResult = { id, snippetsToHighlight };
+    this.setState({ searchResult: { id, snippetsToHighlight } });
     documentationTracking.onSearchResultSelect(query, id);
     documentationNavigation.navigateToPage(id);
   }
diff --git a/znai-reactjs/src/doc-elements/default-elements/Section.tsx b/znai-reactjs/src/doc-elements/default-elements/Section.tsx
index 22bc038fb..b61450cad 100644
--- a/znai-reactjs/src/doc-elements/default-elements/Section.tsx
+++ b/znai-reactjs/src/doc-elements/default-elements/Section.tsx
@@ -29,9 +29,21 @@ interface Props extends DocElementProps {
 }
 
 function Section({ id, title, highlight, ...props }: Props) {
-  const className = "section" + (highlight ? " highlight" : "");
+  const [isHighlighted, setIsHighlighted] = React.useState(false);
+
+  React.useEffect(() => {
+    if (highlight) {
+      setIsHighlighted(true);
+    }
+  }, [highlight]);
+
+  const handleAnimationEnd = () => {
+    setIsHighlighted(false);
+  };
+
+  const className = "section" + (isHighlighted ? " highlight" : "");
   return (
-    <div className={className} key={title}>
+    <div className={className} onAnimationEnd={handleAnimationEnd} key={title}>
       <props.elementsLibrary.SectionTitle
         level={1}
         id={id}
diff --git a/znai-reactjs/src/doc-elements/images/Image.tsx b/znai-reactjs/src/doc-elements/images/Image.tsx
index a0331f179..1b43b0590 100644
--- a/znai-reactjs/src/doc-elements/images/Image.tsx
+++ b/znai-reactjs/src/doc-elements/images/Image.tsx
@@ -32,7 +32,6 @@ interface MarkdownImageProps extends WithElementsLibrary {
 }
 
 const Image = ({ destination, title, inlined, fit, width = 0, height = 0, timestamp }: MarkdownImageProps) => {
-  console.log("@@ Image fit", fit);
   return (
     <AnnotatedImage
       imageSrc={destination}
diff --git a/znai-reactjs/src/doc-elements/page/default/DefaultPageContent.tsx b/znai-reactjs/src/doc-elements/page/default/DefaultPageContent.tsx
index e6426d18a..b37052182 100644
--- a/znai-reactjs/src/doc-elements/page/default/DefaultPageContent.tsx
+++ b/znai-reactjs/src/doc-elements/page/default/DefaultPageContent.tsx
@@ -20,16 +20,17 @@ import { afterTitleId } from "../../../layout/classNamesAndIds";
 import { DocElementProps } from "../../default-elements/DocElement";
 import { SearchResultId } from "../../search/SearchResultId";
 import { TocItem } from "../../../structure/TocItem";
-import { highlightSearchResultAndMaybeScroll } from "../../search/searchResultHighlighter";
+import { highlightSearchResultAndMaybeScroll, removeSearchHighlight } from "../../search/searchResultHighlighter";
 
 interface Props extends DocElementProps {
   tocItem: TocItem;
   searchResult: { id: SearchResultId; snippetsToHighlight: string[] };
   contentRootDom: HTMLElement;
+  removeSearchResult: () => void;
 }
 
 export function DefaultPageContent(props: Props) {
-  const { elementsLibrary, content, searchResult, tocItem, contentRootDom } = props;
+  const { elementsLibrary, content, searchResult, tocItem, contentRootDom, removeSearchResult } = props;
   const { PageTitle } = elementsLibrary;
 
   const searchResultId = searchResult?.id;
@@ -42,7 +43,22 @@ export function DefaultPageContent(props: Props) {
     if (searchSnippetsToHighlight && isSearchResultOnThisPage && contentRootDom) {
       highlightSearchResultAndMaybeScroll(contentRootDom, searchSnippetsToHighlight, false);
     }
-  }, []);
+  }, [searchSnippetsToHighlight]);
+
+  useEffect(() => {
+    const handleKeyDown = (event: KeyboardEvent) => {
+      if (event.key === "Escape" && isSearchResultOnThisPage) {
+        removeSearchHighlight(contentRootDom);
+        removeSearchResult();
+        event.stopPropagation();
+      }
+    };
+
+    window.addEventListener("keydown", handleKeyDown);
+    return () => {
+      window.removeEventListener("keydown", handleKeyDown);
+    };
+  }, [isSearchResultOnThisPage]);
 
   const renderedSections = content!.map((section) => {
     // @ts-ignore
diff --git a/znai-reactjs/src/doc-elements/search/searchResultHighlighter.ts b/znai-reactjs/src/doc-elements/search/searchResultHighlighter.ts
index 7cb36caf2..7b56b86fc 100644
--- a/znai-reactjs/src/doc-elements/search/searchResultHighlighter.ts
+++ b/znai-reactjs/src/doc-elements/search/searchResultHighlighter.ts
@@ -40,3 +40,8 @@ export function highlightSearchResultAndMaybeScroll(root: HTMLElement, snippets:
     },
   });
 }
+
+export function removeSearchHighlight(root: HTMLElement) {
+  const mark = new Mark(root);
+  mark.unmark({});
+}
diff --git a/znai-reactjs/src/screens/documentation-preparation/DocumentationPreparationScreen.jsx b/znai-reactjs/src/screens/documentation-preparation/DocumentationPreparationScreen.jsx
index 47896bd74..c841a8617 100644
--- a/znai-reactjs/src/screens/documentation-preparation/DocumentationPreparationScreen.jsx
+++ b/znai-reactjs/src/screens/documentation-preparation/DocumentationPreparationScreen.jsx
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 /*
+ * Copyright 2025 znai maintainers
  * Copyright 2019 TWO SIGMA OPEN SOURCE, LLC
  *
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
@@ -14,60 +15,56 @@
  * limitations under the License.
  */
 
-import * as React from 'react'
+import * as React from "react";
 
-import DocumentationPreparation from './DocumentationPreparation'
-import {socketUrl} from '../../utils/socket'
+import DocumentationPreparation from "./DocumentationPreparation";
+import { socketUrl } from "../../utils/socket";
 
-import './DocumentationPreparationScreen.css'
+import "./DocumentationPreparationScreen.css";
 
 export class DocumentationPreparationScreen extends React.Component {
-    constructor(props) {
-        super(props)
-        this.state = props;
-    }
+  constructor(props) {
+    super(props);
+    this.state = props;
+  }
 
-    render() {
-        return (
-            <div className="documentation-preparation-screen">
-                <DocumentationPreparation {...this.state}/>
-            </div>
-        )
-    }
+  render() {
+    return (
+      <div className="documentation-preparation-screen">
+        <DocumentationPreparation {...this.state} />
+      </div>
+    );
+  }
 
-    componentDidMount() {
-        this._connect()
-    }
+  componentDidMount() {
+    this._connect();
+  }
 
-    componentWillUnmount() {
-        this._disconnect()
-    }
+  componentWillUnmount() {
+    this._disconnect();
+  }
 
-    _connect() {
-        this.ws = new WebSocket(socketUrl("_doc-update/" + this.props.docId))
+  _connect() {
+    this.ws = new WebSocket(socketUrl("_doc-update/" + this.props.docId));
 
-        this.ws.onopen = () => {
-            console.log('@@ open')
-        }
+    this.ws.onopen = () => {};
 
-        this.ws.onclose = () => {
-            console.log('@@ close')
-        }
+    this.ws.onclose = () => {};
 
-        this.ws.onmessage = (message) => {
-            const data = JSON.parse(message.data)
-            this._update(data)
-        };
-    }
+    this.ws.onmessage = (message) => {
+      const data = JSON.parse(message.data);
+      this._update(data);
+    };
+  }
 
-    _disconnect() {
-        this.ws.close()
-    }
+  _disconnect() {
+    this.ws.close();
+  }
 
-    _update({message, keyValues, progress}) {
-        this.setState({statusMessage: message, keyValues: keyValues || [], progressPercent: progress})
-        if (progress >= 100) {
-            setTimeout(() => window.location.reload(), 100)
-        }
+  _update({ message, keyValues, progress }) {
+    this.setState({ statusMessage: message, keyValues: keyValues || [], progressPercent: progress });
+    if (progress >= 100) {
+      setTimeout(() => window.location.reload(), 100);
     }
+  }
 }