diff --git a/src/components/HighlightItem.tsx b/src/components/HighlightItem.tsx
index dc783a15..9d3d9013 100644
--- a/src/components/HighlightItem.tsx
+++ b/src/components/HighlightItem.tsx
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import React, { useEffect, useRef } from 'react'
 import { FontAwesomeIcon } from '@fortawesome/react-fontawesome'
-import { faQuoteLeft, faExternalLinkAlt } from '@fortawesome/free-solid-svg-icons'
+import { faQuoteLeft, faExternalLinkAlt, faHouseSignal } from '@fortawesome/free-solid-svg-icons'
 import { Highlight } from '../types/highlights'
 import { formatDistanceToNow } from 'date-fns'
 import { useEventModel } from 'applesauce-react/hooks'
@@ -91,6 +91,16 @@ export const HighlightItem: React.FC<HighlightItemProps> = ({ highlight, onSelec
             {formatDistanceToNow(new Date(highlight.created_at * 1000), { addSuffix: true })}
           </span>
           
+          {highlight.isLocalOnly && (
+            <>
+              <span className="highlight-meta-separator">•</span>
+              <span className="highlight-local-indicator" title="This highlight is only stored on your local relay">
+                <FontAwesomeIcon icon={faHouseSignal} />
+                <span className="highlight-local-text">Local</span>
+              </span>
+            </>
+          )}
+          
           {sourceLink && (
             <a
               href={sourceLink}
diff --git a/src/hooks/useHighlightCreation.ts b/src/hooks/useHighlightCreation.ts
index 11ac3eaa..701ea6c4 100644
--- a/src/hooks/useHighlightCreation.ts
+++ b/src/hooks/useHighlightCreation.ts
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ import { RelayPool } from 'applesauce-relay'
 import { NostrEvent } from 'nostr-tools'
 import { Highlight } from '../types/highlights'
 import { ReadableContent } from '../services/readerService'
-import { createHighlight, eventToHighlight } from '../services/highlightCreationService'
+import { createHighlight } from '../services/highlightCreationService'
 import { HighlightButtonRef } from '../components/HighlightButton'
 import { UserSettings } from '../services/settingsService'
 
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ export const useHighlightCreation = ({
         ? currentArticle.content 
         : readerContent?.markdown || readerContent?.html
       
-      const signedEvent = await createHighlight(
+      const newHighlight = await createHighlight(
         text,
         source,
         activeAccount,
@@ -67,7 +67,6 @@ export const useHighlightCreation = ({
       console.log('✅ Highlight created successfully!')
       highlightButtonRef.current?.clearSelection()
       
-      const newHighlight = eventToHighlight(signedEvent)
       onHighlightCreated(newHighlight)
     } catch (error) {
       console.error('Failed to create highlight:', error)
diff --git a/src/index.css b/src/index.css
index d85e14f3..d4a33abe 100644
--- a/src/index.css
+++ b/src/index.css
@@ -1586,6 +1586,25 @@ body {
   color: #888;
 }
 
+.highlight-local-indicator {
+  display: inline-flex;
+  align-items: center;
+  gap: 0.35rem;
+  color: #f59e0b;
+  font-weight: 500;
+  font-size: 0.8rem;
+  padding: 0.15rem 0.5rem;
+  background: rgba(245, 158, 11, 0.1);
+  border-radius: 4px;
+  border: 1px solid rgba(245, 158, 11, 0.3);
+}
+
+.highlight-local-text {
+  font-size: 0.75rem;
+  text-transform: uppercase;
+  letter-spacing: 0.05em;
+}
+
 .highlight-source {
   display: flex;
   align-items: center;
diff --git a/src/services/highlightCreationService.ts b/src/services/highlightCreationService.ts
index 707a577e..fea3a388 100644
--- a/src/services/highlightCreationService.ts
+++ b/src/services/highlightCreationService.ts
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import { Helpers } from 'applesauce-core'
 import { RELAYS } from '../config/relays'
 import { Highlight } from '../types/highlights'
 import { UserSettings } from './settingsService'
+import { areAllRelaysLocal } from '../utils/helpers'
 
 // Boris pubkey for zap splits
 const BORIS_PUBKEY = '6e468422dfb74a5738702a8823b9b28168fc6cfb119d613e49ca0ec5a0bbd0c3'
@@ -26,7 +27,7 @@ const { HighlightBlueprint } = Blueprints
 /**
  * Creates and publishes a highlight event (NIP-84)
  * Supports both nostr-native articles and external URLs
- * Returns the signed event for immediate UI updates
+ * Returns a Highlight object with relay tracking info for immediate UI updates
  */
 export async function createHighlight(
   selectedText: string,
@@ -36,7 +37,7 @@ export async function createHighlight(
   contentForContext?: string,
   comment?: string,
   settings?: UserSettings
-): Promise<NostrEvent> {
+): Promise<Highlight> {
   if (!selectedText || !source) {
     throw new Error('Missing required data to create highlight')
   }
@@ -104,13 +105,34 @@ export async function createHighlight(
   // Sign the event
   const signedEvent = await factory.sign(highlightEvent)
 
+  // Get list of currently connected relays from the pool
+  const connectedRelays = Array.from(relayPool.relays.values()).map(relay => relay.url)
+  
+  // Determine which relays we're publishing to (intersection of RELAYS and connected relays)
+  const publishingRelays = RELAYS.filter(url => connectedRelays.includes(url))
+  
+  // If no relays are connected, fallback to just local relay if available
+  const targetRelays = publishingRelays.length > 0 ? publishingRelays : RELAYS.filter(r => r.includes('localhost') || r.includes('127.0.0.1'))
+  
   // Publish to relays (including local relay)
-  await relayPool.publish(RELAYS, signedEvent)
+  await relayPool.publish(targetRelays, signedEvent)
   
-  console.log('✅ Highlight published to', RELAYS.length, 'relays (including local):', signedEvent)
+  // Check if we're only publishing to local relays
+  const isLocalOnly = areAllRelaysLocal(targetRelays)
   
-  // Return the signed event for immediate UI updates
-  return signedEvent
+  console.log('✅ Highlight published to', targetRelays.length, 'relays:', {
+    relays: targetRelays,
+    isLocalOnly,
+    event: signedEvent
+  })
+  
+  // Convert to Highlight with relay tracking info
+  const highlight = eventToHighlight(signedEvent)
+  highlight.publishedRelays = targetRelays
+  highlight.isLocalOnly = isLocalOnly
+  
+  // Return the highlight for immediate UI updates
+  return highlight
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/src/types/highlights.ts b/src/types/highlights.ts
index 7e0744ab..09dc4a1b 100644
--- a/src/types/highlights.ts
+++ b/src/types/highlights.ts
@@ -15,5 +15,8 @@ export interface Highlight {
   comment?: string // optional comment about the highlight
   // Level classification (computed based on user's context)
   level?: HighlightLevel
+  // Relay tracking for offline/local-only highlights
+  publishedRelays?: string[] // URLs of relays that acknowledged this event
+  isLocalOnly?: boolean // true if only published to local relays
 }
 
diff --git a/src/utils/helpers.ts b/src/utils/helpers.ts
index 85f9a97b..da3c12ef 100644
--- a/src/utils/helpers.ts
+++ b/src/utils/helpers.ts
@@ -40,3 +40,26 @@ export const classifyUrl = (url: string | undefined): UrlClassification => {
   return { type: 'article', buttonText: 'READ NOW' }
 }
 
+/**
+ * Checks if a relay URL is a local relay (localhost or 127.0.0.1)
+ */
+export const isLocalRelay = (relayUrl: string): boolean => {
+  return relayUrl.includes('localhost') || relayUrl.includes('127.0.0.1')
+}
+
+/**
+ * Checks if all relays in the list are local relays
+ */
+export const areAllRelaysLocal = (relayUrls: string[]): boolean => {
+  if (!relayUrls || relayUrls.length === 0) return false
+  return relayUrls.every(isLocalRelay)
+}
+
+/**
+ * Checks if at least one relay is a remote (non-local) relay
+ */
+export const hasRemoteRelay = (relayUrls: string[]): boolean => {
+  if (!relayUrls || relayUrls.length === 0) return false
+  return relayUrls.some(url => !isLocalRelay(url))
+}
+