Use reading mode in Chrome

Customize your reading experience on Chrome with reading mode. This feature helps you:

• Focus more easily on text.
• Reduce distractions on screen.
• Select alternate typeface and font size.
• Choose color theme.

If you’re using Chrome on a computer, you can also:

• Listen to text read out loud.
• Select a voice and change voice speed.
• Adjust line and letter spacing.

Turn on reading mode

Important: This feature is not available to all websites. These settings only apply to the text you want to read in reading mode and won’t apply to other content in Chrome.

1. On your computer, open Chrome.
2. Go to a website with text that you’d like to read.
3. Right-click the page.
4. Select Open in reading mode.
   • This will open an immersive, full screen reading view of the page.
   • To view reading mode in side panel view, select Settings 👁 Image
     👁 and then
     View 👁 Full screen
     👁 and then
     Side panel. The browser saves your preferences.

Tips:

• To pin reading mode, at the top right, select Settings 👁 Image
  👁 and then
  Pin reading mode.
  • You can access reading mode from the toolbar after you pin it. Select Reading mode 👁 Image
    .
• To make the panel bigger, slide the panel border to the left.

Additional ways to turn on reading mode

Use reading mode to make reading easier

When you use reading mode, you can adjust font settings for easier reading. At the top right, select Font size 👁 Image
.

• Decrease the font size: Select Decrease 👁 Image
  .
• Increase the font size: Select Increase 👁 Image
  .
• Reset to default font size: Select Reset.

To access more options, at the top right, select Settings 👁 Image
.

• Change the reading mode color theme: Select Color theme 👁 Image
  .
• Adjust the font style: Select Font 👁 Image
  .
• Change the spacing between lines: Select Line height 👁 Image
  .
• Change the spacing between letters: Select Letter spacing 👁 Image
  .
• Hide or show links: Turn Links on or off. By default, links are visible.
• Hide or show images: Turn Images on or off.
• Pin reading mode to toolbar: Turn Pin reading mode on or off.

Listen to the text you read with read aloud

When you use reading mode, you can listen to the text on a website. At the top right, select Play 👁 Image
.

• Play while you read: Select Play 👁 Image
  .
• Pause while you read: Select Pause 👁 Image
  .
• Jump to the beginning of the previous or next sentence: Select Previous 👁 Image
  or Next 👁 Image
  .
• Adjust the playback speed: Select Playback speed 👁 Image
  .

To select your preferred voice:

1. At the top right, select Settings 👁 Image
   👁 and then
   Voice selection 👁 Image
   .
2. You can:
   • Preview a voice: Next to the voice name, select Preview 👁 Image
     .
     • To put keyboard focus on the voice you want to preview: In the menu, press Up arrow or Down arrow.
     • To play the preview: Press Right arrow 👁 and then
       Enter.
   • Select a voice: Select the voice you prefer.
   • Add a language: Select Languages....
     • Search a language: At the search bar, enter the language.
     • Add a language: Turn on the preferred language.
     • Remove a language: Turn off the preferred language.

To select your preferred mode of voice highlight:

1. At the top right, select Settings 👁 Image
   👁 and then
   Voice highlight 👁 Image
   .
2. You can:
   • Turn on text highlighting: From the dropdown menu, you can select:
     • Adaptive highlighting
     • Word
     • Sentence
   • Turn off text highlighting: From the dropdown menu, select Off.

Tip: Reading mode automatically downloads Google natural voices for your current language. If download fails, the system voice for your language will be used instead.

Using screen readers without read aloud

If you’re using a screen reader, you can access the text content in reading mode.

To navigate through the text content:

• MacOS: VO + Left Arrow or VO + Right Arrow
• Windows or Linux: Up Arrow or Down Arrow or Alt + Up Arrow or Alt + Down Arrow
• ChromeOS: Search + Up Arrow or Search + Down Arrow

Troubleshooting steps

• Update Chrome to the latest version. Learn how to update Chrome.
• If you can't find the content in reading mode, you can highlight the content on the original page to trigger it to open in reading mode.
• Reading mode is not compatible with all sites and formats, like video or forum websites. On certain pages, reading mode may not work as expected. This includes:
  • Image galleries
  • Interactive maps
  • Forms
  • Quizzes
  • Payment pages
  • Login screens

Related resources

• Use magnification on your screen
• Change text & display settings
• Manage Chrome side panel
• Use Reading mode & Read aloud on your Chromebook