In this post, we will show you how to enable and use Reading mode in Google Chrome on Windows 11/10 system. This built-in feature of Chrome browser opens a side panel where you can view a webpage in text-only mode. There won’t be any images and other distracting items. Only the main content and clickable links are on the side panel. You can also view the original webpage side by side, making this Reading mode feature better. We have already seen how to browse in text-only mode in Microsoft Edge, Firefox, etc. Now, we will see how to use this native feature to open a webpage in reading mode on Chrome browser.
How to use Reading Mode in Chrome on Windows 11/10
Reading mode should be enabled by default in your Chrome browser. If not, here are the steps to enable it:
- Launch the Chrome browser
- Type chrome://flags in the Omnibox or address bar and press Enter
- Search for the Reading Mode setting or flag
- Use the drop-down menu for this setting and select Enabled
- Press the Relaunch button.
Once the Reading mode is enabled, right-click on a webpage and select Open in reading mode option. Immediately, a side panel for reading mode will appear on the right section and the webpage will be visible in text-only mode (including the hyperlinks present in that webpage). You can read the text and also click on the links in the Reading mode and the change will reflect in the webpage tab also.
The option to select or highlight a text on a webpage is also available and to use the Open in reading mode context menu option is there, but it still opens the entire webpage in the side panel. So, it’s good to use the Reading mode context menu directly.
Apart from that, many other things/options can be used while in the Reading mode in Chrome browser.
Related: How to enable and use Link Preview in Chrome Browser
Key features of Reading mode in Google Chrome
Let’s have a look at the important features of this Reading mode option of Google Chrome:
- You can adjust the size of the side panel of Reading mode at your convenience. Press and hold the left mouse button and drag the side panel left to right to adjust the size
- You can change the font for reading. Serif, Poppins, Comic Neue, Lexend Deca, Sans-serif, Andika, and other font types are available
- Font size can also be increased and decreased in Reading mode
- You have the option to enable or disable links in the Reading mode which I find quite useful
- The Reading mode theme can also be changed. Light, Dark, Default, Blue, and Yellow themes are available to choose from
- You can adjust the line height for webpage content or text. Standard, Very loose, and loose options are present to set the line height
- Letter spacing can be set to Wide, Standard, or Very wide
- Reading mode icon can also be pinned to the toolbar of Google Chrome
- When Reading mode is enabled and in use, you can switch to the other tabs and it will automatically generate text-only mode (if possible) for the current tab or webpage.
How do I enable Read Aloud in Chrome?
While Microsoft Edge comes with the feature to Read-aloud webpages, PDFs, eBooks, etc., Google Chrome doesn’t support this feature natively. So, if you want to use the Read Aloud option for webpages in the Chrome browser, then you need to use some extension to get Chrome to read text aloud on PC.
How do I enable Chrome screen reader?
Chrome browser doesn’t have the native option or feature for screen reading. There’s a built-in screen reader in Chromebooks called ChromeVox to help visually impaired people use the Chrome OS, but it’s not available in the Chrome browser on Windows 11/10. Instead, you can use Narrator in Windows PC for screen reading to read aloud text on documents, settings, etc.
Read: How to use Bionic Reading on Chrome or Edge.
The following method used to work on earlier versions of Chrome but may not work now.
Enable or disable Reader Mode or Distill Mode through Properties
To enable or disable Reader Mode through the Settings, follow the below instructions:
- Update Google Chrome to the latest version.
- Open the Google Chrome Properties dialog box.
- Enable the reader mode by adding commands in the Target box.
- Disable the reader mode by removing command from the Target field.
Before you begin the process, you must first check if you have the latest Google Chrome installation. If there is any update is available, download and install it. Once it completes the process, click on the Relaunch button for the changes to take effect.
After updating the Chrome browser to the latest version, pin the Chrome icon to your taskbar.
After that, right-click on the Chrome icon. In the options list, again right-click on “Google Chrome” and then select the Properties button as shown in the below snapshot.
Clicking the Properties button, it opens the Google Chrome Properties dialog box.
On the Shortcut tab, next to the Target box, there is an EXE file path for the Chrome application. Append the below phrase to the end of the text:
--enable-dom-distiller
Once you added, click on Apply and then the OK button to save the changes.
That’s it—the flag is now activated. To use this feature, click on the three dots and then select the Distill page option from the menu list. It will start displaying the current web page in Reader Mode without any distracting ads or other page elements.
To disable this feature, open the Chrome browser’s Properties window. Then, remove the added phrase from the Target field of the Shortcut tab.
Once you disable the reader mode, the Distill page option is also removed from the browser’s menu list (three-dotted line).
I hope you find this guide helpful and that you’re enjoying the distraction-free and clutter-free environment of Reading Mode in Chrome.
