How to Use Reading Mode on Any Website

Learn how to use Helperbird's Reading Mode to create a clean, distraction-free reading experience. Reading Mode removes ads, sidebars, and clutter.

What is Reading Mode?

Reading Mode removes distractions from a webpage and shows you just the main content. It gets rid of ads, navigation menus, sidebars, and other elements that can make reading difficult.

The result is a clean, simple view that looks like a book or document, making it much easier to focus on reading.


Who is This For?

This feature is helpful for:

  • People who are distracted by ads and other page elements
  • Anyone with dyslexia who benefits from simplified layouts
  • People with ADHD who need fewer distractions
  • Students reading articles for research
  • Anyone who finds cluttered websites overwhelming

Step 1: Open Helperbird

Click the Helperbird icon in your browser toolbar. It looks like a small owl and is usually in the top-right corner of your browser.

This will open the Helperbird menu.


Step 2: Go to the All Features Section

Scroll down to the bottom of the Helperbird menu. You will see a section called All Features.

Click the arrow next to All Features to expand it and show all available features.


Step 3: Find Reading Mode

Look through the list of features until you see Reading Mode.

It has a document or page icon next to it.


Step 4: Click Reading Mode

Click on Reading Mode.

The webpage will transform into a clean reading view. All the ads, sidebars, navigation menus, and other distracting elements will be removed.

You will see just the main text and images from the article.


Step 5: Customize Your View

Once in Reading Mode, you can adjust how the content looks using the toolbar at the top of the page.

You can change:

  • Text size – Make the text larger or smaller
  • Font – Choose a different font that is easier to read
  • Background color – Change the background to reduce eye strain
  • Text color – Adjust the color of the text

These settings help you create a reading experience that works best for you.


Step 6: Exit Reading Mode

When you are done reading, click the X button in the top corner of the Reading Mode view.

This will return you to the normal webpage.

Tip: Reading Mode works best on articles, blog posts, and news stories. It may not work well on pages that are mostly images or interactive content.


Frequently Asked Questions

Is Reading Mode free? Yes! Reading Mode is included in Helperbird Free.

Does Reading Mode work on all websites? Reading Mode works best on articles, blog posts, and news sites. Some complex web apps, paywalled content, or image-heavy sites may not work perfectly.

Will Reading Mode save my settings? Yes, your font, color, and size preferences are saved and will be applied the next time you use Reading Mode.

Can I print from Reading Mode? Yes! You can print the clean Reading Mode view, which gives you a nicely formatted printout without ads or clutter.

What's the difference between Reading Mode and Immersive Reader? Reading Mode is Helperbird's built-in feature for clean reading. Immersive Reader is Microsoft's tool with additional features like syllable breaking and parts of speech highlighting. Both remove distractions, but Immersive Reader has more learning-focused tools.



Video Tutorial


Need Additional Help?

If you have any questions or run into any issues, please contact the Helperbird support team. You can reach us at Helperbird support. We are happy to help you get the most out of Helperbird.

What People Are Saying

Join over 1,000,000 people who use Helperbird every day.

I've been meaning to write this review for a while now. My daughter is newly diagnosed with dyslexia and I heard an interview with Robert on a Newstalk podcast and sought it out. I wasn't sure if I had it installed correctly on her laptop and Robert was on straight away to help. He was amazing. This app has changed everything for my daughter. Everything is accessible to her and everyday tasks and schoolwork are so much easier. She also has visual stress so the coloured overlay feature is a game changer for her. I would highly recommend this app to anyone, she couldn't be without it now!

James Summer

James Summer

Helperbird user

I found this extension on a whim to help myself. Suffering with post concussion syndrome symptoms and working remotely is really hard! This extension basically saved my job. It gave me back productivity and the ability to read the screen. This extension has so many neat features I never even knew I needed. I love this and you will too! You don't need to be dyslexic or have dyslexia for this extension to benefit you. Do yourself a giant favor and get it! I highly recommend it!

Catherine Contillo

Catherine Contillo

Helperbird user

This tool helps so many of our students at school - not only those students who have dyslexia, but students and adults who have other learning differences (and those who don't!). It helps ensure that all students have the opportunity to succeed in their learning!

Kim Norris

Kim Norris

Helperbird user

This works and it makes everything so much easier to read! Thank you so much and i will keep posted if i do run into any issues!

Jay O'Bell

Jay O'Bell

Helperbird user

My son has dyslexia and has been struggling with parts of distant learning over the last year. We recently discovered this software and he is loving everything about it, especially with the ease of following directions and completing his assignments! We have used several other tools but this has everything a dyslexia person needs all in one bundle! The upgrade is definitely worth it to make our daily struggles, on the computer, run much smoother. I also greatly appreciate customer support (helpdesk). They went above and beyond to make sure we were all set up on the computer for my son to most successful.

Melissa Motz

Melissa Motz

Teacher

Helperbird is an excellent extension supporting a range of learning differences. Aside from providing many evidence-based dyslexia-assistive tools, the extension also functions as an easy-to-use, feature-rich web experience customization tool suitable to support a wide range of cognitive differences (i.e., color blindness and ADHD-related focus concerns, among others). Also, the developer is a very good person who supports the various learning-different communities in many ways, including by designing the free version of Helperbird to provide enough functionality to be beneficial to people who cannot afford to subscribe to the full-function version.

Kirk Smith

Kirk Smith

Helperbird user

Helperbird logo: Stylized owl with large yellow eyes and a beige face, against a green background.

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