Adding Content to Reader

How do I use the browser extensions to save articles to Reader?

The Reader browser extension performs two functions: first, saving articles to Reader and second (optionally), highlighting the open web. To save a document to Reader, tap the icon in the browser bar or use the keyboard shortcut alt + R. (You can change the keyboard binding in the extension's options.) This will save a clean, readable version of the document to your Reader inbox.

Once you've tapped the icon, you can optionally begin highlighting on the website itself, or you can click the Open article in Reader button to switch the Reader app and take your highlights there.

How do I use the mobile app to save articles to Reader?

Once you have the mobile app installed on your iOS or Android device, you can share documents to Reader using your mobile operating system's share sheet.

If you don't see Reader among the apps you can share to, try restarting your device. Sometimes iOS has a bug where new apps do not immediately appear in the share sheet, but a restart should clear that up.

How do I install the Reader iOS app?

You can install the Reader iOS app from the App Store. This will work on any device that can run iOS 13.0 or later (iPhone, iPad, etc).

How do I install the Reader Android app?

You can install the Reader Android app using this link from the Google Play Store.

Note that this version of Reader will also work on e-ink devices that run Android, such as the Onyx BOOX.

How do I install the Reader Chrome extension?

You can install the Reader Chrome extension from the Chrome web store. The Reader browser extension is compatible with any browser built using Chromium, including Brave, Edge, and Arc.

My Chrome extension is asking for an API token. What do I do?

This is not actually the official Chrome extension made by Readwise, but rather an extension made by someone in the community. You should not use this extension with Reader. Instead, install the official extension from the Chrome web store.

How do I install the Reader Firefox extension?

You can install the Reader Firefox from the Firefox Add-Ons.

How do I install the Reader Safari extension?

You can install the Reader Safari extension from the App Store.

How do I use a keyboard shortcut to save documents to Reader using the browser extension?

By default, you should be able to tap Alt + R to save a document to Reader using the browser extension. If you're using Chrome or a Chromium-based browser, you can edit this shortcut for the browser extension here: chrome://extensions/shortcuts.

What's the difference between Library and Feed?

Reader has two broad sections: Library and Feed. Library is further subdivided into a handful of locations like Inbox, Later, Archive, and Shortlist (depending on your Library configuration). Library is where things go that you manually curate for yourself and choose to save permanently, such as articles saved from the browser extension or uploaded EPUB documents.

Feed is where things go that are automatically pushed to you, such as RSS feed content, and it's divided into two locations: Unseen and Seen. As you find documents in Feed that you want to read later and/or permanently save, you can move them to your Library.

How do I upload an OPML file to import all my RSS feeds from my existing RSS feed reader such as Feedly, Inoreader, Reeder, etc?

You can upload OPML files to Reader by dragging the OPML file on top of the web app or opening the upload dialog (keyboard shortcut: U) and selecting the file.

How do I subscribe or unsubscribe to feeds in Reader?

You can subscribe to RSS feeds inside Reader in multiple ways.

• First, whenever you save a document to Reader, Reader scans the domain for the presence of an RSS feed. If it detects an associated RSS feed, a Subscribe button will appear in the right sidebar on both web and mobile. You can tap this Subscribe button to add this RSS feed to your account. If you're already subscribed to the source, this Subscribe button will become Unsubscribe.
• Second, you can navigate to the Manage feeds section of the web app and click Add feeds (Shift + A) to search for or manually input a domain or RSS feed. On mobile, you can tap the "..." icon in the rop right of the Feeds view, then tap the Add feed button.
• Third, you can upload an OPML file of RSS feeds to Reader by exporting the file from an existing feed reader, dragging the OPML file on top of the web app or opening the upload dialog (keyboard shortcut: U) and selecting the file. This is typically how you would quickly migrate from an existing feed reader such as Feedly, Inoreader, Reeder, Feedbin, etc.
• Finally, you can subscribe in bulk to suggested feeds from the "Suggested" tab on the Manage feeds section of the web app. This tab contains all the RSS feeds detected on documents you've saved to Reader. If you're not a pre-existing RSS power user, we recommend subscribing to all feeds contained in the "High signal feeds" section and then pruning back sources you don't like over time.

How do I upload files to Reader?

You can upload a variety of different file types to Reader, including PDFs, EPUBs, and OPML files. To upload a file, drag it on top of the web app, or open the Upload dialog (keyboard shortcut: U) and select the file.

On mobile, use the "share" action from within your device's Files app and find the option in the share sheet labeled "Upload [file] to Reader".

How do I save Twitter threads to Reader?

You can save Twitter threads to Reader and they'll compile into beautiful, blog-like documents. To save a Twitter thread, you can use the browser extension while viewing the page of any tweet in the thread. (Note that this will only save tweets posted by the OP in their original thread, not any replies from other users.)

If you're on mobile, you can use the share sheet to share any tweet of the thread to Reader.

How do I configure where individual tweets and Twitter threads go between Reader and Readwise?

Users have many different preferences on where they want to save individual tweets and threads. By default, we make the assumption that individual tweets are like highlights and therefore go into Readwise, whereas Twitter threads are like articles and therefore go into Reader. If you want to change any of this, you can customize the Twitter behavior on the Integrations page.

How do I add Twitter lists to Reader?

You can subscribe to public Twitter Lists in Reader as if they were an RSS feed. It's a great way to separate the good parts of Twitter (high signal information/entertainment) from the bad parts (phone addiction?). Once you're subscribed to a Twitter List, you'll start receiving two digests per day in the AM and the PM containing all the new tweets over the past 12 hours. To subscribe to a Twitter List, find the URL of a public list and subscribe to it in the Feed section of Reader.

How do I watch a YouTube video inside Reader?

If you save a YouTube link to Reader, you'll be able to watch it alongside its time-synced transcript and take notes and highlights as it plays. On web, you can also precisely navigate the video by clicking any fragment, clicking a highlight in the right sidebar, or using special keyboard controls.

Note: Unless the creator of the video uploaded a custom transcript, Reader uses the one auto-generated by YouTube. This can result in some inaccuracies. The best course of action is to alert the creator to the discrepancies and see if they can take action to fix them.

Can I read my Kindle/Google/Apple/Kobo/etc books in Reader?

If you purchased a book on a different platform that doesn't provide an option to download a DRM-free EPUB file, you won't be able to import that book to Reader. Those other platforms intend for the books they sell to be read within their own ecosystem (e.g. Amazon wants you to read on a Kindle or in their app), so they don't provide a way for the books to be exported to third-party services like Reader.

For books that are in the public domain, you can find many places online to download EPUB versions. We like Standard Ebooks for their dedication to quality proofreading and modern formatting.