Import from Physical Books

How do I add highlights from physical or paper books?

If you have the Readwise iOS app or Android app installed, you can capture highlights from paper books (or anything else you're reading offline) from the Add tab.

Add tab in the bottom navigation bar of the Readwise app.

Scroll down to Add highlights by and pick whichever method suits the moment:

Typing lets you enter a passage by hand.
Scanning uses your phone's camera and optical character recognition (OCR) to pull the text off the page, either by selecting a passage yourself or by automatically detecting the highlights you've already made with a marker.
Speech transcribes a passage as you read it aloud.

Whichever method you choose, you'll have a chance to edit the text, add a page number or note, and pick the book it belongs to before saving.

How do I scan highlights from a book with my camera?

Tap Scanning under Add highlights by on the Add tab to open the camera.

Scanning option under Add highlights by on the Add tab of the Readwise app.

Scanning has two modes, and you'll choose between them in the Highlighting mode sheet the first time you tap Scanning:

Select the exact passage takes a photo of any page, then lets you drag your finger to select the text you want to save. This is the default.
Scan your physical highlights looks for text you've highlighted with a marker and extracts it automatically.

Highlighting mode sheet with the Select the exact passage and Scan your physical highlights options.

To switch modes later, tap the settings icon in the top right corner of the camera view.

Scanning works with books in any language. It does need an internet connection, since the text recognition happens online rather than on your phone.

Select the exact passage

Tap Scanning and take a photo of the page. Readwise selects a passage in the middle of the page to get you started.
Drag the handles to cover the passage you'd like to save. If the quote continues onto the next page, tap Turn page to photograph it and keep selecting.
Tap Save.
On the Save Highlight screen, add a page number or note if you'd like, then tap a book from your library (or search for a new one) to save the passage to it.

Selecting a passage with drag handles after scanning a book page in the Readwise app.

Scan your physical highlights

Tap Scanning and take a photo of a page you've marked up. Readwise detects the highlighted text and selects it for you.
Long-press a passage to add or remove it from the selection, and pinch to zoom in for a closer look. Tap Add page to scan more pages before saving.
Tap Save.
On the Save Highlight screen, add a page number or note if you'd like, then tap a book from your library (or search for a new one) to save the passage to it.

Automatically detecting a marker highlight after scanning a book page in the Readwise app.

If Readwise can't find any highlights in the photo, the page opens with nothing selected so you can long-press to choose passages yourself.

How do I choose which book a highlight is saved to?

After you scan, type, or dictate a passage, the Save Highlight screen shows the text so you can fix anything the recognition missed (➊), along with fields for the page number (➋) and a note (➌). Under Save to, tap a book from your library (➎), or tap Search for a book (➍) to find one that isn't listed, scan its ISBN barcode with Scan a Book, or use Create Custom Book for a title that isn't in the catalog.

Save Highlight screen with numbered callouts for the passage text, page number, note, Search for a book, and library list.

Quick Passages stays pinned to the top of the list, so you can save a passage there if it doesn't belong to any specific book.

Once the highlight is saved, tap Add another highlight to keep going or Done to finish.

Why did I get a duplicate book in my library after manually adding a highlight?

Books that came into Readwise from another source (Kindle, Apple Books, Supplemental Books, and so on) are kept separate from books you add by hand, so they don't appear in the Save to list or under Your library when you search. If you search for a title you've already imported another way and save a highlight to it, Readwise creates a second copy of the book with its own highlights.

Can I scan a screenshot or photo that's already on my phone?

Yes! Tap the thumbnail in the bottom left corner of the camera view to pick an image from your photo library instead of taking a new photo. Both scanning modes work the same way from there.

Photo library thumbnail in the bottom left corner of the Readwise scanning camera.

How do I type a highlight into the Readwise app?

Tap Typing under Add highlights by on the Add tab, enter the passage, and save it to a book the same way you would a scan.

Typing option under Add highlights by on the Add tab of the Readwise app.

Can I dictate a highlight instead of typing it?

Yes! Tap Speech under Add highlights by on the Add tab and start reading the passage aloud. Readwise transcribes it as you speak. If you stop and start again, the new recording is added to the end of the transcript, and Redo recording clears it so you can start over. Once you're done, you can tidy up the transcript before choosing a book and saving.

Speech option under Add highlights by on the Add tab of the Readwise app.

Can I add highlights from physical books without the mobile app?

Yes! On web, you can add highlights one at a time with the Freeform Input tool or add many at once with a CSV upload.

You can also add the titles of paper books you've read and audiobooks you've listened to as Supplemental Books to see popular highlights from them in your Daily Review.