What is Chrome's Reading Mode? Learn how to use it with visual guides

I want to know about the web page reading function of the PC version of Chrome!

Have you ever wanted to listen to news articles or blogs while reading them on your Windows PC or Mac?

In fact, the PC version of Google Chrome comes standard with a "Reading Mode" that reads web pages aloud.

Since you can play just the main text by simply pressing the play button, it is useful when you want to listen to articles while working on your PC.

In this article, we will explain how to launch Google Chrome's Reading Mode on a PC, as well as how to use playback, speed, and highlighting with images.

What you will learn in this article:

1. How to launch Google Chrome's Reading Mode on a PC (Windows/Mac compatible)
2. How to use playback, speed, and highlighting
3. Weaknesses of Google Chrome's standard features and recommended reading methods

What is Chrome's reading mode (Reading Mode)?

Google Chrome is equipped with a reading mode called "Reading Mode".

In Reading Mode, you can display the page content in the browser's side panel and have the page read aloud.

Reading function standardly equipped in the PC version of Chrome

Reading Mode is a reading feature added to the PC version of Google Chrome in 2024.

It can be used on any PC—Windows, Mac, Linux, or Chromebook—as long as Google Chrome is installed.

The key point is that you can start reading immediately without installing any extensions.

What can you do with Reading Mode?

Using Reading Mode in the PC version of Google Chrome allows you to read only the main body of an article aloud.

Advertisements, related links, and other non-essential content are automatically excluded, so you can easily listen to just the core content of the article.

The part being read is highlighted on the screen.

Explaining how to use the reading mode in the PC version of Chrome

From here, we will explain the steps to actually open Reading Mode with images.

The operation is the same for both the Windows and Mac versions of Chrome, so you can proceed regardless of your environment.

How to use Reading Mode in the PC version of Chrome (Common to Windows/Mac)

To use Chrome's Reading Mode, first right-click on the page you want to read.

When you click "Open in Reading Mode" from the right-click menu, a side panel will open on the right side of the browser.

In the side panel, ads and related links are removed, and only the main text is extracted.

*If you cannot use right-click on a Mac, you can bring up the same menu by clicking while holding the Control key.

How to read text aloud in Reading Mode

When you open the Reading Mode side panel, there is a play button at the top.

Pressing the play button starts the reading from the beginning of the text.

During reading, the play button changes to a pause button.

You can stop the audio by pressing the pause button.

Pressing the play button again resumes the audio from where it left off.

Also, by pressing the "＜" and "＞" buttons, you can move to the previous or next sentence.

Voice is automatically downloaded upon first use

The reading voice for Reading Mode is automatically downloaded the first time you use it.

When using a fiber-optic connection from a PC, you can start reading immediately without waiting.

If the download fails or there is no internet connection, the default Windows or Mac voices will be used.

*Previously, languages other than English, such as Japanese, had to be downloaded manually, but now the voice for each language is automatically downloaded according to the page language.

Reading speed can also be changed

You can change the reading speed by clicking on the part displayed as "1x".

The reading speed can be adjusted between 0.5x and 2x.

Changing the reading voice

You can change the voice by clicking the mouth-shaped icon (Voice selection).

For Japanese, you can choose from three types of Google voices and the Windows or Mac system voices (as of 2026).

The part being read is highlighted

The area being read is highlighted with a change in background color.

You can also change the highlighting method.

Highlighting can be chosen from:

• Adaptive (automatically adjusts highlight range)
• Word
• Sentence
• Off

For example, if you select "Word", it highlights word by word like this,

and if you select "Sentence", it highlights sentence by sentence like this.

Since you can see at a glance where is being read, you can immediately tell where playback will resume when paused.

Precautions when using Chrome's reading mode on a PC

Google Chrome's Reading Mode is a convenient feature for easy reading.

However, there are a few points you should know before using it.

Some pages cannot be opened automatically in Reading Mode

Depending on the page, Google Chrome may not be able to determine which part is the main text, and it may not be able to display it in Reading Mode.

For example, in the case of the page in the image,

Select text to display in Reading Mode
Reading Mode cannot detect the main content of this page

is displayed, and it cannot be read aloud.

When this happens, you need to manually select the part you want to read on the left side of the screen.

Once you select the text, only that part will be displayed on the right.

Cannot play from a specific point

When you open Google Chrome's Reading Mode on a PC, it reads aloud in order from the beginning of the text.

Even if you click on a place where you want to start listening, it cannot play from that position.

You have to move sentence by sentence using the previous/next sentence buttons, so it is difficult to advance to the desired position when you want to listen to a long article from the middle.

If Reading Mode has automatically recognized the text, you cannot play only a specific range even if you select it.

Japanese voice quality is modest

The Japanese voice in Google Chrome's reading mode uses the synthesized voice provided as standard by Chrome.

It is sufficient for just listening to article content, but the intonation is monotonic, making it unsuitable for purposes where high sound quality is required.

Proper nouns and technical terms may also be misread.

If you want to listen comfortably with a natural voice, using a Google Chrome extension specialized for reading on your PC is also recommended.

Recommended Chrome extension for natural Japanese reading

As you can see, while Google Chrome's Reading Mode is convenient, it struggles with playback from the middle or high-quality reading.

If you want to read websites more conveniently on your PC, the Google Chrome extension "Ondoku" is recommended.

Since you can select only the part you want to read and have it read aloud, if you want to listen to a specific part of a long article, you just need to drag across the required range!

Moreover, it can read aloud using easy-to-hear AI voices with more natural intonation and accents than the synthesized voices standard in Google Chrome.

We explain how to install and use the extension in this article.

Please take a look.

Ondoku Google Chrome Extension | Installation steps and usage explained with images | Text-to-speech software Ondoku

By installing the Ondoku Google Chrome extension, you can read aloud on the spot just by selecting the range of the web page you want to read. We explain everything from installation steps to access token settings, shortcut keys, and voice changes with images.

Summary of Reading Mode in the PC version of Google Chrome

As described, using Google Chrome's reading feature for PC, "Reading Mode," allows you to listen to web pages without installing any extensions.

However, the sound quality is modest, and you cannot play from any point you like.

If you want to "listen with more natural sound quality" or "play only a specific part you want to hear," the Ondoku Google Chrome extension is recommended.

Why not make Google Chrome even more convenient by using a high-performance extension?

■ AI voice synthesis software "Ondoku"

"Ondoku" is an online text-to-speech tool that can be used with no initial costs.

• Supports approximately 50 languages, including Japanese, English, Chinese, Korean, Spanish, French, and German
• Available from both PC and smartphone
• Suitable for business, education, entertainment, etc.
• No installation required, can be used immediately from your browser
• Supports reading from images

To use it, simply enter text or upload a file on the site. A natural-sounding audio file will be generated within seconds. You can use voice synthesis up to 5,000 characters for free, so please give it a try.

Text-to-speech software "Ondoku" can read out 5000 characters every month with AI voice for free. You can easily download MP3s and commercial use is also possible. If you sign up for free, you can convert up to 5,000 characters per month for free from text to speech. Try Ondoku now.

HP: ondoku3.com
Email: ondoku3.com@gmail.com