How to use immersive reader on the new Microsoft Edge browser

How-to
By Mauro Huculak
last updated

Yes, the Chromium version of Microsoft Edge comes with an immersive reader, and these are the steps to use it on Windows 10.

Microsoft Edge Chromium immersive reader experience
Microsoft Edge Chromium immersive reader experience (Image credit: Windows Central)

On Microsoft Edge Chromium, "immersive reader" is a feature that provides a clutter-free experience to read content online.

When you come across an interesting article online, sometimes, it's difficult to concentrate on the content with all the visual elements, advertisements, and links around the page. The immersive reader is a feature available with the Chromium version of Microsoft Edge, which strips out the distractions and converts the page in an ebook-like experience with better fonts and background allowing you to focus on the main content.

Also, the immersive reader includes settings to customize the experience, and features like read aloud and grammar tools to help improve text comprehension.

In this Windows 10 guide, we'll walk you through the steps to get started with the immersive reader in the Chromium version of Microsoft Edge.

How to enable or disable immersive reader on Microsoft Edge

To enable and disable immersive reader on Edge, use these steps:

  1. Open Microsoft Edge.
  2. Navigate to the website that you want to read.
  3. Click the immersive reader (book and speaker) button.Quick note: Immersive reader is only available for specific web pages. If you don't see the button in the address bar, the page doesn't support the feature.

Source: Windows Central (Image credit: Source: Windows Central)

Once you complete the steps, the immersive reader feature will remove the clutter and re-format the page using more readable text and background using a warmer color to make it easier on the eyes.

If you want to disable the experience on the page, click the immersive reader button again from the address bar.

How to customize text preference for immersive reader on Microsoft Edge

To customize the text size and background color while viewing a website with the immersive reader, use these steps:

  1. Open Microsoft Edge.
  2. Navigate to the website that you want to read.
  3. Click the immersive reader (book and speaker) button.
  4. Drag the mouse cursor towards the top of the page to reveal the immersive reader toolbar.Quick tip: You can click the Pin button from the right side to make the toolbar always visible while in the immersive mode.
  5. Click the Text preference button.

Source: Windows Central (Image credit: Source: Windows Central)
  1. Use the Text size slider to make the text on the page smaller or larger.
  2. Use the Page theme option to change the background color. Option available, include White, Sepia (default), Gray, and Dark.

After you complete the steps, pages you open with the experience will use the customization settings that you specified.

How to use grammar tools for immersive reader on Microsoft Edge

Grammar tools is a feature designed to help anyone to improve their reading comprehension with tools to separate words into syllables and options to highlight verbs, nouns, and adjectives. However, the tool is still under development, and you have to enable it manually using the hidden advanced settings.

Enabling grammar tools

To enable the grammar tools for the immersive reader before the feature is officially available, use these steps:

  1. Open Microsoft Edge.
  2. Type the following command in the address bar and press Enter:edge://flags/#edge-reading-view-grammar-toolsQuick tip: Because Microsoft Edge is based on the Chromium engine, you can also use the chrome://flags to open the advanced flags settings page.
  3. Use the Grammar Tools in Reading View menu and select the Enabled option.

Source: Windows Central (Image credit: Source: Windows Central)
  1. Click the Restart button.

Once you complete the steps, you'll find the grammar tools in the toolbar of the immersive reader experience.

Using grammar tools

To get started with grammar tools on Microsoft Edge Chromium, use these steps:

  1. Open Microsoft Edge.
  2. Navigate to the website that you want to read.
  3. Click the immersive reader (book and speaker) button.
  4. Drag the mouse cursor towards the top of the page to reveal the immersive reader toolbar.
  5. Click the Grammar tools button.
  6. Turn on the Sy-lla-bles toggle switch to break words into syllables.

Source: Windows Central (Image credit: Source: Windows Central)
  1. Using the Parts of speech options, you can highlight nouns, verbs, and adjectives on a page.Quick note: At the time of this writing, the "Parts of speech" option may not work correctly until a later update.

After you complete the steps, you'll be able to use the tools to improve reading comprehension.

How to use read aloud for immersive reader on Microsoft Edge

On Microsoft Edge, read aloud is a simple, but powerful, tool that allows you to use a voice engine to read text aloud using different speeds and voices.

To use read aloud to have the browser read the page content aloud, use these steps:

  1. Open Microsoft Edge.
  2. Navigate to the website that you want to read.
  3. Click the immersive reader (book and speaker) button.
  4. Drag the mouse cursor towards the top of the page to reveal the immersive reader toolbar.
  5. Click the Read aloud button.

Source: Windows Central (Image credit: Source: Windows Central)
  1. Use the controls in the middle of the toolbar to start or pause, and jump to the previous or next paragraph.

Source: Windows Central (Image credit: Source: Windows Central)

Alternatively, you can also activate read aloud by highlighting the text, right-clicking the selection, and using the Read aloud selection option.

While read aloud has been available for a long time, Microsoft has made it significantly better for the Chromium version of Edge by adding new engines to make the voice sound more natural and less robotic.

Customizing read aloud

To customize the read aloud settings on Chromium Edge, use these steps:

  1. Open Microsoft Edge.
  2. Navigate to the website that you want to read.
  3. Click the immersive reader (book and speaker) button.
  4. Drag the mouse cursor towards the top of the page to reveal the immersive reader toolbar.
  5. Click the Read aloud button.

Source: Windows Central (Image credit: Source: Windows Central)
  1. Click the Voice options button.
  2. Use the Speed slider to set the voice speed to Slow, Normal, or Fast.

Source: Windows Central (Image credit: Source: Windows Central)
  1. Use the Choose a voice menu to select the kind of voice (male, female, different accents, etc.) you want to hear.

Once you complete the steps, you'll be able to hear content aloud. This would come in handy as an accessibility feature, help you better understand a piece of content, or catch you up on different topics while you're working in another task.

We're focusing this guide on Windows 10, but the instructions should also work for the version of the browser available on macOS, and older versions of Windows.

Mauro Huculak
Mauro Huculak

Mauro Huculak is technical writer for WindowsCentral.com. His primary focus is to write comprehensive how-tos to help users get the most out of Windows 10 and its many related technologies. He has an IT background with professional certifications from Microsoft, Cisco, and CompTIA, and he's a recognized member of the Microsoft MVP community.