I’ve often run into sites that render pages nearly impossible to read. Either a poor layout or a plethora of ads drag the web browser to an unresponsive halt so even if the page layout was fine, I still couldn’t read what I came for. It’s frustrating and often causes me to avoid those sites altogether. Also: How to turn your favorite sites into web apps (and why) Thankfully, most web browsers now include Reading Mode as a standard feature, so when you come across a page you want to read but (for whatever reason) can’t, you just flip on Reading Mode to get rid of the distractions. Once in Reading Mode, the only thing that displays is the content you want. With most web browsers, you have to manually turn on Reading Mode case by case. With Safari, however, you can enable certain sites to automatically switch to Reading Mode, so you never have to worry about doing it on a page-by-base basis. I’ve found this to be a great option, especially for sites that tend to render Safari unusable. Also: The best browsers for privacy One thing to keep in mind is that when Reading Mode is enabled for a site, it doesn’t automatically switch the entire site. Instead, it will automatically open pages within the site in Reading Mode. However, if an external link directs you to the site you’ve enabled, the page will automatically open in Reading Mode. For many, this feature is quite handy. For others, it will be a must-use. Let me show you how to enable automatic Reading Mode.
Enable Reading Mode for a site
What you’ll need: The only thing you’ll need is an updated version of the Safari browser. I’ll demonstrate this on a 13-inch MacBook Pro with an Apple Silicon M1 chip.
What sites look like in Reading Mode
Any site you enable for Reading Mode will be stripped of everything but the relevant content (text, images, links, etc.) and nothing more. In this mode, pages are far easier to read and, even better, if you need to print those pages, you won’t waste ink printing extraneous elements. Also: My favorite keyboard shortcut of all time (and it works on every browser) Click the drop-down and select On for the site you want to enable. Continue going through the list until you’ve added all the sites you want to enable. Once you’ve added a site, it will be listed at the bottom of the pane, under Configured Websites. Reading Mode is a great option for anyone who wants a distraction-free experience on a website. If you find the content on particular sites to be overly challenging to consume, let Safari help you out by stripping away everything you don’t want.
