Reading with Microsoft Edge (22H2 archive)

Note: There is a newer version of this article/chapter.

Microsoft Edge provides all of the standard reading features offered by other web browsers, but it also goes well beyond most by offering a Reader mode experience for web articles, comprehensive built-in PDF (portable document format) reading and annotation capabilities, and a Read aloud feature that works with both web articles and PDF files.

Read articles on the web

Microsoft Edge lets you browse the web and read articles of interest as you would with other web browsers. You can toggle full-screen mode by typing F11, zoom in and out to better view text (CTRL + Plus, CTRL + Minus), and return to the default zoom (CTRL + 0) as needed.

Enter Reader mode with Immersive Reader

Microsoft Edge also offers a unique Reader mode experience for web articles called Immersive reader that hides everything on the web page you’re reading except for the article text and graphics.

Immersive reader cannot be enabled globally. Instead, you turn it on manually when you’re reading a web article. To do so, navigate to a web article you wish to read and select the Immersive reader icon that appears in the right of the Address bar.

The Immersive reader icon only appears when Edge is displaying a web article.

You can also type F9 to toggle Immersive reader.

When you do, the article reloads in a themed Immersive reader view with just the article text and graphics.

Immersive reader displays a toolbar by default that provides several useful options.

This toolbar can be configured to auto-hide. If you don’t see it, just click anywhere in the browser window.

These options include:

Read aloud. This feature will read the web article aloud to you. It is described in more detail in the section Let Edge read the current article with Read aloud.

Text preferences. This item opens a pane that lets you customize the Immersive reader’s text size, text spacing, font, column style, and theme so that it looks exactly the way you like.

Grammar tools. This feature can help you learn to read better by providing a set of tools right in the article you are currently reading. You can learn more in the section Improve your reading skills with Immersive reader.

Reading preferences. Here, you can enable and configure a set of useful reading improvement tools: a line focus feature that will highlight one, three, or fives lines of text (your choice) as you read, a picture dictionary feature that lets you see pictures that match words in the article, and a language translation feature that can translate the entire article into the language of your choice. These features are also discussed in Improve your reading skills with Immersive reader.

Pin/Unpin toolbar. To keep this toolbar visible all the time, select the Pin toolbar button.

Some browser features, like printing and displaying the browser in full-screen mode, also work well with Immersive reader. If you print an article while in this view, for example, it will print it in the style used by Immersive reader.

Use Immersive reader with a selection of text

While Immersive reader is typically used to display an entire web article without distractions, you can also use it to display just a specific text selection.

To do so, select some text in a web article, right-click it, and choose “Open selection in Immersive Reader.”

Let Edge read the current article with Read aloud

The Read aloud feature in Immersive reader can read a web article aloud to you. It’s like listening to an audiobook, and not at all robotic. In fact, some of the voices Microsoft provides with Read aloud sound quite natural.

To use Read aloud, open Immersive reader and select the Read aloud button in its toolbar. When you do so, the Read aloud controls will appear in the toolbar and Microsoft Edge will begin reading the article aloud to you. As it does, it highlights the current word in yellow.

The Read aloud toolbar has buttons for Play/Pause and for jumping to the previous or next paragraph. And the Voice options button can be used to configure the speed of playback and to choose a different voice.

You can also toggle Read aloud by typing CTRL + SHIFT + U. This works in both Immersive reader and when you’re viewing a web page normally.

Improve your reading skills with Immersive reader

While Immersive reader is useful for anyone who wants to read on the web without distractions, this feature was originally created for people with dyslexia and dysgraphia. And so it is perhaps not surprising that it includes several tools designed to improve reading comprehension. Key among them are its grammar tools and the three tools found under Reading preferences.

Here’s what’s available.

Grammar tools. Using the Grammar tools drop-down, you can access two grammar tools: Syllables and Parts of speech. The former is used to split apart words into their constituent syllables so that you can sound them out more easily as you read. And the latter lets you toggle the highlighting of particular parts of speech—for nouns, verbs, adjectives, and/or adverbs—so that you can better understand which is which. Each is coded with its own configurable color, so it’s not confusing if two or more are enabled at the same time.

Line focus. This feature helps readers stay focused by highlighting one, three, or five lines of text (your choice) while dimming the rest of the article.

Picture dictionary. This feature lets you mouse over words in the article and, when the mouse cursor turns into a star wand, see pictures that match those words in the article.

Translation. This feature can be used to translate the entire article into the language of your choice.

Read and annotate a PDF file

Microsoft Edge isn’t just for browsing the web and reading web articles: It can also be used to read and annotate PDF (portable document format) files.

To read a PDF file, simply open one anywhere in your file system or on the web and it should open in Microsoft Edge, which is configured as the default application for this type of file.

For example, this book.

Microsoft Edge doesn’t offer a Reading view for PDFs as it does for web articles because these documents are purposefully structured so that they always appear as the author or publisher intended.

You can toggle the display of the PDF toolbar in Edge at any time. To hide it, select the “Settings and more” (gear) icon at the far right of the toolbar and then choose “Pin toolbar.” When you do so, it auto-hides, much like the Immersive reader toolbar.

The following commands are available when using Microsoft Edge to view a PDF file.

Table of contents. Select this option to view the structure of the document in a manner that’s similar to a book’s table of contents. This lets you quickly navigate to other parts of the document.

Page number. Select here to enter a new page number and jump directly to that point in the document.

Find. This command helps you find text within the PDF document.

You can also type CTRL + F to access Find.

Zoom out and Zoom in. The handy minus and plus buttons can be used to zoom out and into the document, respectively. (You can also use the keyboard shortcuts CTRL + – [minus] and CTRL + + [plus], respectively.)

Rotate. If you select this button, the document will rotate 45 degrees to the right. This is useful for viewing scanned documents that are not oriented correctly.

Or, type CTRL + J.

Fit to width/Fit to page. Use this button to toggle the display of the document between full-width and full-page views.

You can also type CTRL + \ to toggle the display between full width and full page views.

Page view. Here, you can determine whether to view a single page at a time onscreen or two pages side-by-side.

Read aloud. As with the similar feature for Immersive reader, this lets you listen to the document as if it were an audiobook.

Add text. This button is used to annotate the PDF document with a block of text. When you select it, a floating toolbar with text color, sizing, and spacing options appears. You can adjust the width or the position of the text block at any time.

Draw. You can draw on a PDF using a digital pen, your finger, or your mouse, depending on the capabilities supported by your PC. The “Select ink properties” drop-down on the right of this split button lets you choose between several different colors and pen widths.

Highlight. This command lets you highlight text within the current document. The “Select a highlight color” drop-down on the right of this split button lets you choose different highlight colors and widths, and toggle an option that ensures you only highlight text in the document.

Erase. This button changes the mouse cursor that you can use to erase any drawing or highlighting you’ve done in the current document.

You cannot erase a text block with the Erase tool. Instead, select the text block and then click the “Delete” button in its floating toolbar.

Draw with Touch. Available only on PCs with multitouch displays, this lets you draw on the document using your finger.

Print. Use this button to print the PDF, obviously.

Save. Especially handy when viewing a web-based document, the Save button lets you save the PDF to your PC or save any annotations you’ve made to a locally-store PDF.

Save as. Here, you can save an existing document in a new location and/or with a new name.

Enter PDF full-screen. As you might expect, this button displays the PDF using the full screen. That said, it’s otherwise limited: you can’t change the zoom level, display the table of contents, access the PDF toolbar, or make any changes. To exit PDF full-screen mode, mouse up to the top of the display to reveal a Close (“x”) button.

Or, just type ESC.

Oddly, if you use the full-screen mode for Edge—as opposed to “Enter PDF full-screen”—you can still access the PDF toolbar, change the zoom level, make annotations and so on. To enter this full-screen mode, type F11.

Settings and more. This final toolbar displays a menu with three choices: “Pin toolbar” (which can be toggled), “Hide all annotations,” and “Display document properties.”

Fill in a PDF form

Many PDF files are forms that you must fill out. You can do so with Microsoft Edge and then save the file with the data you entered. From there, you can print it out, email it back to the sender, or otherwise share the edited file with others.

Filling out a form in a PDF file is straightforward: Simply select each field, in turn, and type. You can press TAB to jump to the next field.