Long articles in Safari on your Mac often arrive buried under ads, sidebars, and pop-ups. Reader Mode strips the page back to the headline, text, and images so you can actually finish reading.
Turn it on from the Page menu in the address bar for one page, or set a default under Safari > Settings > Websites > Reader. The same panel turns automatic Reader off again when you want the full layout back.
In this guide, I have covered:
Contents
Turn On Reader Mode for the Page You’re Reading
You’re halfway through a long article and Safari is showing you everything except the text: banner ads, a newsletter box, a sidebar that follows you down the page. Reader Mode clears that away for the page in front of you.
- Open the article in Safari on your Mac.
- Click the Page menu button in the Smart Search field, also called the address bar.
- Choose Show Reader.
The original page design disappears and Safari shows the headline, text, and images in a plain column. You’ll know it worked when the ads and sidebar are gone and the Reader button sits beside the address. Click that button any time to switch between the simplified and original views.
Apple’s Safari guide for viewing articles in Reader shows the same Page menu route and explains the Reader display controls.
TIP: Show Reader is greyed out on pages Safari can’t read as an article, such as a home page, a search results list, or a shopping cart. Reader needs a block of body text to work with.
Let Safari Open Articles in Reader Automatically
Some sites always read better stripped down. If you check the same news or blog pages every morning, you can have Safari open them in Reader without choosing the command each time.
- Open Safari on your Mac.
- Choose Safari from the menu bar.
- Choose Settings….
- Select the Websites tab.
- Open Reader.
- Set When visiting other websites to the scope you want.
- Off stops automatic Reader mode.
- On some websites uses the sites selected in the Currently Open Websites list.
- On all websites turns on automatic Reader wherever it is available.
- On all websites until you turn it off applies the setting broadly until you change it back.
Use the Currently Open Websites list to turn automatic Reader on or off for one site. Open a supported article from that site and Safari should serve the simplified view. You’ll know it worked when the page opens without the surrounding clutter.
Current Safari for Mac opens the Settings window, not the older Preferences window. The main automatic control is the “When visiting other websites” drop-down, not an old “Turn ON” switch.
Reader is only one of the per-site choices on that tab. Safari keeps other permissions in the same place, including location access for sites, so it’s worth checking when a site behaves differently than you expect.
Apple’s Safari websites settings guide lists Reader under Websites and documents the available options.
Exit Reader Mode on a Single Page
Sometimes the simplified view is the problem. You need the comments, the embedded video, or a table that Reader dropped, and you’d rather have the messy original back.
- Click the Reader button while the page is open in Reader view.
- Choose Hide Reader.
You can also press to return to the regular page. Safari should restore the original layout, images, and navigation, and your default Reader setting stays exactly as it was.
Turn Off Automatic Reader for All Websites
Safari keeps throwing articles into the simplified view and you want the real page back. That happens when the automatic setting is still on, and exiting Reader on each page won’t fix it.
- Open Safari on your Mac.
- Choose Safari from the menu bar.
- Choose Settings….
- Select the Websites tab.
- Open Reader.
- Set When visiting other websites to Off.
To keep Reader on a few trusted sites only, choose On some websites and set them in the Currently Open Websites list. Show Reader stays available from the Page menu either way.
Reader changes how a page looks, not what Safari stored while you were reading it. If you also want the history and site data gone, clear the site and browsing data from Safari separately.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I turn off Reader Mode in Safari on a Mac?
For the current page, click the Reader button and choose Hide Reader, or press . To stop automatic Reader for good, set When visiting other websites to Off under Safari > Settings… > Websites > Reader.
How do I turn Reader Mode back on for a page?
Open the article, click the Page menu button in the Smart Search field, and choose Show Reader. If you switched the automatic option off earlier, turn it back on under Safari > Settings… > Websites > Reader.
Can I enable Reader Mode for one website only?
Yes. Set When visiting other websites to On some websites, then pick the sites in the Currently Open Websites list. Safari applies Reader to those sites and leaves the rest alone.
Does turning off automatic Reader Mode remove Show Reader?
No. Show Reader stays in the Page menu, and the Reader button still appears on supported articles. Turning off the automatic option only stops Safari from switching to Reader by itself.
There is no Preference tab in the Safari menu! So no way of disabling Reader by default that I can find. Yes reader might be good in some circumstances but I prefer to be able to turn it on when I want rather than have it on by default.
Hi Philip, if you want to disable the Reader mode in Safari app, then visit the Safari menu > Settings (it will open Safari Settings window) > Websites > Reader. Within the Reader settings screen you will see the When visiting other websites drop-down, you need to select/set to `Off` option. Attaching the screenshot.