Everything you need to know about Reader Tab

Reader Tab is a Chrome extension that turns any tab into a distraction-free RSS workspace. Browse 116,000+ curated feeds, read with a clean reader mode, highlight passages, and keep everything private on-device.

Click “Add to Chrome” on the home page or install it from the Chrome Web Store. No signup or configuration is required—the panel is ready as soon as the extension loads.

Pin Reader Tab in Chrome’s toolbar and click the icon whenever you want to read. You can also assign your own shortcut inchrome://extensions/shortcuts if you prefer keyboard access.

Open feed management (RSS icon) to search 116,000+ curated sources by name, topic, domain, or category. You can also paste any RSS/Atom URL or import an OPML file from another reader.

Absolutely. Paste any feed URL into feed management. Reader Tab validates it and adds it to your library instantly.

Yes. Export your feeds as OPML from your previous reader, then import that file inside Reader Tab. You can export your Reader Tab feeds the same way for backups.

Feeds are automatically tagged by topic. Filter articles by topic, switch between unread/saved views, and save specific articles for later. Everything stays searchable inside the panel.

Reader Tab refreshes feeds according to your settings (15 to 720 minutes, default 30). You can trigger a manual refresh at any time from the feed list.

When you open an article, Reader Tab uses Mozilla’s Readability library to extract the full text and remove ads, paywall clutter, and sidebars. You control typography, spacing, and theme for every article.

Yes. Select any text to create a highlight. Choose from multiple colors, then review everything inside the dedicated Highlights view (pen icon) grouped by article.

Tap the bookmark icon on any article to move it into the Saved filter. Saved stories stay available even if they vanish from the original feed.

Yes—toggle light or dark themes, choose among compact/card/detailed layouts, move the panel left or right, and customize reader typography, line height, and language (English/Spanish).

In Settings → General you can dock the panel to the left or right edge of the browser.

Panel visibility controls whether Reader Tab remembers its open/closed state globally or per-domain. Pick whichever suits your workflow.

No. All feeds, highlights, saved articles, and settings stay on your device. We don’t run analytics or send usage data to any server. Read more in the privacy policy.

If Chrome Sync is enabled, Google syncs your extension storage automatically. That means feeds, saved articles, highlights, and settings follow you to any signed-in desktop.

Previously loaded articles, saved stories, and highlights remain available offline. Fetching new articles still requires an internet connection.

Reader Tab supports Google Chrome and Chromium-based browsers like Edge, Brave, Opera, and Vivaldi.

Yes. There are no premium tiers, subscriptions, or ads. Every feature is free forever.

Reader Tab is optimized for desktop Chrome today. We’re exploring mobile-friendly options as browser extension APIs evolve.

Some sites have complex markup or paywalls that block extraction. Use “Open original” to read on the source site—the feed summary will always remain available inside Reader Tab.

Some feeds publish sporadically or may be temporarily down. Try a manual refresh. If failures persist, remove the feed and search for an alternate source; Reader Tab automatically disables feeds that fail repeatedly.

Extensions share Chrome’s shortcut namespace. Visit chrome://extensions/shortcuts to make sure Reader Tab has a shortcut assigned and that it doesn’t conflict with another extension. Some Chrome internal pages block shortcuts entirely.

Settings → Advanced includes options to clear cached articles and reset the workspace. This wipes feeds, saved items, and highlights, so export an OPML backup if you want to keep your sources.

Use the Chrome Web Store listing or contact form. Messages go straight to the product team and influence the roadmap.