Maximize your reading experience with Immersive Reader in Microsoft Edge. Follow our guide to learn how to use this powerful tool.

How to use Immersive Reader in Microsoft Edge

Immersive Reader is a powerful tool designed to improve the reading experience for users. It is available in many Microsoft products, including the new Microsoft Edge browser. With Immersive Reader, users can customize how they view web pages, making reading and understanding content easier. In this article, we will discuss how to use Immersive Reader in Microsoft Edge and how to customize its features to suit your preferences.

Immersive Reader features

The Immersive Reader is a built-in tool in Microsoft products that helps to improve reading comprehension by providing a range of features. Some of the key features of the Immersive Reader toolbar include:

1. Text to speech — The Immersive Reader can read text aloud to help users with reading difficulties or those who prefer to listen rather than read.
2. Line focus — This feature allows users to focus on one, three, or five lines at a time to reduce visual distractions.
3. Font options — Users can choose from different fonts, font sizes, and spacing options to make text easier to read.
4. Syllable highlighting — The Immersive Reader can highlight each syllable in a word as it is read aloud to help improve phonetic decoding skills.
5. Picture dictionary — This feature displays pictures beside words to help with vocabulary comprehension.
6. Translation — Users can translate text into different languages to improve comprehension.
7. Grammar Tools — The Immersive Reader can identify and highlight parts of speech, such as nouns, adverbs, and verbs, as well as break words into syllables to help with reading fluency.
8. Reading Preferences — Users can customize the Immersive Reader settings to adjust the speed of the text to speech, the color theme, and the overall appearance of the text.

These features are designed to help users of all ages and abilities improve their reading skills and make digital content more accessible and engaging.

Benefits of Immersive Reader

There are numerous benefits of using Immersive Reader, including:

1. Enhanced reading comprehension: Immersive Reader is designed to improve reading comprehension for all ages and skill levels.
2. Accessibility: Immersive Reader makes content more accessible for people with visual impairments, dyslexia, or other reading difficulties. The text to speech feature can read the text aloud, and users can adjust the font size, spacing, and color scheme to suit their needs.
3. Customization: Immersive Reader offers a wide range of customization options, allowing users to adjust the text size, font, spacing, and background color. Users can also turn on/off certain features such as syllables, parts of speech, and a picture dictionary.
4. Multilingual support: Immersive Reader supports multiple languages, making it useful for language learners or those who speak different languages.
5. Improved focus: The line focus feature in Immersive Reader highlights only one or a few lines at a time, helping readers focus on the text without distractions from the rest of the page.
6. Increased engagement: Immersive Reader makes reading more engaging and enjoyable by incorporating interactive features such as a picture dictionary and audio support.
7. Integration with other apps: Immersive Reader is integrated with various Microsoft apps, including Microsoft Edge, OneNote, Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Office, and Microsoft Word, making it easy to use across multiple platforms.
8. Reading view: The Immersive Reader's reading view is a feature that allows users to view a webpage in a simplified, distraction-free format that is optimized for reading. The reading view removes pop-ups, ads, menus, and other extraneous content from a webpage, leaving only the main text and images.

Entering Reader Mode in Immersive Reader on Microsoft Edge

To access Immersive Reader in Microsoft Edge, you first need to enter Reading view. Reader Mode removes clutter from the web page, such as advertisements and menus, and presents the content in an easy-to-read format. To enter Reader Mode, click the book icon in the address bar. Alternatively, you can use the keyboard shortcut "Ctrl + Shift + R" on Windows or "Command + Shift + R" on Mac. Once you are in Reader Mode, you can click the Immersive Reader icon to launch the tool.

Read Aloud in Microsoft Edge

One of the key features of Immersive Reader is the ability to read aloud. This is particularly useful for users with visual impairments or those who prefer to listen to content rather than read it. To use Read Aloud, click the "Play" button in the toolbar. You can adjust the reading speed, voice, and volume from the Voice Options menu. You can also select a specific section of the text to be read aloud by clicking and dragging over the desired text.

Enabling or disabling Immersive Reader on Microsoft Edge

By default, Immersive Reader is enabled in Microsoft Edge. However, if you do not want to use the tool, you can disable it by clicking the Immersive Reader icon in Reader Mode and selecting "Turn off." To re-enable Immersive Reader, simply click the icon again.

Customizing text preferences for Immersive Reader on Microsoft Edge

Immersive Reader allows users to customize text preferences to suit their reading needs. To do this, click the Text Preferences button in the toolbar. From here, you can adjust the font size, font style, and spacing. You can also change the page theme and background color to reduce eye strain.

Using Grammar Tools for Immersive Reader on Microsoft Edge

Immersive Reader includes Grammar Tools to help users improve their writing skills. To use Grammar Tools, click the Immersive Reader icon in Reader Mode and select "Grammar Tools." From here, you can see parts of speech, such as nouns highlighted in the text, select specific words to see synonyms, and use the picture dictionary to view images that relate to the text.

Using Reading Preferences for Immersive Reader on Microsoft Edge

Reading Preferences are another useful feature of Immersive Reader. To access Reading Preferences, click the Immersive Reader icon in Reader Mode and select "Reading Preferences." Here, you can adjust the line focus, text spacing, text size and select the “Five Lines” or “Three Lines” view. These features can make reading easier for users with dyslexia or other reading difficulties.

How to use Immersive Reader on Google Chrome

Immersive Reader is a helpful tool for improving reading comprehension, and it can be used on Google Chrome through a free extension called "Microsoft Learning Tools." Here's how to use Immersive Reader on Google Chrome for those who don’t use Microsoft Edge:

1. Open Google Chrome and navigate to the Microsoft Learning Tools extension page in the Chrome Web Store.
2. Click the "Add to Chrome" button to add the extension to your browser.
3. Once the extension is installed, navigate to a webpage with text that you want to read in Immersive Reader mode.
4. Highlight the text that you want to read and right-click on it. From the context menu, select "Microsoft Learning Tools" and then "Immersive Reader."
5. The Immersive Reader window will open, displaying the text you selected in a clean and distraction-free interface. You can customize the reading experience by adjusting the font size, text spacing, and color theme.
6. Immersive Reader also includes text to speech functionality, so you can have the text read aloud to you. Simply click the "Play" button in the bottom left corner of the Immersive Reader window.
7. When you're finished reading, you can close the Immersive Reader window by clicking the "X" button in the top right corner.

Speechify — The leading text to speech tool

Speechify is a leading text to speech software that is designed to help users with dyslexia and anyone who wants to improve their reading speed and comprehension. It is available on various platforms, including MacOS, IOS, iPad, and Android, and uses advanced AI technology to convert any physical or digital text into high-quality spoken audio. With the Speechify app, users can listen to news articles, documents, social media posts, emails, study materials, and more on the go.

Additionally, Speechify offers many customization features, including reading speed control, text highlighting, bookmarking, and a wide variety of the most natural-sounding voices in various accents and languages. In fact, the AI voices on Speechify are almost indistinguishable from human voices. The best part is you can try Speechify for free today to see how it can transform your reading experience.

FAQ

How do I enter immersive Reader on Microsoft Edge?

The steps to enter Immersive Reader varies based on which Microsoft application you’re using, but this is how to enter Immersive Reader on Microsoft Edge:

1. Open Microsoft Edge and navigate to the webpage you want to read.
2. Select the text you want to read.
3. Right-click the selection and choose "Open in Immersive Reader" from the context menu.

How do I exit Immersive Reader on Microsoft Edge?

To exit Immersive Reader in Microsoft applications, you can simply close the Immersive Reader window or tab. To do this on Microsoft Edge click on the "X" button in the top right corner of the Immersive Reader window.

Why is my Immersive Reader not working?

If your Immersive Reader is not working, you can try checking your internet connection, switching to Microsoft Edge, clearing your browser cache, updating your browser, enabling Immersive Reader in your browser settings, trying a different document or webpage, or restarting your device. If none of these steps work, you can contact the support team of the Microsoft application you're using for further assistance.

Where is the Immersive Reader button?

The location of the Immersive Reader button can vary depending on the Microsoft application you're using. To find the Immersive Reader button on Microsoft Edge, select the text you want to read and right-click on it. Then, click "Open in Immersive Reader" from the context menu.