Readwise

# Readwise Reader Documentation

> This document contains all documentation content from Readwise Reader, providing comprehensive information about features, guides, and frequently asked questions for the Reader app. This file includes 43 documentation pages.

## Action Tags

## What is an Action Tag?
Action tags are highlight notes that use a specific syntax to perform actions on the associated highlight. All action tags begin with a `.` character, and their functionality effects how the highlights appear in Readwise.

## How can I create headings between my highlights?
In Reader, headings are added to the Notebook view (`Shift + 1`) automatically when they’re detected within the document’s content. However, if you want to see those headings in Readwise as well, you’ll need to use an action tag. To do so, highlight the text that you want to appear as a heading, then add a note (`N`) with the text `.h1`. This will create a top-level heading with the text of the highlight. To create nested headings, you can use an `.h2` tag and so on.

Note that you can start with lower level headings (e.g. `.h3`) and they’ll still appear in Readwise, but for the table of contents to appear on the left side of the page, you’ll need to start with at least one `.h1` tag.

## How can I combine two disparate pieces of text into a single highlight?
Oftentimes, the most salient parts of a paragraph are the first and last sentence, which can be frustrating when the author includes a bunch of fluff in between them that just bog you down when reviewing the highlight later. To fix this, you can use the concatenation action tag. Simply add a note (`N`) with the text `.c1` to the first highlight, then `.c2` to the next highlight. When the highlights sync to Readwise, they’ll appear as a single highlight with an ellipse (`…`) between the two pieces of text.

You can string as many highlights together in this way as you’d like by continuing on to `.c3`, `.c4`, etc. A tag of `.c1` will always begin a new concatenation string.

## How can I create a Q&A mastery card while reading?
You can use action tags to create a Q&A [mastery card](https://readwise.io/mastery) in Readwise associated with a particular highlight. To do so, add a note (`N`) to the highlight using the syntax `.qa [QUESTION?][ANSWER]`.

## Can I add a regular note to a highlight with an action tag?
Yes! To add a note to a highlight that has an action tag, simply add a line break after the action tag. You can do this by pressing `Shift + Enter` in the note field (`Enter` by itself will save the note). For example, if you wanted to add a brief description of a section’s content with a heading, you could do something like `.h1 ⏎ This section is about how Topic A relates to Topic X.` The note text will then appear below the heading in Readwise.

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## Adding Content to Reader

## What's the difference between Library and Feed?
Reader has two broad sections: Library and Feed. Library is further subdivided into a handful of locations like Inbox, Later, Archive, and Shortlist (depending on your Library configuration). Library is where things go that you manually curate for yourself and choose to save permanently, such as articles saved from the browser extension or uploaded EPUB documents.

The [Feed](/reader/docs/faqs/feed) is where things go that are automatically pushed to you, such as RSS feed content, and it's divided into two locations: Unseen and Seen. As you find documents in Feed that you want to read later and/or permanently save, you can move them to your Library.

## How do I use the browser extensions to save articles to Reader?
The Reader browser extension performs two functions: first, saving articles to Reader and second (optionally), highlighting the open web. To save a document to Reader, tap the icon in the browser bar or use the keyboard shortcut `alt + R`. (You can change the keyboard binding in the extension's options.) This will save a clean, readable version of the document to your Reader inbox.

Once you've tapped the icon, you can optionally begin highlighting on the website itself, or you can click the **Open article in Reader** button to switch the Reader app and take your highlights there.

The browser extension is the most robust way to save documents to Reader because the extension gets the underlying content rendered in your browser as opposed to just a URL.

### How do I install the browser extension for Reader?
If you're using Google Chrome, you can install the Reader extension [from the Chrome web store](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/jjhefcfhmnkfeepcpnilbbkaadhngkbi). The Reader browser extension is compatible with any browser built using Chromium, including Brave, Edge, and Arc.

If you're using Firefox, you can install the Firefox extension [from the Firefox Add-Ons](https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/readwise-highlighter/).

If you're using Safari, you can install the Safari extension [from the App Store](https://apps.apple.com/app/save-to-reader/id1640236961).

### My Chrome extension is asking for an API token. What do I do?
This is not actually the official Chrome extension made by Readwise, but rather an extension made by someone in the community. You should not use this extension with Reader. Instead, install the official extension [from the Chrome web store](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/jjhefcfhmnkfeepcpnilbbkaadhngkbi).

### How do I use a keyboard shortcut to save documents to Reader using the browser extension?
By default, you should be able to tap `Alt + R` to save a document to Reader using the browser extension. If you're using Chrome or a Chromium-based browser, you can edit this shortcut for the browser extension here: [chrome://extensions/shortcuts](chrome://extensions/shortcuts).

## How do I use the mobile app to save articles to Reader?
Once you have the mobile app installed on your iOS or Android device, you can share documents to Reader using your mobile operating system's share sheet.

If you don't see Reader among the apps you can share to, try restarting your device. Sometimes iOS has a bug where new apps do not immediately appear in the share sheet, but a restart should clear that up.

Saving from Safari is the best way to save documents to Reader on mobile because iOS gives our app access to the underlying content in addition to the URL resulting in better parsing.

### How do I install the Reader iOS app?
You can install the Reader iOS app [from the App Store](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/readwise-reader/id1567599761). This will work on any device that can run iOS 13.0 or later (iPhone, iPad, etc).

### How do I install the Reader Android app?
You can install the Reader Android app using this link [from the Google Play Store](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.readermobile).

Note that this version of Reader will also work on e-ink devices that run Android, such as the Onyx BOOX.

## How do I upload files to Reader?
You can upload a variety of different file types to Reader, including PDFs, EPUBs, and OPML files. To upload a file, drag it on top of the web app, or open the Upload dialog (keyboard shortcut: `U`) and select the file.

On mobile, use the "share" action from within your device's Files app and find the option in the share sheet labeled "Upload [file] to Reader".

## Can I save articles to Reader using a URL link?

Yes! Reader supports a URL-based save format that lets you add any publicly available web article to your library directly. Prepend the URL with `https://wise.readwise.io/save?url=` and the visit the full link to save the article to your Reader inbox, just like pressing `A` in Reader and pasting the URL manually.

For example: `https://wise.readwise.io/save?url=https://www.example.com/article`

This format works great as a [Raycast Quicklink](https://www.raycast.com/features/quicklinks), a custom search engine shortcut in your browser, or as a step in an automation workflow.

**Fun fact!** This is the method we use for the links we feature in our Weekly Wisereads newsletter that allow you to save the documents directly from inside the email.

## How do I add podcasts to Reader?
You can share a podcast link to Reader to save a high-quality transcript of the content in your Reader Library, which you can then [highlight](/reader/docs/faqs/highlights-tags-notes), [chat with](/reader/guides/ghostreader/chat), or use with any of Reader's other features.

To save a podcast on mobile, find an episode in your podcast player of choice (we currently support Spotify, Overcast, and Apple Podcasts) and use that app's share option to share the episode to Reader.

On web, you can add podcasts by copying the link and pasting it into Reader via the **Add URL** option (keyboard shortcut `A`).

If you subscribe to any podcasts [using RSS](/reader/docs/faqs/feed), you can manually trigger the transcription for each episode. To do so, use the **Load transcript** button at the top of the episode's content.

Podcasts are a distinct content type, and you can find all of the podcasts you've saved in the **Podcasts** section of your Library.

You can also use `category:podcast` or `type:podcast` in any [filtered view query](/reader/guides/filtering/syntax-guide) to include podcasts in that view.

We intentionally built this feature to allow Reader to be a *podcast companion*, rather than a full *podcast player*. You can read more about why we chose to build it this way in our [public beta update #13](https://readwise.io/reader/update-dec2025#%F0%9F%8E%99%EF%B8%8F-podcast-transcripts-beta).

## How do I save Twitter threads to Reader?