Readwise Reader Setup Guide: Articles, Newsletters & Highlights
Set up Readwise Reader in 15 minutes to collect articles, newsletters, PDFs, ebooks and videos in one place - with highlights that sync across all your devices.
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Readwise Reader collects everything you want to read in one place: articles, newsletters, PDFs, ebooks and videos, while Readwise ensures your highlights never get lost in bookmarks. Setup takes fifteen minutes, and three things matter most: the browser extension, your newsletter email address, and importing highlights from Kindle.
These steps are based on official Readwise documentation and the “Getting Started with Reader” guide from the product blog.
Before You Start: Decide What Goes to Reader
Reader can collect everything, and that’s both its greatest strength and its biggest risk. Before you begin, decide what should go to your library versus your feed. A good rule: only things you definitely want to read go in the library, while newsletters and feeds you browse go in the feed. Without this division, after a month your library will have three hundred items and turn into another guilt list.
Also review your newsletter list before moving them to Reader. It’s a good time to unsubscribe from ones you haven’t opened in months.
Where Reader Works
Reader works in your browser, in iPhone and Android apps, on Windows and macOS computers, and as an extension for Chrome, Firefox, Safari and Chromium-based browsers. Everything syncs across devices, so an article you save in the morning on your computer, you read in the evening on your phone.
Import What You Already Have
The documentation recommends starting by importing from places where you’ve been saving texts, for example from Pocket, Instapaper or Feedly. This way you don’t start with an empty inbox and immediately see how comfortable it is to read familiar articles in Reader.
Browser Extension
According to Readwise, this is the best way to save content. You install the extension, pin it to your toolbar, and when you find an interesting article, you click the icon or press Alt + R. Reader saves a readable copy of the text without ads and pop-ups. The extension saves what the browser has already displayed, so it works better than just pasting a URL.
With the same extension, you can highlight passages directly on the page. Highlights sync with Reader in both directions.
Email Address for Newsletters
Each account gets two unique email addresses. One goes to your library, meaning things you definitely want to read. The second goes to your feed, which you browse and select from. Readwise recommends the feed address for newsletter subscriptions, and the library address for individual documents. You’ll find the addresses in your account settings.
You can subscribe to newsletters with the new address or set up automatic forwarding in Gmail. Reader will automatically confirm forwarding verification. Your email inbox stops being a reader, and newsletters wait in one place with your articles.
Highlights from Kindle
Readwise imports highlights from Kindle, Apple Books, Instapaper, Pocket, Medium, Goodreads, and even from paper books. After connecting your Amazon account, Kindle highlights import automatically and new ones are added as you continue reading. If your email address in Readwise is different from your Kindle address, the app will ask for your Kindle email.
Daily Review
This is the feature that sets Readwise apart from ordinary reading apps. Daily review reminds you of your best highlights at appropriate intervals, using the principle of spaced repetition. With each highlight, you can keep it, dismiss it, or mark it as mastered. You set the reminder frequency yourself.
YouTube Videos as Text
Reader also saves YouTube videos along with transcripts. You can read a video instead of watching it, highlight important sentences and return to them in your review. For lectures and interviews, this is a big time saver.
First Week Plan
- Day 1: extension and import old bookmarks.
- Day 2: move three newsletters to your feed address.
- Day 3: connect Kindle.
- Following days: five minutes daily for review and organizing your library.
How to Evaluate Your First Month
After a month, check two things. How many saved articles you actually read, because if it’s less than half, you’re saving too much. And whether daily review reminds you of things you want to remember. If it mainly shows random sentences, highlight less but more purposefully.
After a week, it’s also worth reviewing your library and archiving everything you didn’t read and won’t read. Reader doesn’t punish you for cleaning up, and a smaller library more easily becomes a list of things you actually reach for. A regular time for such review works well, for example Sunday evening.
If you read mainly on your phone, install the mobile app right away, and use the share button in your phone’s browser to save articles. Reader will save the article just like the extension on your computer, and you’ll read it when you have a moment.
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