Let’s face it—modern websites are bursting with content, ads, sidebars, popups, and other distractions that make it harder to focus on what’s important: the text. Whether you’re deep-diving into Reddit threads, scrolling through long-form journalism, or scanning dense academic papers, your browser might need a helping hand. That’s where browser extensions come in. There are countless tools out there, but today we’re diving into the lesser-known heroes that can significantly improve your reading experience on content-heavy websites.
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TL;DR
If you’re overwhelmed by cluttered pages while reading online, these nine underrated browser extensions will revolutionize how you consume content. From cleaner layouts and smarter navigation to custom styling and clutter removal, they’re ideal for Reddit, news sites, research portals, and long reads. You’ll find yourself reading faster, longer, and with greater comprehension. These tools don’t just make websites easier to read—they make them a joy to explore.
1. Just Read — One-Click Distraction Removal
Just Read lives up to its name: it allows you to strip away everything on a webpage except the content you want to read. With one click, it removes ads, comment sections, share buttons, and other distractions, rendering a clean, readable version of an article or post.
What sets Just Read apart from more well-known reader modes is its deep customizability. You can adjust fonts, background colors, and spacing, or even write your own CSS if you’re feeling ambitious.
- Great for: News websites, long-form blogs, cluttered article layouts
- Available for: Chrome, Firefox, Edge
2. Read Aloud — Turn Text Into Speech
Sometimes you want to absorb the information without having to stare at a screen. Read Aloud converts any readable web content into audio using text-to-speech technology. It supports multiple voices and languages, and you can control playback speed and pitch.
This is especially helpful when dealing with dense academic articles or long Reddit comment chains you’d rather listen to during a commute or walk.
- Great for: Reddit AMAs, research PDFs, blogs you don’t have time to read
- Available for: Chrome, Firefox, Edge
3. Mercury Reader — Clean, Elegant Viewing
Mercury Reader transforms any page into a clean reading format. While it’s similar to other “reader view” extensions, it shines because of its minimalism. You get an elegant, distraction-free format that improves readability without stripping away valuable content elements like inline images.
You can toggle between light and dark themes, select serif or sans-serif fonts, and print directly from the simplified view.
- Great for: Long reads from sites like Medium, NYT, The Atlantic
- Available for: Chrome
4. Outline — Instant Reader Mode for Any Article
Outline gives you an ad-free reading version of any article with a simple right-click. It’s particularly useful for bypassing distracting page elements on newspaper sites and blogs. While its functions overlap with Mercury Reader and Just Read, Outline also allows for permanent article links and citation exporting—a blessing for students and researchers.
- Great for: Academic research, creating citation-friendly articles
- Available for: Browser-based (works via right-click or manual URL input)
Note: Not all sites are Outline-friendly due to paywalls or permissions, but it works beautifully almost everywhere else.
5. Reddit Enhancement Suite (RES) — Supercharge Your Reddit Experience
While Reddit content is largely text-based, its chaotic thread structure and cluttered sidebars can disrupt your reading flow. RES is the ultimate Reddit toolkit, offering features like inline image viewing, comment collapsing, keyboard navigation, and much more. It dramatically improves readability while also unlocking powerful search and moderation tools.
- Great for: Long Reddit threads, AMA sessions, subreddit browsing
- Available for: Chrome, Firefox, Edge
6. Dark Reader — Reduce Eye Strain During Late Night Reads
Lots of text plus lots of screen time equals eye fatigue. Dark Reader inverts bright colors and adjusts contrast to create dark-themed versions of websites on-the-fly, instantly reducing eye strain. It’s highly configurable, and unlike other dark mode tools, it works well with dynamic sites and content-heavy platforms.
It’s especially useful for researchers burning the midnight oil or night owls catching up on news and Reddit.
- Great for: Academic research articles, Reddit, bright news sites
- Available for: Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari
7. Simplify — A Minimalist Makeover for Web Apps
Simplify strips down complex web platforms like Gmail, Google Calendar, and even some document viewers to their most essential features. It’s not just for email—it works surprisingly well with complex content platforms by removing UI distractions and giving content more breathing room.
Though not made specifically for readability, it creates an environment where focus is easier, especially when switching between research, note-taking, and reading tabs.
- Great for: Productivity-heavy websites, research note-journals, knowledge bases
- Available for: Chrome
8. Tranquility Reader — Offline, Clean, and Customizable
Tranquility Reader is a hidden gem that not only gives you a clutter-free reading format but also saves the simplified version of articles offline. You can revisit stored items later, making it perfect for those who go down research rabbit holes and want to backtrack easily.
Add custom styles, font adjustments, and even word count limitations to better manage your content intake.
- Great for: Offline reading, academic research, structured note-taking
- Available for: Chrome, Firefox
9. BeeLine Reader — Smart Formatting for Faster Reading
BeeLine Reader is based on a fascinating idea: use color gradients in text lines to help your eyes track content more efficiently. This technique improves readability and reading speed, especially for people with dyslexia or attention disorders.
While it might look unusual at first, many users find that it completely transforms the readability of long articles, research papers, and forums.
- Great for: Long-form content, Reddit discussion threads, academic pages
- Available for: Chrome, Firefox
Start Reading Smarter
Reading long-form, information-dense content online doesn’t have to be frustrating. With the right browser extensions, you can convert even the most cluttered site into a pleasure to navigate and digest. The tools above may not have the same name recognition as Pocket or Instapaper, but their capabilities can dramatically improve the way you interact with online words.
So if you’re someone who spends hours scouring through Reddit, processing academic papers, or just trying to keep up with endless articles, give these extensions a spin. You might just fall in love with reading online again.