Put Chrome Reading Mode Back in the Side Panel
By ON Lab · Sources checked November 6, 2026
Inside desktop Chrome’s reading mode, choose Settings → View → Side panel. Google’s current instructions say Chrome saves this view preference. Use the controls within reading mode, rather than Chrome’s general Appearance settings.
Open a text page in reading mode
Open the webpage you want to read, right-click the page and select Open in reading mode. Google also documents More → More tools → Reading mode as another route. The current help page describes an immersive full-screen view when reading mode opens.
Choose the side panel view
In reading mode, open Settings, choose View, then Side panel. Google says the browser saves the preference. The same help page documents dragging the panel border left to make the reading area bigger.
Our suggested check is to compare the text you are reading with the original webpage. For example, if you are following an article while referring to its illustrations, confirm that you can see the parts you need in the two views. Decide the panel width from that task rather than assuming the widest view is always better.
Check the preference after reopening
As an editorial verification step, close reading mode, reopen it on the same supported page, and note whether the side panel is used. Then try another ordinary text article. A result on one page should not be treated as evidence that all sites behave identically.
If the setting does not appear where described, record your Chrome version and which menu you opened. A useful report distinguishes “I cannot find View inside reading mode” from “I changed View, but it did not stay after reopening.” Those observations lead to a more specific follow-up than simply reporting that reading mode is broken.
When text is missing
Google says reading mode does not support every website or format. Its troubleshooting instructions suggest highlighting the relevant content on the original page if the text is not found. A missing passage remains an unresolved extraction issue; changing the view does not establish that the passage was recovered.
For a page whose normal content simply needs enlarging, use the separate page zoom and font-size settings. Reading-mode settings apply to that reading text, not to all other Chrome content.
Scope: desktop reading-mode view selection checked against Google’s documentation. We have not tested your browser profile or promised that changing the view fixes missing text, unavailable mobile features, or audio that will not play.