Let’s Distill Web Pages With Chrome

By | October 2, 2019
Print Friendly, PDF & Email

 

 

Let’s Distill Web Pages With Chrome

I bet someone saw the word “distill” and was hoping we were going to include instructions on building a homemade still.  But we’re not going to distill whiskey – or even vodka here… we’re going to distill web pages.

I’ve used a lot of extensions to rid web pages of clutter and make the text easier to read, but I don’t believe I’ve ever seen one that works as well or as quickly as does “Toggle distilled page contents” (Reader mode) in Chrome.

How many of you have ever noticed the “Toggle distilled page contents” option in Chrome?

Toggle Distilled in Chrome - Cloudeight Chrome Tips

Probably not.  It has to be enabled first. To enable “Reader mode” (“Toggle distilled page contents”) open Chrome, type (or copy & paste) the following into Chrome’s address bar and then press Enter.

chrome://flags/#enable-reader-mode

Once you enable “Reader mode” restart Chrome and you’ll see “Toggle distilled page contents” is in the list when you click the Settings (3 vertical dots) icon in the top-right corner of Chrome.

When you are on a Web page and you toggle distilled page contents, the page content will much easier to read.

Here are some screenshots of undistilled and distilled web pages so you’ll have an idea of what to expect.

USA Today - Not Distilled - Chrome Tips by Cloudeight
Above: A story in “USA Today” not distilled.

USA Today - Not Distilled - Chrome Tips by Cloudeight
And the “USA Today” story distilled.

MSN Story - Not Distilled - Cloudeight Chrome tips
Above: An MSN story – not distilled.

MSN Story - Not Distilled - Cloudeight Chrome tips
Above: MSN Distilled

And one of our own - Chrome tips by Cloudeight
Above & Below: Our stuff distilled. 

And one of our own - Chrome tips by Cloudeight

The next time you encounter a web page filled with advertising, unrelated images, and distractions, try toggling “distilled page contents”.  I’ll bet you find the page much easier to read.

 

 

13 thoughts on “Let’s Distill Web Pages With Chrome

  1. Kathy

    This is so cool!
    I look forward to comparing it with another program you recommended: Print Friendly & PDF.

    Reply
  2. Richard Raszkiewicz

    Thank You both so very much for this tip. I try almost every one of your tip-n-tricks, this one is very, very helpful. My “Polish memory-chips” will remember and use this frequently.
    God Bless+.
    Rich

    Reply
    1. Thomas Garrett

      I just updated to chrome 79, and windows 10 1909. I cannot find toggle distilled page or reader page on the flags web page. Possible they did away with it?

      Reply
        1. Thomas Garrett

          Thank you. I installed the just read extension before reading your replay. Since its already installed I’ll use it and see how it is. You guys are great, I learn so much from you.
          Tom

          Reply
  3. Virginia Borders

    Thanks for your reply to Thomas, I was unable to find that extension using the earlier link! Now I’ve got it with that newer link, you guys are the best.

    Reply

Leave a Reply to Thomas Garrett Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *