QuickReadMac › Guide: shortcuts, modes, and how to actually read faster
The QuickReadMac guide
Start reading in four seconds
- Select text in any app — Safari, Chrome, Mail, Notes, Preview.
- Press ⌃⌘R (Control-Command-R).
- The reader opens and starts.
You can also right-click the selection and choose Services ▸ Read Selection with QuickReadMac. In Finder, right-click a PDF or Word file and choose Read File with QuickReadMac, or use Open With.
Keyboard shortcuts
| Shortcut | What it does |
|---|---|
| ⌃⌘R | Read the selected text — works in any app, needs no special permission |
| ⌥Space | Capture the selection via the global hotkey (requires Accessibility permission) |
| Space | Play / pause |
| ⌘F | Full screen — the interface disappears, only the words remain |
| Esc | Step back: close a panel → leave full screen → close the reader |
| ⌘, | Settings |
The four reading modes
Focus (RSVP)
Words are flashed one at a time in the centre of the screen. One letter — the Optimal Recognition Point — is highlighted, and that letter stays pinned to the same spot for every word. Your eyes stop travelling, and the time they used to spend jumping between words is simply removed. This is where the biggest speed gains come from. Start around 300 WPM and push up.
Flow
The whole text stays on the page. The words you're on brighten, everything else fades, and a reading ruler slides down with you. Better for material you need to think about, or when you want to see the structure of the page.
Spotlight
Only the active words are lit; everything else goes almost black. Use it when you cannot stop your eyes wandering.
Bionic
The whole text stays exactly where it is, with the opening letters of every word set in bold. Your eye lands on a fixed anchor per word and your brain completes the rest — nothing moves, so it suits documentation, contracts and anything you need to skim back through. Set the fixation strength to Light, Medium or Strong in settings, and switch on bionic emphasis in Flow & Spotlight if you want the anchors while a mode is still pacing you. See the bionic reading guide for the detail, including what the research does and doesn't support.
Settings worth changing
- Speed (25–1200 WPM). Dense contract? Drop to 150. Newsletter? 600+.
- Words at a time (1–4). One word is classic RSVP. Two or more shows a centred phrase — the ORP highlight turns off, because pinning a letter is only meaningful for a single word.
- Word transition (Hard / Soft / Slow). Hard is an instant swap; Soft cross-fades so each word visibly arrives; Slow adds a gentle zoom.
- Bionic fixation strength. Light (about a third of the word), Medium (about half) or Strong (about two thirds), with a live sample so you can pick by eye.
- Theme. Seven of them, including Sepia and a very dim Night theme for reading in the dark.
- Text-to-speech. Off by default. Turn it on and the text is read aloud with a voice matched to the language it detects — Turkish text gets a Turkish voice, German text a German one.
Who gets the most out of it
- Students and researchers — papers and textbooks that have to be got through.
- Lawyers, analysts, consultants — long documents where skimming isn't safe.
- Developers — documentation, RFCs, changelogs, post-mortems.
- People reading in a second language — one word at a time is far less intimidating than a wall of foreign text, and it can read it aloud in that language.
An honest word about speed reading
RSVP genuinely removes the eye movement between words, and that is real time saved — most people comfortably read faster with it after a few sessions. It is not magic. Comprehension of difficult material still costs what it costs, and no technique makes you absorb a dense proof at 900 words a minute. Use the speed control: fast where you can, slow where you must. Try it free for a week and judge with your own eyes.
Which Macs are supported
QuickReadMac runs on macOS 13 Ventura or later, on both Apple silicon (M1, M2, M3, M4) and Intel Macs. It ships as one universal app, signed with an Apple Developer ID and notarized by Apple, so it opens without any security warning.