If you stumble across a fascinating, 10,000-word article but do not have time to read it right now, you usually have two options: leave the browser tab open indefinitely (which consumes RAM), or add it to your bookmarks folder (where it often gets forgotten forever). To solve this problem, Google introduced a dedicated “Reading List” feature directly into Chrome.
Unlike standard bookmarks, the Reading List is designed to be a temporary staging ground for articles. It tracks which items you have finished reading and even caches the text so you can read them later when you are offline.
How to Add an Article to the Reading List
- Open Google Chrome and navigate to an article you wish to save.
- Look at the far-right side of your URL address bar. You will see a standard star icon (used for bookmarking) and an icon right next to it that looks like a small square with a side panel. This is the Side panel icon.
- Instead of clicking the side panel icon, right-click the empty space directly on the tab at the top of your screen.
- Select Add tab to reading list from the dropdown menu.
Alternatively, if you are reading a webpage and see a hyperlink to a different article that you want to save, simply right-click the hyperlink and select “Add link to reading list.”
How to Access and Manage Your List
To view your saved articles, you must open the dedicated Side panel.
- Click the Side panel icon located to the right of your address bar (or click the three-dot menu, go to Bookmarks and lists, and select Reading list).
- A panel will slide open on the right side of your browser window.
- Ensure the dropdown menu at the top of this panel is set to Reading list (not Bookmarks or History).
The panel is divided into two distinct sections: Unread and Pages you’ve read.
When you click an article from the “Unread” section, Chrome will load the page. If you finish reading the article, hover your mouse over the title in the side panel and click the small Checkmark icon to instantly move it to the “Pages you’ve read” archive. If you decide the article wasn’t worth your time, click the X (Delete) icon to permanently remove it from the list.