Skip to content
All docs

Guides

Read Later

Purpose of Read Later

Read Later is your personal reading queue: articles, videos, podcasts, and documents you intend to finish—not just skim. Unlike feeds (publisher-driven), Read Later is you-driven. You choose what enters the queue and when it leaves.

Press ⌘2 on macOS to jump to Read Later, or ⌘⌥L to switch the sidebar into Read Later mode.

How items enter the queue

Common capture paths:

  • Save to Read Later — actions palette (⌘⇧A) or share extension
  • From feeds — save while triaging without marking the feed item “done” for your purposes
  • Quick Add (⌘N) — when configured to target Read Later
  • Import — documents and imports may land here by type

Remove from Read Later (palette) returns an item to a non-queue state without deleting the card.

Collections and filters

The sidebar exposes curated collections—filtered views over the same queue:

CollectionTypical use
In ProgressPartially read long pieces
ReadCompleted queue items
ArchivedCleared from active queue, retained
HighlightsItems with reader highlights
BooksEPUB and long-form book-like items
PDFsPDF documents in the queue
MarkdownMarkdown files
StatisticsReading stats for queue activity

Open any collection from the sidebar or Command palette (⌘K) → “Go to In Progress”, “Go to PDFs”, etc.

Starred Read Later

⌘4 jumps to Starred Read Later—important items within the queue. This differs from:

  • Starred feed articles (Feeds mode, starred articles collection)
  • Starred bookmarks (Bookmarks mode)

Use stars (⌘⇧S) to float priority items within whichever list you are viewing.

Read states and habits

Healthy queue habits:

  1. Capture freely — Share extension and Quick Add lower friction
  2. Triage weekly — Triage layout + In Progress to resume or archive
  3. Mark read deliberately — ⌘E when done, not when merely opening
  4. Archive instead of hoarding — palette Archive clears active lists without delete

Mark all as read (⌘⇧R) applies to the current list context—use carefully on Unread-style views.

Move and organize

Move… (⌘⇧M) transfers items between Bookmarks folders, Read Later collections, or related destinations depending on context. The catalog title is Move…, not “Move to folder”.

Combine Manage Tags… (⌘⇧T) with smart lists for cross-cutting views (e.g. all tagged research across Read Later).

Media in the queue

YouTube and podcast cards can play in the reader. PDFs and EPUBs open with document-appropriate chrome. See Reading Tools and Documents.

Sync

Read Later metadata—read position, stars, tags, archive state—syncs via iCloud. Large file bytes for imports may remain device-local; see Documents guide.

Next steps