The way to read faster is to cut wasted time, not understanding, which means rereading less, keeping a steady pace, reading with a clear goal and reading more often.
At a Glance
- Measure your real speed first so you know where you are starting
- Match your speed to the material instead of chasing one number
- Use a pacer, like a finger or a one word at a time reader, to stop drifting
- Read more, because a bigger vocabulary makes every page faster
Start With Your Real Number
You cannot improve what you do not measure. Before you change anything, find out how fast you read right now, and how much you understand at that speed.
The free reading speed test gives you a short passage, times you, then asks a few questions. Your effective score is your speed adjusted for how many answers you got right. That is the number to track. A fast score with poor answers is not a win.
For a sense of scale, a large 2019 review of 190 reading studies put the average adult at about 238 words a minute for nonfiction (Brysbaert 2019). If you land near there, you are normal, and there is room to grow. Our full breakdown is in what is the average reading speed.
Find Out Why You Read Slowly
Slow reading usually has one or two causes that you can fix. Notice which ones sound like you.
- Drifting. Your eyes keep going while your mind wanders. Then you go back and read the same lines again.
- Saying every word. Your inner voice reads at full speaking speed, word by word.
- Distractions. A buzzing phone or a busy room breaks your focus every few minutes.
- Unfamiliar words or topics. You slow down because the material is new to you. This is normal, not a flaw.
The first three are habits. The last one only gets better with time and more reading.
Seven Ways That Actually Work
- Know why you are reading. Before you start, decide what you want from the text. A fact, an idea, a story. When you know what you want, you can move faster through the parts that do not matter to you.
- Preview first. On nonfiction, read the headings, the first paragraph and the last paragraph before you start. You will read the rest faster because you know where it is going.
- Use a pacer. Move a finger or a pen under the line at a steady speed. It keeps your eyes moving forward and cuts down on going back.
- Try a one word at a time reader. Rot Reader shows words in one spot at a speed you set. It is a pacer that also removes eye travel. Read what is RSVP reading to see where it helps and where it does not.
- Quiet the inner voice a little. Do not try to silence it. Just read slightly faster than you talk so it stops saying every small word. More on this in how to stop subvocalizing.
- Remove distractions. Put your phone in another room. Close other tabs. This one change often beats any technique.
- Read more, and read widely. Every new word you know is one less word that slows you down. This is slow, but it is the most reliable way to get faster. A 2016 review of the science said language skill is at the heart of reading speed (Rayner and team, 2016).
Match Your Speed to the Material
Good readers do not have one speed. They shift gears. A light novel can go fast. A lease, a lab report or a page of instructions should go slow.
| Material | Good approach |
|---|---|
| News and blogs | Preview, then read quickly for the main points |
| Light fiction | A steady pace, a little above your normal speed |
| Work email and reports | Skim for what you need to do, then read those parts closely |
| Textbooks | Preview, then read slowly and stop to sum up each section |
| Contracts | Slow and careful. Read every word |
What Does Not Work
Some popular advice will waste your time.
- Eye exercises that promise to widen your vision. The sharp part of your vision, the fovea, covers only about the central two degrees of what you see. Drills do not make it bigger.
- Reading a page at a glance. Claims that you can absorb a page by looking at it have not held up when tested. The 2016 review found it unlikely that readers can double or triple their speed, say from 250 to 500 or 750 words a minute, and still understand as well (Rayner and team, 2016).
- Banning all rereading. In one 2014 study, readers who could not look back at words they had passed understood less (Psychological Science, 2014).
- Cranking an app to 800 words a minute on day one. You will watch words go by and keep almost nothing.
If you want the longer version of why, see is speed reading real.
A Simple Two Week Plan
Fifteen minutes a day is enough. Use easy material, like a novel you enjoy. Rot Reader has a shelf of free public domain books if you need one.
- Day 1. Take the speed test and write down your effective score.
- Days 2 to 5. Read for 15 minutes with a pacer or a reader set 25 to 50 words a minute above your score. After each session, say out loud what happened.
- Days 6 to 10. If you could sum up every session, raise the pace by another 25 words a minute. If you could not, lower it.
- Days 11 to 13. Try the same pace on everyday reading, like articles and email, without a tool.
- Day 14. Take the speed test again. Compare the effective score, not the raw one.
Any gain in effective score that holds on the retest is a real result. Keep reading every day and it tends to stick.
Questions
How can I read faster and still remember what I read?
Read with a clear goal, preview the text first and keep your speed only a little above your normal pace. Stop to sum up each section. Raise the speed only when you can still recall what you read.
How long does it take to read faster?
Small gains can show up within a couple of weeks of daily practice, mostly from fewer distractions and steadier focus. Lasting gains come over months of reading more, because language skill drives reading speed.
Is a pacer really helpful?
For many readers, yes. A finger, a pen or a one word at a time reader keeps your eyes moving forward and cuts down on drifting and going back.
What is a good reading speed?
For adults reading nonfiction silently, about 238 words a minute is average, based on a 2019 review of 190 studies. Our speed test calls 250 to 400 with good answers fast.
Should I read everything fast?
No. Read light material quickly and slow down for contracts, instructions, textbooks and anything where a missed word matters.
Sources
- Brysbaert, M. (2019). How many words do we read per minute? A review and meta-analysis of reading rate. Journal of Memory and Language, 109. doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2019.104047
- Rayner, K., Schotter, E. R., Masson, M. E. J., Potter, M. C. and Treiman, R. (January 14, 2016). So Much to Read, So Little Time. How Do We Read, and Can Speed Reading Help? Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 17(1), 4 to 34. doi.org/10.1177/1529100615623267
- Schotter, E. R., Tran, R. and Rayner, K. (2014). Don’t Believe What You Read (Only Once). Comprehension Is Supported by Regressions During Reading. Psychological Science, 25(6), 1218 to 1226. doi.org/10.1177/0956797614531148
- Fovea centralis, Wikipedia, for how small the sharp center of vision is. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fovea_centralis
All sources were opened and checked on October 17, 2026. Photos are from Wikimedia Commons under the licenses named in each caption.
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