Focus Mode
Strip the web down to just the article. No sidebars, ads or noise. Pure text, perfect margins, your pace.
Browser extension · Free to install
The web has too much noise.
Focus gives you
silence.clarity.depth.understanding.presence.
Highlights, floating notes, a focus timer and a reading queue — all persistent, all local. The web reading tool for people who actually read.
Add to Chrome — Freeby The Arcaneum™ · 0.3 MB · No account needed
Featured on
See it work
Every tool you need, right where you read.
Turn any article into your personal research space. Highlight, annotate and save to your reading queue — all from one clean reader view.
Mark what matters in color, add tags and keep your markup organized.
Add notes, link passages and see the bigger picture right on the page. Watch your thinking take shape as a visual map of connected concepts.
Get accurate citations in APA, MLA and Chicago format right where you read. Copy them in one click — no switching tabs, no manual formatting.
Open any PDF and use the same highlights, notes and citations you use on web articles. PDFs saved on your computer need one setting: see the FAQ.
Reading, restored.
Turn any article into your personal research space. Highlight, annotate and save to your reading queue — all from one clean reader view.
Reader modeReading queue
Highlights with tags.
Mark what matters in color, add tags and keep your markup organized.
HighlightsTags
Notes that connect ideas.
Add notes, link passages and see the bigger picture right on the page. Watch your thinking take shape as a visual map of connected concepts.
Page notesString connections
Cite with ease.
Get accurate citations in APA, MLA and Chicago format right where you read. Copy them in one click — no switching tabs, no manual formatting.
APAMLAChicago
A PDF viewer that works the same way.
Open any PDF and use the same highlights, notes and citations you use on web articles. PDFs saved on your computer need one setting: see the FAQ.
PDF viewer
Features
Everything a serious reader needs. Nothing they don't.
Inline Highlights
Six color modes. Select any text, tap a color, done. Works on articles and PDFs.
Floating Notes
Drop notes exactly where they belong. Tether them to paragraphs with connector lines — like digital marginalia.
Focus Timer
Built-in Pomodoro timer. Set 5, 15, 25, 45 or 60 minute sessions without leaving the page.
Reading Queue
Save pages to read later from the popup. One click to open, one click to remove.
Persistent & Local
Everything stays in your browser. No account, no server, no accidental cloud wipe. Your data, your device.
Why we built this
Most reading tools are built for productivity.
Arcaneum Focus is built for understanding.
Speed counters and streak dashboards treat knowledge like a quota. We built something quieter — a reading layer that gets out of the way and lets thought happen.
Get started
Up and running in 60 seconds.
Three steps. No account, no setup.
01
EXTENSION STOREOpen the extension store
Focus installs directly from your browser's official extension store — no download, no account.
Add to Chrome — Free
02
INSTALLAdd it to your browser
- 1On the store page, click “Add to browser”.
- 2Confirm by clicking “Add extension”.
Access to all sites is what lets Focus work on any page you read.
Seeing “Proceed with caution”?
Chrome sometimes shows this for newer publishers. Arcaneum Focus is our first extension, so we have no track record yet. Focus has no accounts, no servers and no analytics, and everything you save stays on your computer. If you're comfortable, click “Continue to install”. If not, click “Close”.
Read the privacy policy
03
TOOLBARPin it for quick access
Pinning keeps the Focus icon one click away whenever you want to activate reader mode.
- 1Click the puzzle-piece Extensions icon in your toolbar.
- 2Find Arcaneum Focus and click the pin beside it.
Also works in Chrome, Edge, Brave and Arc.
FAQ
Questions, answered quietly.
Yes. Focus is free for students, educators and researchers, with no account and no catch. If you use it at work for a company, please write to licensing@thearcaneum.org for a commercial license.