Make Your Kindle Easier to Read

If you have a Kindle and it still doesn’t feel quite perfect for reading, this video is for you.

A lot of people will use their Kindle with the default settings that come with the device out of the box. The problem is, these default settings aren’t the most comfortable for longer reading sessions.

Today, I want to tell you about four Kindle settings that will help your device feel more comfortable. These are simple settings that are easy and quick to change.

🔠 Font

Changing your font is the biggest single change you can make to how comfortable reading feels. The great thing is that tweaking these settings takes less than thirty seconds.

By tapping the top of your Kindle, you can access the “Aa” button. You will see tabs for Themes, Font, Layout and More, but for this part, we will head into the Font tab.

Starting with the font family, Kindles come with nine default options. If you’re finding reading a big tiring, I’d suggest trying Bookerly or Amazon Ember, which have both been designed with Kindle screens in mind. They tend to work well for reading comfort over longer reading sessions.

Moving on to boldness, which is one that most people overlook. Bumping this up just one level can make the text appear more solid and easier to track across the page.

It is also possible to adjust the font size. The aim here is to avoid any reading where we are having to squint to track the text. I tend to find that when I’ve found the perfect font, I feel in a flow with my reading, while avoiding changing the page every few seconds.

And finally, spacing. You can adjust the line, paragraph, word and character spacing. I keep my line spacing at a level one, then my paragraph, word and character spacing at zero, as a personal preference for reading comfort.

📖Layout

Staying in the same “Aa” menu, we are moving onto Layout.

There are two things worth adjusting here: margins and alignment.

Margins control how close the text gets to the edge of the screen. There are three options to choose from, starting with your text on the edge of the screen, to a more centralised and compact text format. A smaller margin is similar to reading a standard physical book, but it is possible to find comfort in a wider margin.

It’s worth knowing about alignment, too. The default is justified, where the text stretches to fill the full line. Some people find this easier to read; others find it creates awkward spacing between words. If you don’t like that spacing, then try switching to left alignment and see which you prefer.

💡Brightness & Warmth

This one will especially help your reading feel more comfortable in the evenings, or if you ever find your eyes feeling a bit strained after a longer reading session.

Swipe down from the top of your Kindle screen to access the brightness and warmth sliders.

A higher brightness at night can lead to your eyes feeling strained, so reducing this can make a real difference.

Also, most newer Kindle models have the ability to adjust the warm light level. It shifts the screen from a blue-white light to a warmer amber tone. It's much easier on the eyes in the evening, and it's closer to the feel of reading by a lamp rather than a screen.

I keep my warm light fairly high across the day because it makes my reading experience more comfortable. Once you get used to it, going back to the cold white screen feels almost harsh.

⏳ Sleep Timer

Last one, and this is a small thing, but it’s surprisingly satisfying once you’ve set it right.

The sleep timer controls how long your Kindle can stay inactive before it puts itself to sleep. The default is quite quick, which can be quite annoying if you’re someone who likes to make notes as you read, pause to think, or take occasional breaks.

You can find it in Settings, then Device Options, then Sleep Timer. I have mine set to thirty minutes. It's long enough that my Kindle doesn't switch off if I'm making a note, but short enough that it's not draining the battery when I put it down.

A simple change that removes the risk of being interrupted, which can impact your reading sessions.

💭Closing Thoughts

Those are four settings that can quickly make your Kindle easier to read.

They aren’t buried or complicated, and they make a genuine difference to how comfortable your Kindle is to read.

You can check out the video all about this topic on my YouTube channel below:

Do you have any favourite Kindle or e-reader settings that make reading easier? I'd love to hear your thoughts at Hello@charliesamways.com.

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