Utilities
Bionic Reading
Convert any text to Bionic Reading format - the first part of each word is bolded to anchor your eyes and help you read faster.
Plain text version uses ALL CAPS for the bold portion (for apps that don't support HTML).
About bionic reading
Paste text and every word is shown with its first half in bold: one letter of a two-letter word, two of a four-letter word, three of a five or six-letter word, and so on. Numbers and symbols stay as they are. Copy HTML gives you the markup with <b> tags, for a web page or an editor's HTML view. Copy plain text is for places without formatting and writes the bold part in capitals instead. The idea comes from Bionic Reading®, a method and app developed in Switzerland and protected by patents and trademarks. This page is an independent converter with a simple rule of its own, bolding half of each word. It isn't the official algorithm and isn't connected to the company behind it. Does it help you read faster? Three recent studies say no. In a 2024 study in Acta Psychologica titled No, Bionic Reading does not work, Joshua Snell timed readers on 100 paragraphs and found no difference between bionic and normal text. A 2025 eye-tracking study by T. R. Beelders found no change in fixation times, fixation counts or reading speed, and a 2025 study in Sage Open found reading actually took longer in the bionic format. If you simply like how it looks on screen, there's no harm in using it.
Frequently asked questions
Is bionic reading proven to help?
No. Snell's 2024 study found no difference in reading times, Beelders' 2025 eye-tracking study found the same fixations and reading speed with and without the bold letters, and a 2025 study in Sage Open found bionic text took longer to read. Researchers have called for more testing, including with readers who have dyslexia or ADHD.
Can I export to PDF?
Not directly. Select the formatted preview on the page, copy it and paste it into Google Docs or Word, which keeps the bold, then export or print to PDF from there. Copy HTML gives you tags rather than formatted text, so it isn't the right button for this.
Why are some words not bolded?
Only runs of letters get bolded, so numbers, symbols and emoji stay regular. A letter with an accent at the start or end of a word can also break the pattern, leaving part of that word in regular weight.
Can I use the bold version in an email or document?
Copy the preview itself rather than using the buttons: select it, copy and paste into your email or document, and most editors keep the bold. Copy plain text is the fallback for apps that strip formatting, with capitals standing in for bold.