Note Reading Time

See how long the note in front of you takes to read, in the status bar.

Select a paragraph and the status bar switches to the time for just that selection ("1 min (selection)"). Hover it for the word count and the speed behind the number, or click it to see the same as a notice, which also works on mobile through the Show the reading time of this note or selection command.

What counts as reading

The estimate is for the text a person reads, not for everything in the file:

• Front matter (the properties block), comments (%% … %% and <!-- … -->), code blocks, math and link addresses are skipped. The text of a link counts, and so does the alias of a wikilink.
• Chinese, Japanese and Korean are counted by character, since they have no spaces to count words by (400 characters per minute by default).
• Images can add time: set Seconds per image if you want them to.
• Code blocks can be counted from the settings.

Time left as you read

Scroll down a note in Reading view and the status bar switches from the total to what is left from where you are, for example 4 min left · 62%. At the top of the note it shows the total, as before. The time left uses the same rules and reading speed as the total, and the percent is the share of the reading time already behind you. A selection still shows its own time.

• Show time left while reading is on by default for Reading view.
• Show time left in the editor does the same in Live Preview and Source mode. It is off by default.
• Time left text sets the wording: {time} is the time left and {percent} how much you have read.
• Show a progress bar adds a thin bar at the top of the note that fills as you read. It is off by default.

Settings

Setting	Default	What it does
Reading speed	230 wpm	Words per minute for alphabetic scripts.
Chinese, Japanese and Korean speed	400	Characters per minute for those scripts.
Seconds per image	0	Time added for each embedded image.
Count code blocks	off	Count the words inside code blocks.
Show in the status bar	on	Turn the status bar entry off if you only want the commands.
Time format	5 min	5 min or 1 h 5 min, 5 min 30 s, or 5:30.
Status bar text	{time} read	{time} is the duration: Reading: {time} works too.
Text for a selection	{time} (selection)	Shown instead while text is selected.
Show time left while reading	on	Reading view: the status bar shows the time left once you scroll down.
Show time left in the editor	off	The same in Live Preview and Source mode.
Time left text	{time} left · {percent}%	{time} is the time left, {percent} how much you have read.
Show a progress bar	off	A thin bar at the top of the note that fills as you read.
Property name	reading-time	The note property the commands below fill in.

Commands

Command	What it does
Show the reading time of this note or selection	A notice with the words, characters, images, time and speed.
Save the reading time to this note's properties	Writes the minutes to the reading-time property, so you can sort or filter notes by it in Bases or Dataview. It only edits the file if the number changed.
Save the reading time to the properties of every note	The same for the whole vault, after asking first. Notes that already have the right number are not touched.

The property is never written unless you run a command: nothing in this plugin edits your notes by itself.

Coming from Reading Time

This plugin does what Reading Time does and adds selections, reading view, Chinese, Japanese and Korean, front matter and comment handling, images, a configurable format and the property commands. On first run it copies that plugin's reading speed and text, and Settings → Import from Reading Time does it again at any time. Turn the old plugin off, or the status bar will show two entries.

Installation

In Obsidian, open Settings → Community plugins → Browse and search for "Note Reading Time".

More plugins by Siulved54

Plugin	What it does	Source
Shared Blocks	Write a block of text once and reuse it in any note. Edit the source and every reference re-renders live.	shared-blocks
Text Case and Cleanup	Change case, make camelCase or slugs, sort lines and remove duplicates, and repair text pasted out of a PDF, without touching code or URLs.	text-format
Typography as You Type	Curly quotes, dashes and ellipses as you type, kept out of code and maths, with Backspace to take one back.	smart-typography-plugin
Section Numbering	Number headings as an outline (1, 1.1, 1.2) and keep every link to them working when they renumber.	section-numbering
Spreadsheet to Table	Paste cells from Excel or Google Sheets as a Markdown table with a real header, insert CSV files, and copy tables back out.	spreadsheet-to-table
Hybrid Line Numbers	Relative and hybrid line numbers for Vim-style jumps, where a folded section counts as one line.	hybrid-line-numbers
List Item Callouts	Colour a single list item as a callout by starting it with a character such as &, ! or ?.	list-item-callouts
Folder Counts	See how many notes or files each folder holds, right in the file explorer, with a vault total and folder exclusions.	folder-counts
Task Rollover	Roll unfinished tasks from your last daily note into today's when it is created, with a real undo.	task-rollover
Zoom Into Section	Zoom into a heading or list item to see only it and its contents, with a breadcrumb bar to climb back out.	zoom-into-section
Link Title on Paste	Paste a web address and get a Markdown link with the page's title, fetched in the background and undone in one step.	link-title-on-paste
Update Radar	Checks your installed community plugins for updates in the background, shows what changed, and flags the ones that look abandoned.	community-update-checker
Dataview to Bases	Convert Dataview queries into Bases blocks, and see which queries in your vault can be converted.	dataview-to-bases
Line Editing Commands	Duplicate, join, sort and reverse lines, insert blank lines and jump to a line number, with multi-cursor support.	line-editing-commands
Note Mover Rules	Move notes into folders by ordered rules on tags, properties, titles and paths, with a preview before any bulk move.	note-mover-rules
Tab History	Keeps each tab's back and forward history across restarts, and adds commands to move, maximize and close tabs.	tab-history
URL Cards	Shows web addresses as cards with title, description and image, and reads existing cardlink blocks.	url-cards
Vim Config	Loads a vimrc-style file from your vault so your key mappings and editor commands are ready when vim mode starts.	vim-config
Task Archive	Moves completed tasks, with their sub-items, into an archive section or note.	task-archive

All of them are in the community directory: Settings -> Community plugins -> Browse, then search for the name.

License

MIT