A free teleprompter for PC, Mac and laptop

If you search for a teleprompter app for Windows or Mac, you'll find desktop programs to download, Chrome extensions and web tools. A browser-based teleprompter is the quickest of the three: there is nothing to install or update, it works the same on every operating system, and you can open it on a borrowed laptop in seconds.

On a Mac you also have the choice of a native app: EasyPrompter is free on the Mac App Store, with the menu bar, Mac keyboard shortcuts and the same account and scripts as the browser version. See the teleprompter app for Mac.

EasyPrompter is a free teleprompter that runs in your browser on any computer. This guide explains how to start, how full screen and the keyboard shortcuts work, how to set up a laptop webcam so you look at the camera while you read, and how to use a second monitor.

No download: it runs in your browser

EasyPrompter works in any modern browser: Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Safari and Firefox. That covers Windows PCs, Macs, Chromebooks and Linux laptops. There's no installer, and the free teleprompter needs no account.

The free version is the full prompter: smooth scrolling from 40 to 320 words per minute, the amber reading line, the 3-2-1 countdown, loop, mirror and flip for beam-splitter glass, six reading fonts, your own colors and sizes, keyboard or Bluetooth remote control, and eye contact with your webcam. It holds one script at a time and doesn't save it, so the script is gone when you close the page. Keep your own copy of anything you'll need again.

EasyPrompter Pro, from €5.75/month billed yearly, adds saved and synced scripts, as many scripts as you like, recording yourself while you read, the script editor, the AI script writer, remote control from another device and installing EasyPrompter as an app. See pricing for the details.

Get started in a minute

1. Go to studio.easyprompter.app. On a wide screen the editor has three columns: scripts on the left, your text in the middle and every prompter setting in the right sidebar.
2. Paste your script with Ctrl+V (Cmd+V on a Mac), or type it in. The word count and estimated reading time appear under the text.
3. In the right sidebar, set the scroll speed, font size, colors, side margins and reading line position. Changes apply straight away and your browser remembers them.
4. Press Start prompter, then press Space or click the text. After the countdown the text scrolls past the reading line.
5. Press Space to pause, and Esc to leave. The complete user guide explains every screen.

Full screen on a computer

You don't need to press F11 or find a full-screen button. When you press Start prompter, EasyPrompter switches the browser to full screen on its own, and it asks again each time you press play after a pause.

• Leave full screen with Esc. The prompter stays open in its window and, if it was rolling, keeps scrolling. Press Esc again to go back to the editor.
• Pick the monitor first. Full screen opens on the display the browser window is on, so drag the window to the screen you want before you press Start.
• Windowed instead. If you want the prompter in a small window next to another app, for example under the webcam during a call, start it, press Esc once the text is rolling, and size the window. The teleprompter for Zoom guide walks through that layout.

With Pro you can also install EasyPrompter in Chrome or Edge, so it opens in its own window from your dock, Start menu or app list, without the browser's address bar and tabs.

Keyboard shortcuts

On a computer the keyboard is the fastest way to drive the prompter. These keys work while the prompter is open. In the editor, keys type into your script as normal.

A mouse wheel or a two-finger swipe on a trackpad moves the text by hand, which is handy for going back a line. Mac keyboards without Home or Page Up keys can use Fn with the arrow keys, or the back-to-top button in the control bar.

Read near the webcam

Most people use a laptop teleprompter to record a video or speak on a call, so the text has to sit close to the webcam. On almost every laptop that's the top center of the screen.

• Raise the laptop. Put it on a stand or a stack of books so the webcam is level with your eyes. Looking down into a laptop camera is the least flattering angle there is.
• Turn on Eye contact. In the prompter's quick menu, Eye contact shows only the two lines you're reading, white on black, in a narrow island at the top of the window, right by the webcam. Island width goes from 240 to 800 px (360 to start). In a Mac browser in full screen, the island finds the notch by itself.
• Narrow the text. Without the island, raise the side margins so the script is a column in the middle of the screen, right under the camera. Fewer words per line means less side-to-side eye movement.
• Move the reading line up to the top quarter of the screen, so the line you read is just below the lens.
• Sit back. At 60 to 90 cm from the screen, eye movement is much less visible. Raise the font size so you can still read comfortably.
• Light on dark. White or yellow text on black keeps the screen from lighting your face and reflecting in glasses.

To record yourself in EasyPrompter, press Start camera, next to Start prompter: the webcam turns on with eye contact. Then, with Pro, press the red Record button or R. The recording and the scrolling start together, the script stays out of the video, and the take downloads as an MP4 or WebM file. Nothing is uploaded. See teleprompter with camera and recording.

You can also record with your usual tool: the Camera app on Windows, QuickTime Player or Photo Booth on a Mac, or software such as OBS or Loom. Keep the prompter on the screen and the recorder running in the background. For more on looking natural, see how to use a teleprompter naturally, and for creator setups, teleprompter for YouTube.

Use a second monitor or a phone

A second screen frees your main screen for the recording software or the call.

• Second monitor. Put your webcam on the monitor you'll read from, drag the EasyPrompter window onto it and press Start, so the prompter fills that screen while the other one keeps your apps.
• Phone or tablet under the webcam. Open EasyPrompter in the phone's browser and prop it just below the camera. It's a small screen right next to the lens, which is ideal. See the phone teleprompter guide.
• Drive it from the computer (Pro). With Pro, sign in on both devices, press Remote control on the computer and pick the phone. The script opens on the phone, and you pause, change speed and switch scripts from the computer. Or open Remote control on the prompter screen and scan its QR code with any phone: it becomes the remote with no sign-in on the phone.
• Beam-splitter glass. A small monitor or tablet under teleprompter glass, with Mirror turned on, puts the text right in front of a camera lens. See mirror mode and beam splitters.

Notes for Windows, Mac and Chromebook

Windows PC

Use Chrome or Edge for the smoothest experience and, with Pro, the option to install. If the screen dims during a long take, raise the screen timeout in Windows' power settings; EasyPrompter asks the browser to keep the screen on, but power plans can override it.

Mac

Safari, Chrome, Edge and Firefox all work. Full screen behaves like any full-screen app on macOS, and Esc brings the prompter back to its window. A two-finger swipe on the trackpad moves the text by hand, and Bluetooth clickers pair in System Settings like any keyboard. Prefer an app? The free EasyPrompter app for Mac works the same way, keeps the display awake while you read, and can keep the eye contact island under the notch, above every other app.

Chromebook

EasyPrompter runs in Chrome on ChromeOS like any other website. The built-in webcam sits above the screen, so the same placement tips apply, and EasyPrompter's Start camera works there too, or the Chromebook's Camera app can record while the prompter runs.

On any computer, a Bluetooth keyboard, remote or presentation clicker paired in the system's Bluetooth settings can drive the prompter from across the room. Click the prompter once so the page has focus, then test the buttons. If a clicker does nothing, see the troubleshooting section of the user guide.

Script length and speed

EasyPrompter's speed is set in words per minute, so the estimated reading time under your script is reliable whatever your font size. Most people read comfortably at 130 to 160 words per minute for video; see teleprompter reading speed to find yours. To plan a script for a fixed slot, the speech time calculator converts minutes into words, and how to write a teleprompter script helps you fill them.

Frequently asked questions