How do you unroll a Twitter thread?
Reply to the thread with @threadreaderapp unroll, or paste its link into a web unroller, and you get every post from the author on one page. X calls a thread a series of connected posts from one person; an unroll strips out the replies and clicks between them. The options, with prices from each tool's own page on 4 November 2026:
| Method | Cost | Public trace | Save or export | Main limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Show this thread on X | Free | None | No | Read inside X only |
| X Reader Mode | Needs X Premium | None | No | Paid X accounts only |
| Thread Reader App bot | Free | Your reply under the thread, or a quote post on your timeline | PDF with Thread Reader Premium | Consecutive posts from one author; no private accounts |
| Thread Reader App website | $3 a month or $30 a year | None | Premium only | |
| TwitterShots | Free for 10 threads a day; Pro $6.99 a month | None (TwitterShots says the author isn't notified) | Markdown and PDF; its page also lists PDF under Pro | Public threads |
| Readwise Reader | 30-day free trial, then $7.99 a month billed yearly or $8.99 monthly | None with the extension or share sheet | Saved to your reading library | Only the original poster's posts |
For one thread you want to read now, the free rows are enough. Pay only if you want PDF archives, author alerts or a reading library, since TwitterShots says its free tool can export a thread as Markdown.
How do I use Thread Reader App to unroll a thread?
Mention the bot in a reply or a quote post. Thread Reader App's help page gives this method; because it is a reply or quote on X, it works in the X app or on x.com:
Check it is a thread
Thread Reader asks you to make sure it is an X thread, not a solo post or a reply to a post, before you unroll anything.
Reply with the keyword
Reply to any post in the thread mentioning @threadreaderapp with the keyword unroll.
Or quote it instead
Quote the post with @threadreaderapp unroll. Thread Reader says this request appears on your timeline only, not the author's, so it doesn't clog the replies.
Open the unroll
Unrolled threads live on threadreaderapp.com under /thread/ and the post ID. Pasting a link into the website's search box also works, but Thread Reader now limits that to Premium members and says unrolling on X will always be free.
If nothing comes back, the help page lists why. Because of X's API limits, the bot sometimes skips threads that already had many unroll requests, solo posts, and requests made after it hits X's monthly API cap. It can't reply if your account is private or the thread only accepts replies from people the author follows or mentioned. Error messages cover the rest: posts too old for X to retrieve, conversations instead of one author's consecutive posts, deleted threads, private accounts, and authors who blocked the bot. For a popular thread, Thread Reader asks you to like the existing unroll request instead of adding another.
How do you view a whole thread on X without a tool?
Tap Show this thread under a post from the thread. X's help page on threads says that in your Home timeline a thread of 2 or 3 posts generally appears connected by a line, while one of 4 or more is truncated with a Show this thread option that expands it. On a profile, thread posts appear separately in reverse chronological order, each with its own Show this thread link. A single post shared by direct message also shows the option, so the person you send it to can expand the whole thread.
Paid X accounts get one more view. X's Premium how-to page says Reader Mode makes threads easier to read by turning them into readable text: go to the top right of the post details and tap the Reader Mode icon, then tap it again to turn it off. The page says you need an X Premium subscription for the features it lists. If Reader Mode is most of what you use Premium for, our guide to cancelling X Premium on each device shows how long Premium lasts after you cancel.
How do you save a thread before it is deleted?
Export it while it is still up, because a Thread Reader unroll disappears when the original does. Thread Reader says X requires it to delete anything deleted on X, and that it does not save content forever. Its Premium members can save any thread as a PDF and store PDFs in Google Drive or Dropbox automatically; threads over 100 posts may cause errors and can't be saved as PDF. If an unroll is missing posts the author added later, use the force a refresh link at the bottom of the page; Thread Reader says the refresh takes 2 to 10 minutes and a new PDF can be requested after 4 hours.
TwitterShots copies an unroll as Markdown for Obsidian or Notion. Its page says PDF export is free to use, but also lists Save Thread as PDF under the Pro plan, so check before you count on it. Readwise Reader saves a thread from its browser extension on desktop or the share sheet on mobile, and compiles it into a blog-like document; it keeps only the original poster's posts. Readwise's X import page adds two routes once you connect your X account: reply @readwise save thread (public), or send the thread to @readwise by DM with the word thread or t (private).
What saving costs if your team keeps about 15 threads a month (our arithmetic on the prices above):
| Tool | Monthly price | Per thread at 15 a month | Paying yearly |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thread Reader App Premium | $3 | $0.20 ($3 ÷ 15) | $30 a year, $6 less than 12 × $3 = $36 |
| TwitterShots Pro | $6.99 | $0.47 ($6.99 ÷ 15) | 2 months free, so 10 × $6.99 = $69.90, or $5.83 a month; TwitterShots says prices rise on 31 December |
| Readwise Reader only | $8.99, or $7.99 billed yearly | $0.60 ($8.99 ÷ 15), or $0.53 billed yearly | $7.99 × 12 = $95.88; also covers articles, PDFs and newsletters |
Reading can cost nothing: TwitterShots' free tier of 10 threads a day is up to 300 in a 30-day month (10 × 30), and its page says free exports include PDF and Markdown.
How can a small B2B team use unrolled threads?
Use unrolled threads as research notes, and keep the reading private. A thread where a buyer explains a problem in detail tells you their words, what they tried and what annoyed them. Before you unroll a prospect's thread with the bot, remember the request is public: a reply sits under their post, and a quote post sits on your own timeline. For buyer research, use Show this thread, a paste-in tool or the Readwise extension instead.
Our guide to finding customers on X with almost no followers covers where these threads turn up and how to reply. If you would rather not search for them by hand, Siela's AI SDR for LinkedIn and X outreach can track keywords and competitors on X, so people engaging with them become leads.
How do you make your own threads easy to unroll?
Post it as one connected thread, and fix gaps from the thread itself. X's help page says that once a thread is posted, its author can tap Add another post on the thread detail page to extend it; only the author sees that prompt. Thread Reader offers authors, free with an X login, PDF archives of their own threads and publishing to their own blog via Micropub, and lets them turn off ads on their threads. Authors who want out can post @ThreadReaderApp BLOCK ME from the account (case matters); Thread Reader says past content leaves its server immediately but can take up to 24 hours to clear from internet caches.
To draft one, our free thread maker that splits text into posts under 280 characters breaks a note or LinkedIn post between sentences and can number the posts 1/5 style. It runs in your browser, so you copy each post into X yourself. Our LinkedIn vs X guide for small B2B teams shows how to cut one LinkedIn post into two or three X posts.
Frequently asked questions
Is Thread Reader App free?
Unrolling through the bot on X is free, and Thread Reader says it always will be. Pasting a link into its website is limited to Premium members, at $3 a month or $30 a year. Premium also adds PDF archives, email alerts when favourite authors' threads are unrolled, automatic PDF saving and no ads. Thread Reader says memberships can be stopped online at any time with no refunds between billing cycles, but yearly members who email in their first month are refunded without condition.
Why didn't Thread Reader App reply to my unroll request?
Its help page names a few causes: the thread already had many requests, X's monthly API cap was reached, the post was a solo post, your account is private, or the author limited replies to people they follow or mention. Thread Reader suggests turning on notifications for its account so you see its replies, and liking someone else's existing request instead of posting a new one.
Can you unroll a thread from a private account?
Not with Thread Reader App, which says it cannot unroll threads from private X accounts, or from accounts that have blocked it. TwitterShots says its tool works with public threads. If you can see a protected account's posts on X, read the thread there with Show this thread, which needs no outside service.
Can I read a Twitter thread without an X account?
Yes, with some tools. Thread Reader App offers a free membership by email and calls it a good way to read threads if you don't have an X account. TwitterShots says its unroller needs no signup and no X login: paste the link to the first post and it shows the chain on one page, within its free limit of 10 threads a day.
Can you unroll X Articles?
Thread Reader App says it can't, because X's API does not provide access to Article content. Articles are already long-form, so read them on X itself. X's Premium page describes Articles as a way to share long-form written content and says publishing them is limited to Premium subscribers.
Sources
- Thread Reader App: Help (checked 4 Nov 2026)
- Thread Reader App: Become a Premium Member (checked 4 Nov 2026)
- X Help Center: How to create a thread on X (checked 4 Nov 2026)
- X Help Center: X Premium how to (checked 4 Nov 2026)
- X Help Center: About X Premium (checked 4 Nov 2026)
- TwitterShots: Thread unroll (checked 4 Nov 2026)
- Readwise Docs: Adding content to Reader (checked 4 Nov 2026)
- Readwise Docs: Import from Twitter/X (checked 4 Nov 2026)
- Readwise: Reader pricing (checked 4 Nov 2026)