Getting started with Brave Leo: a beginner's guide to summaries and questions

Open Brave and load a page you care about

Open the Brave browser and go to a page with plenty of readable text, such as a news story, a long blog post or a how-to article. Leo works best when there's real text to read. The page should look normal, with the address bar at the top. On a phone, the page may fill the whole screen, which is fine.

If Brave shows a welcome or setup screen, you can skip anything you don't understand for now. You only need the page itself to be loaded.

Choose an article with paragraphs.

Next step ↓

Find Brave Leo

Look for a button labeled Leo. On a computer, it's often in a sidebar or the toolbar near the top of the window. On a phone, it may be in the browser's main menu, which is usually behind a three-dot or three-line button. Tap or click it, and a panel opens, usually on one side of the screen or at the bottom of the phone.

When the panel opens, you should see an empty chat area with a message box at the bottom. This is where you type.

Open the browser's main menu and search the settings for "Leo." If you find that Leo is turned off, switch it on, then go back to step 2.

Next step ↓

Ask Leo to summarize the page

With your article still open, open Leo if it isn't already. Look for a summary option. Leo sometimes offers a ready-made action, such as a summarize button, inside the chat. If you see one, tap or click it. If not, click in the message box and type your request.

Leo reads the page you have open and writes a shorter version in the chat. It usually appears below your request. A summary is a short retelling of the main points, so expect a few bullet points or a paragraph, not every detail.

Leo doesn't always get every nuance right. Before you share a summary or make a decision based on it, check the key names, dates and numbers against the original article.

Next step ↓

Ask a question about the page

Now try something more specific. Click in the message box at the bottom of Leo's panel and type a question about the article. Then press Enter or tap the send arrow. A short question works better than a vague one, because Leo has a clear target.

Leo's answer appears below yours. If the answer is too general, ask a follow-up question that adds detail, such as the name of the person or the section you're curious about.

If Leo says it can't read the page, the site may block it or the text may not have loaded yet. Refresh the page and try again.

Next step ↓

Ask a general question

Leo can also answer questions that aren't about the page you're reading. This is useful when you come across a word or idea you don't understand. Type your question in the same message box and send it.

Keep in mind that a general answer comes from Leo's training, not from a source you can check right there. For anything important, such as health, money or legal matters, confirm it with a trusted, official source or a professional.

Leo usually adjusts when you ask it to.

Next step ↓

Check the privacy basics

Before you use Leo for personal matters, look at its privacy options. Open Leo's settings, which you can usually find through a gear or settings option in the Leo panel or in Brave's main settings. Look for sections about privacy, history or clearing chats.

Brave has said publicly that Leo doesn't require an account for basic use and that it doesn't use your conversations to train its models. Read Brave's current privacy explanation in its official site, since policies can change. Also find the option that lets you clear your chat history, so you can delete old conversations when you want.

Whatever the settings say, a good habit is to keep passwords, bank account numbers, full addresses and private health details out of the chat.

Search the settings for "privacy" or "history" if you can't find them right away.