Short answer
Yes. Covering the head is not a condition for reciting the Quran, making dhikr or reading from a phone. It is good manners to cover your hair when you sit to recite, and it becomes required if non-mahram men are present. What the Quran does require is wudu to touch the mushaf. All four schools agree.
Reciting from memory or from a screen with the head uncovered is permitted. Covering is mustahabb as part of the etiquette of recitation. Touching the Arabic mushaf requires wudu. Hijab is a condition of salah, not of tilawah.
The four schools agree on this.
Explanation
People often mix up the conditions of prayer with the etiquette of recitation. For salah, a woman must cover everything except her face, hands and feet, even when alone; the Prophet ﷺ said Allah does not accept the prayer of a woman who has reached puberty without a head covering. For reciting the Quran there is no such condition. The Quran's own condition is about touching: none touch it except the purified, which the Hanafis take as the requirement of wudu for the mushaf.
The Hanafi books list the good manners of recitation: to be in wudu, in clean clothes, facing the qiblah, seated with humility and covered. Covering your hair is part of that respect, and many women like to put on a scarf when they open the mushaf. It is a recommendation, so leaving it is not a sin.
Common cases:
- Reciting in bed or while doing housework: allowed without a scarf. Keep your heart present.
- Reading Quran on your phone: no hijab needed. Many scholars advise not touching the Arabic text on the screen without wudu.
- Dhikr and dua: no hijab and no wudu needed.
- Listening to recitation: no conditions at all.
- Non-mahram men present: hijab is required anyway, whether you recite or not.
- On your period: the issue is not hijab but menstruation. See reading Quran on your period.
For prayer itself, see do you need hijab to pray at home.
The evidence
Quran, Surah Al-Waaqia 56:79
لَّا يَمَسُّهُۥٓ إِلَّا ٱلْمُطَهَّرُونَ ﴿٧٩﴾
None touch it except the purified.
The condition the Quran sets is purity for touching it, not a head covering.
Sunan Abi Dawud 641
Graded sahih... لا يقبل الله صلاة حائض إلا بخمار ...
"Allah does not accept the prayer of a woman who has reached puberty except with a head covering."
Shows that the head covering is a condition of prayer specifically.
Where the ruling is recorded
- Radd al-Muhtar (Ibn Abidin), Kitab al-Taharah, rulings on touching the mushaf. Wudu is required to touch the mushaf, not to recite from memory.
- al-Fatawa al-Hindiyya, Kitab al-Karahiyya, chapter on reciting the Quran and its etiquette. Lists the recommended manners of recitation, including being covered and facing the qiblah.
Checked by our team. For a more accurate answer to your own situation, consult a scholar. Quran translation by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic from the standard editions of the six books and the Muwatta, with gradings as recorded there; the English is our own rendering. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.