Text to Speech

Listen to any text read aloud

Paste text into the box and your browser reads it out with one of the speech voices available on your device. You can choose the voice, change the speed and pitch, and pause partway through.

The page doesn’t send your text to a server; it hands it to the speech engine built into your browser. One caveat: some browsers also list online voices (such as those marked “Online” in Microsoft Edge, or Chrome’s Google voices), which the browser may generate on its maker’s servers. For private text, pick a voice installed on your device.

How to have text read out loud

1. Replace the sample text in the box with your own. The character count underneath updates as you type.
2. Choose a voice from the Voice list. Each entry shows its language code, such as en-GB or fr-FR, and the page starts on one that matches your browser’s language.
3. Set Speed (0.5× to 2×) and Pitch (0 to 2). Both start at 1.
4. Click Play. The same button then switches to Pause and Resume, and Stop ends the reading.

What to expect while it reads

• Long text is read in parts. The text is split at sentence breaks into pieces of about 200 characters so long articles don’t cut out; the status beside the buttons shows which part is playing.
• Line breaks are not pauses. Headings and list items without a full stop run straight into the next line.
• Settings apply on Play. Changing the voice, speed or pitch during playback has no effect until you press Stop and then Play again, which restarts from the beginning.
• Listening only. Browsers don’t let a web page record this speech, so there’s no audio file to download.

Ways people use read-aloud

• Proofreading by ear: hearing a draft exposes missing words and clumsy sentences your eyes skip over. Fix what you find with the Grammar Checker.
• Resting your eyes: listen to a long article or your own notes instead of reading them on screen.
• Pronunciation practice: hear a word or phrase in another language, using a voice for that language.
• Reading support: follow the words on screen while they’re spoken.

Getting clearer speech

• Match the voice to the language of the text. An English voice reading French or German will mispronounce most of it.
• Add full stops or commas where you want a pause, especially after headings and bullet points.
• Voices read numbers, dates and abbreviations in their own way. Write out anything that comes out wrong, such as “Dr” as “Doctor”.
• If the list only shows “Default voice”, your browser hasn’t provided its voices yet. Reload the page, or add voices in your operating system’s speech or language settings.

Text to Speech: common questions