Hey everyone, did you know that Microsoft Word has a text-to-speech feature called “Read Aloud?” It’s pretty awesome for having your documents read back to you, using some really natural-sounding voices. However, those lifelike voices need a Microsoft 365 subscription. Otherwise, you’re stuck with the three basic voices. This feature is available in Office 2019, Office 2021, and Microsoft 365.
Listening to your documents can be super helpful for spotting errors, repeating words, or awkward sentences that you might have missed while editing or reading. Plus, it’s great for boosting comprehension, learning new pronunciations, and improving language skills if you’re working with a document in a language you’re still learning. It can be very beneficial for those with learning disabilities or visual impairments too.
Now, don’t get “Read Aloud” mixed up with the “Speak” feature in Word. Read Aloud reads the whole document or from your cursor point, whereas the Speak feature only handles highlighted text. Let’s get into how to use the Read Aloud feature.
Using the Read Aloud Feature in Word
The Read Aloud tool uses Windows’ Narrator and Accessibility tech to convert text to speech. It can either read from where you put your cursor or just read selected text.
The offline versions of Word 2019 and 2021 have only three voices. You need a Microsoft 365 subscription plus an internet connection for the natural-sounding voices. Microsoft 365 provides over 142 voices.
When reading, it highlights each word as it goes, line by line, and paragraph by paragraph, auto-scrolling as it reads.
Access Read Aloud in Microsoft Word
First, open your Word document. Then, either place your cursor where you want to start, or highlight a text passage you want to hear.
Next, head over to the ‘Review’ tab and click the ‘Read Aloud’ button in the ribbon. Or just press Alt+Ctrl+Space.
This will open the Read Aloud controls at the top right of your document, and start reading automatically. The control bar includes: Previous, Play/Pause, Next, Settings, and Stop controls.
You can pause or resume playback with the center button. The button will change to the appropriate icon while playing or paused. Each word will be highlighted as it’s being read.
You can use the ‘Previous’ and ‘Next’ buttons to jump between paragraphs, resuming the playback at the start of each paragraph.
To stop the tool, click the close button on the control bar, or click the ‘Read Aloud’ button again in the ribbon.
To change the playback speed or the voice, click the ‘Settings’ button (it’s the speaker icon with a gear).
You can adjust the speed of reading using the slider provided.
To change the voice, click on the ‘Voice Selection’ dropdown and select a voice from the list. Word 2019 and 2021 only give you three options: Microsoft David, Microsoft Zira, and Microsoft Mark. But if you’re using Microsoft 365, you’ll have many to choose from.
Here are the keyboard shortcuts to control Read Aloud:
- Ctrl+Alt+Space – Launch Read Aloud.
- Ctrl+Space – Play or Pause.
- Alt+Left Arrow – Decrease reading speed.
- Alt+Right Arrow – Increase reading speed.
- Ctrl+Left Arrow – Jump to the start of the previous paragraph.
- Ctrl+Right Arrow – Jump to the start of the next paragraph.
Read Aloud in Immersive Reader mode
The Immersive Reader tool is built-in and aims to improve reading comprehension, pronunciation, and grammar. It cleans up formatting and distractions to give you a more focused read-aloud experience. Here’s how to use it:
Open your document, go to the ‘View’ tab, and click ‘Immersive Reader’ in the Immersive section.
The document will open in Immersive mode. Now, click ‘Read Aloud’ within the Immersive Reader part of the ribbon.
The Read Aloud controls will appear in the top-left corner and the reading will start automatically.
Use Read Aloud on Microsoft Word Online
If you don’t have Word 2019, 2021, or a Microsoft 365 subscription, you can use the Read Aloud feature in Microsoft Word Online for free. Here’s how:
Open a browser and go to office.live.com/start/word and log in.
On the Office home page, select the ‘Word’ button on the left.
Open a document already on OneDrive or create a new one. Or upload a document by using the ‘Upload and open…’ link.
When the document opens, go to the ‘View’ tab and select ‘Immersive Reader’.
This opens the document in Immersive Reader mode. Place your cursor where you want to start reading and click the green ‘Play’ button at the bottom.
Click the button again to pause. As it reads, the focus is only on the line and word being read aloud.
To adjust voice and speed settings, click the ‘Voice settings’ button next to the play/pause button. You can adjust the reading speed and switch between male and female voices.
If you click on a word, you’ll see a picture of that word to help comprehension. Also, you’ll find a speaker icon to hear the word’s pronunciation.
To exit the immersive reader, click the back arrow (Exit) at the top-left of the window.
Word Online’s text-to-speech often sounds better than the offline version.
Use the Read Aloud in Microsoft Word Mobile App
If you’re on the go, you can use the read-aloud feature in the Microsoft Word mobile app.
Open the Microsoft Word app on your phone, and open a document from OneDrive. Or, tap ‘Open’ and select a document from your device’s local storage or cloud storage.
Once open, tap the three dots in the top right corner of your screen.
From the menu that pops up, select ‘Read Aloud’.
The playback controls appear at the bottom and the text reading starts automatically.
Change the voice speed and voice by tapping on the ‘Settings’ icon.
Note: The Read Aloud feature stops when your phone goes to sleep. To keep listening, increase your screen’s display or backlight duration.
Read a PDF Aloud Using Microsoft Word
You can listen to PDFs using Microsoft Word. Here’s how:
Open Word, click on ‘File’, and select ‘Open’. Or, just press Ctrl+O. Then, click ‘Browse’.
Select the PDF from your computer.
A warning will appear saying that the PDF will be converted to an editable Word document. Click ‘OK’ to continue.
Next, go to the ‘Review’ tab and click the ‘Read Aloud’ button.
Now you can use the playback controls just like when reading a Word document.
How to Add Read Aloud Button to the Quick Access Toolbar
For easier access, you can add the Read Aloud button to the Quick Access Toolbar at the top left of Word.
Go to the ‘File’ tab and select ‘Options’.
In the Word Options window, click ‘Quick Access Toolbar’.
On the right pane, click the ‘Choose commands from:’ dropdown, and select ‘All Commands’.
Scroll down until you see ‘Read Aloud’, select it and click ‘Add’.
Click ‘OK’ to apply the changes.
Now you can click the ‘Read Aloud’ icon on the Quick Access Toolbar to launch or stop the feature.
Use Read Aloud on Microsoft Edge
Microsoft Edge also offers a built-in read-aloud tool.
Open a webpage and select where you want to begin reading, or highlight text.
Right-click and select ‘Read aloud’ or ‘Read aloud selection’ from the menu.
The Read Aloud control panel will appear at the top, and reading will start automatically. The reading line is highlighted in blue and the current word in yellow.
Click the ‘Voice options’ button in the Read aloud bar to change reading speed and voice.
Use the ‘Speed’ slider to adjust the reading speed, and the ‘Choose a voice’ dropdown to change the voice.
Edge’s Read aloud tool will also translate text to a different language and read it using a voice in that language. For this, you’ll need an active internet connection.
For instance, if you enable read aloud on an English page and pick a Catalan (Spain) voice, the tool will read that text in Spanish using the chosen voice.
Enable and Use Speak Feature to Listen to Documents
If you are using an older version of Office (older than 2019), use the built-in ‘Speak’ feature. It needs to be added to the Quick Access Toolbar or Ribbon.
Go to the ‘File’ tab and click ‘Options’.
In the Word Options window, click the ‘Quick Access Toolbar’ section and select ‘All Commands’ from the ‘Choose commands from’ dropdown menu.
Scroll down the list and select the ‘Speak’ command. Click the ‘Add’ button.
Click ‘OK’ to save changes.
After adding the Speak command, select the text you want read or select all (Ctrl+A). Then, click the ‘Speak selected text’ icon on the Quick Access Toolbar to start listening.
