How to use the Text to Speech tool
- Paste your textType or paste anything: an article, an email, study notes or a story.
- Pick a voiceChoose the language and a voice. Available voices depend on your device and browser.
- Adjust the soundSet the speed from 0.5× to 2×, and fine-tune pitch and volume.
- ListenClick “Read aloud”. Pause, resume or stop at any time while words are highlighted.
Features
- Many voicesUses the voices built into your device and browser, often including natural-sounding online voices.
- Read alongThe current word is highlighted, which helps with reading, learning and proofreading.
- Long textsText is read sentence by sentence, so long articles play reliably to the end.
- Speed controlSlow down to learn pronunciation, or speed up to get through reading faster.
- No sign-upFree to use as much as you like, with nothing to install.
Who uses text to speech?
- Students and learners: listen to notes and articles, and hear the pronunciation of a new language.
- Proofreaders and writers: hearing your text read aloud reveals typos, missing words and clumsy sentences.
- People with dyslexia or low vision: follow along with highlighted words, or rest your eyes.
- Busy readers: listen to long emails and articles while doing something else.
Where do the voices come from?
This tool uses the Web Speech API built into your browser, so the voices depend on your device:
| Platform | Typical voices |
|---|---|
| Chrome | Google voices in many languages (marked “online”) |
| Microsoft Edge | Very natural “Online (Natural)” Microsoft voices in 70+ languages |
| Safari (Mac, iPhone) | Apple voices; more can be downloaded in system settings |
| Windows / Android | System voices, plus any extra language packs you install |
For the widest choice of natural voices, try Microsoft Edge. To add voices on your device, install extra speech or language packs in your system settings.
Privacy
Voices built into your device speak entirely offline. Voices marked “online” are provided by your browser’s maker (such as Google or Microsoft), which means your text is sent to their speech service to be read aloud. Our website never receives or stores your text. For confidential text, pick a voice that isn’t marked “online”.
Can I download the audio as MP3?
Browsers don’t let websites record the built-in voices directly, so this tool plays the speech rather than creating a file. To save the speech, you can play it while recording your computer’s sound output with a screen or audio recorder. Want to turn your own voice into text instead? Use Speech to Text. To check the length of your text first, try the Word Counter.