Text to Speech - Read Text Aloud Online with Your Browser’s Voices
Text to Speech
Listen to any text read aloud, with each word highlighted
Your Device’s Voices
Uses the speech voices built into your operating system and browser, including natural-sounding ones where available, in many languages.
Speed, Pitch and Volume
Slow it down to follow difficult text, speed it up to skim, and change the pitch to suit the voice.
Read-Along Highlighting
Each word is highlighted as it is spoken, which helps with proofreading, language learning and reading support.
Private
The text is spoken by your own device. Nothing is uploaded, and no audio file is created or stored.
How Browser Text to Speech Works
Modern browsers include the Web Speech API, which asks your operating system to speak a piece of text with one of its installed voices. That is why the list of voices differs between Windows, macOS, Android, iOS and Linux, and why the same text can sound different on each. Some voices are downloaded and work offline; others stream from the browser vendor’s servers, so a few online voices may send the text to that vendor. If privacy matters, choose a voice that is labelled as local.
Reading aloud is useful for proofreading, because your ear catches missing words that your eye skips, for hearing how an unfamiliar word is pronounced, and as a reading aid for people who find long text on a screen hard. Long texts are split into sentence-sized pieces, because many browsers stop speaking a very long passage partway through. This tool reads the text out but does not create an audio file, since browsers do not allow recording the speech output.
Key Takeaways
- Voices vary by device: If a language sounds poor or is missing, install its voice in your system settings.
- No audio file: Browsers do not let a page record the speech it produces, so there is nothing to download.
- Related tools: Use the Word Counter to see how long a text is before you listen to it.