Text to Speech

What this tool does

Text to Speech reads pasted articles, emails and notes aloud using the speech voices built into your browser and operating system. Filter voices by language, set speed from 0.5× to 2×, change pitch and volume, pause and resume, and follow along as each word is highlighted.

Listening is often easier than reading: proofreading your own writing, getting through a long report while your eyes rest, practising pronunciation in a new language, or helping someone with dyslexia or low vision follow a document. Every modern operating system ships with speech voices, but there is rarely a simple place to paste text and use them.

This tool uses the Web Speech API’s speechSynthesis interface. It lists every voice your browser exposes, many of which run entirely on your device, and reads your text sentence by sentence. Splitting long texts into chunks of about 220 characters avoids the cut-offs some engines have with very long utterances, and the boundary events the engine reports let the tool highlight each word as it is spoken. Voices labelled online are generated by the browser vendor’s cloud service, so the text is sent there; all others stay local.

How to use Text to Speech

1. Type or paste your text into the box, or click Sample to try it.
2. Choose a Language to narrow the list, then pick a Voice.
3. Adjust Speed, Pitch and Volume; Reset returns them to normal.
4. Click Speak and follow the highlighted word.
5. Use Pause and Resume to take a break, or Stop to edit the text.

Tips for better results

• For proofreading set Speed to about 0.9×; hearing your sentences aloud exposes missing words and clumsy phrasing that the eye skips over.
• Pick a voice that matches the text’s language: an English voice reading French will pronounce it with English rules.
• Online voices often sound more natural, while local voices work offline and keep the text private.
• Add full stops or line breaks where you want clear pauses; the voice follows punctuation.

Common use cases

• Proofreading essays, emails and articles by ear.
• Listening to long documents while resting your eyes.
• Hearing how words and sentences are pronounced when learning a language.
• Supporting readers with dyslexia, low vision or reading fatigue.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Expecting the same voices on every device: Windows, macOS, Android and iOS each provide their own set.
• Pasting text full of abbreviations, URLs or code, which voices read character by character.
• Choosing an online voice for confidential text when a local voice would keep it on the device.