Windows 10: Word app read aloud not working

MooseAI · Apr 27, 2022

It just happened earlier but whenever I try to use the Read Aloud function in the Word App, it tells me to log in to choose a voice. I’ve been logged in ever since I downloaded the app. I’ve since restarted my phone, relogged in, and reinstalled the app to see if that would fix it but nothing I’ve done seems to have workedMy phone and apps are all up to date and I’ve never had this problem before

:)

Brink · Apr 27, 2022

New natural-sounding voices come to Read Aloud in Word and Outlook

Hi Office Insiders! My name is Emily Tran, and I’m a Program Manager on the Office Voice team. I’m excited to share that we are continuing to improve the Read Aloud feature, adding new and more natural-sounding voices in Word and Outlook for Windows.

More natural-sounding voices in Read Aloud

Read Aloud in Word and Outlook is a great way to both author and read content. Whether you use it to “proof-listen” to a document or an email to catch errors, or simply to give your eyes a break, you want to hear your content read by natural-sounding voices.

Some of you shared that you felt that the original voices sounded too robotic, and you were looking for more natural-sounding reading voices, like the ones we offer for the Read Aloud feature in Microsoft Edge. In response to this feedback, we’re happy to add these new and improved options!

(NOTE: We’ve added the more natural-sounding voices in 64 different languages, for a total of 142 voices.)

How it works

Ready to check it out? Follow the steps below to try out the feature in Word or Outlook.

Place your cursor where you want to start listening from.

There are two ways to access the Read Aloud feature:

When authoring or reviewing content in Word, select Review > Read Aloud.

When reading an email in Outlook, select Read Aloud from either the Message tab (from an open email) or the Home tab (from the preview pane in your Inbox).

3. Use the on-screen toolbar options (play/pause, skip forward, and skip back) to control the feature while listening.

4. Use the gear icon in the toolbar to access the Settings menu.

Drag the slider bar to adjust the reading speed.

Click the Voice Selection arrow to choose between male and female voices.

Privacy

Read Aloud doesn’t store your content or audio data. Microsoft only uses your content to provide you with audio results. For more information about experiences that analyze your content, see Connected Experiences in Office.

Requirements

To use this feature, you must be:

A Microsoft 365 subscriber

Connected to the internet (required for the new voices; the previously available voices do not require an internet connection)

Availability

[(9/22) UPDATE: The new Read Aloud voices have been temporarily disabled in Outlook. The new voices are still available in Word (and the original Read Aloud voices still work in Outlook). Thanks for your patience while we work on the Outlook issues.]

This feature is available to Office Insiders running Beta Channel Version 2109 (Build 14427.20000) or later, or Current Channel Version 2109 (Build 14430.20000) or later.

Features are released over some time to ensure things are working smoothly. We highlight features that you may not have because they’re slowly releasing to larger numbers of Insiders. Sometimes we remove elements to further improve them based on your feedback. Though this is rare, we also reserve the option to pull a feature entirely out of the product, even if you, as an Insider, have had the opportunity to try it.

Feedback

We are constantly working on the Read Aloud feature, and your feedback is key to guiding future improvements. Please select Help > Feedback in the app to let us know what you think.

Learn what other information you should include in your feedback to ensure it’s actionable and reaches the right people. We’re excited to hear from you!

Sign up for the Office Insider newsletter and get the latest information about Insider features in your inbox once a month!
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Source: Office Insiders

DonnaThordsen · Apr 27, 2022

Word 10 Read Aloud isn't working

I chose the Read Aloud option from Commands (Speak isn't there anymore), selected text in a Word document, but when I clicked the Read Aloud icon, it opened the dictate function. It doesn't read the text. Is this an error in Word? How can it be fixed?

BOBLI1 · Apr 27, 2022

read aloud stopped working

The read-aloud function stopped working when reading traditional Chinese in Word. Please help.

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