Thank you for your understanding, and oh, joy...I am happy to report we are finally making some progress! I was finally able to open the PDF in Microsoft Edge and have it read with the natural-sounding voices (once I cleared the cache). So, at least I know the voices are there and accessible somewhere. But since I am editing, I need to have the voices work in the Read Aloud feature of Word so that I can make real-time edits and then hear it read back to me. The PDF is fine as a final read-through, but not during editing. The minute I converted the PDF back to Word, I was back to the robotic voices. Is that something you might have a suggestion about?

Hello,

You can download and install additional language packs that support text-to-speech capabilities to add realistic voices to Microsoft Word's Read Aloud feature. Here are the steps to follow:

1. Open the Settings app on your Windows 11 device.
2. Click on Time & Language.
3. Select Language from the left-hand menu.
4. Click on Add a Language and choose the language you want to add.
5. Once the language is added, click Options and select Download under the Speech section.
6. After downloading the language pack, you can select it as the default voice in Microsoft Word’s Read Aloud feature.

You can also adjust the voice settings in Windows 11 to change the default voice, speed, and more. To do this, go to Settings > Time & Language > Speech and make the desired changes.

If you have any further questions or need additional assistance, please feel free to ask. I'm here to help!

Give back to the Community. Help the next person with this issue by indicating if this reply solved your problem. Click Yes or No below.

Kind regards.

Ajibola.

Hello there,

I'm sorry to hear you're experiencing issues adding a realistic voice and hopefully the solutions i list below can help you:

1. To change voice settings follow the steps below: 1.1)Open the Start menu on your Windows device and select Settings > Time & Language. 1.2)Select Speech. From here, adjust your speech options: 1.3)Speech language: select the dropdown to choose your desired language. 1.4)Recognize non-native accents for this language: detect and translate varying accents within the language. 1.5)Voices: change your default voice, the speed of the voice, and preview the voice. 1.6)Select Get started from the Microphone section to walk through the Cortana mic setup.

These steps was referenced from the following source and for further clarification please visit: https://support.microsoft.com/office/4c83a8d8-7486-42f7-8e46-2b0fdf753130

2. Install High-Quality Text-to-Speech (TTS) Voices: -Install Quality TTS Apps: Install high-quality TTS apps from the Google Play Store that offer natural-sounding voices. Apps like Google Text-to-Speech, Acapela TTS Voices, or Ivona Text-to-Speech are popular choices.

-Download Additional Voices: Some TTS apps allow you to download additional voices or language packs for a more realistic reading experience.

3)Set Default TTS Engine: 3.1)Open the Settings app on your Android device. 3.2)Navigate to "Accessibility" or "Accessibility & Input" > "Text-to-speech output." 3.3)Select your preferred TTS engine (e.g., Google Text-to-Speech). 3.4)Customize voice settings within the selected TTS engine for voice quality and naturalness.

4)Configure Read Aloud in Microsoft Word: 4.1)Open Microsoft Word app on your Android device. 4.2)Open a document or create a new one. 4.3)Select the text you want Word to read aloud. 4.4)Tap on the "Review" or "Home" tab (depending on the Word app version). 4.5)Look for the "Read Aloud" option and tap on it to start reading with the default TTS voice.

I hope the solutions stated above can help you fix your issue and should you have any further questions/concerns please do not hesitate to contact me again.

Thanks,

Parth P.

Hello, Bailey M2.

Welcome to the Microsoft community.

I understand that you are currently using word and want to switch the female voice to read out loud. I have reproduced and tested the problem according to your description above, and I have successfully switched the voice of a woman reading aloud in the following way:

Open Word>Click the **** red box in the lower left corner as shown in the picture>Select Current Document in the pop-up Language window>Switch to English (United Kingdom)/English (United States) blue box **** >OK>Restart Word and Using the Read Aloud Function

Feel free to share updates with me on how things are progressing after you've completed the aforementioned steps.

Best Regards,

Hannah.Z- MSFT |Microsoft Community Support Specialist

Hello Eclair,

Welcome to the Microsoft Community.

I understand your concern. Unfortunately, Microsoft Word on Mac uses the system’s built-in text-to-speech voices, and it doesn’t provide an option to use Microsoft’s own voices. Here are some steps you can take to improve the voice quality:

Choose a Different Voice: Go to Apple menu > System Preferences > Accessibility > Speech. Here, you can select a different voice.

Download Additional Voices: In the same Speech settings, you can download additional high-quality voices.

Adjust Reading Speed: In Word, you can adjust the reading speed. Go to the Read Aloud settings (the gear icon in the controls at the top right), and use the Reading speed slider. See: Listen to your Word documents - Microsoft Support

If you’re open to using third-party software, there are several text-to-speech applications available for Mac that offer a variety of voices. Please note that you should only download software from trusted sources to ensure your computer’s security.

As for Microsoft Edge, it uses Microsoft’s own voices for the Read Aloud feature, which is why you’re hearing the natural Microsoft voices there. Unfortunately, this feature is specific to Microsoft Edge and is not available in Microsoft Word on Mac. I hope this information helps! Let me know if you have any other questions.

I hope you find the above information helpful. If you need any further assistance, please let me know and I'll provide more advice.

Best Regards,

William Yu | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

I'm a lawyer, not a engineer. I am a moderator on several of these forums and have seen numerous iterations of this question in the past few days.

It is apparently a bug that is for all devices introduced with a recent update.

There is nothing you, as a user can do to fix this. You need to wait for Microsoft to fix it. Writing here does not bring it to the attention of anyone who can do anything about it. You are addressing your fellow users here. Microsoft is aware of the problem, though.

I recommend using the Public Feedback Portal.

https://feedbackportal.microsoft.com/feedback/forum/fb6d67e3-301c-ec11-b6e7-0022481f8472

Then, once your feedback is posted, copy the URL and then come back here and post it so that others can comment and vote.

Be the squeaky wheel. Keep pressure on.

You can search for and vote on other feedback already posted. I would suggest a search for "read aloud."

https://feedbackportal.microsoft.com/feedback/search/fb6d67e3-301c-ec11-b6e7-0022481f8472?q=%22read+aloud%22

Here is a list of some feedback links:

https://feedbackportal.microsoft.com/feedback/idea/5c539f58-29fc-ef11-a4de-6045bdb3947a

https://feedbackportal.microsoft.com/feedback/idea/3ca4e898-36fd-ef11-a4dd-7c1e52ead3c1

https://feedbackportal.microsoft.com/feedback/idea/cecdbcad-e1ee-ef11-a4dd-7c1e52c1c6b2

https://feedbackportal.microsoft.com/feedback/idea/a3c7a9bc-85ed-ef11-a4dd-7c1e52e3e882

Feel free to vote and vent a little.

For more on using feedback, see my article: This is a user-to-user support forum. -- You can give feedback TO MICROSOFT designers and decision makers on Microsoft Word or other Microsoft Products using their feedback mechanisms, (not here). (This is a link to directions.)

Here is the Fix for the issue of Robotic Voice in Microsoft 365 read.
To attempt a fix:

1.       Close Microsoft Word.

2.     Press Win + R, type regedit, and press Enter.

3.     Navigate to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Word\Options.

4.     Look for the value ReadAloudSignInErrorCount. Right-click and rename it (e.g., add -1 to the end).

5.     Restart Word and test the Read Aloud feature. It solves the problem immediately.