Read Aloud Text to Speech: How to Get Any Text to Speak on Any Device

Need a fast way to have text read aloud (text-to-speech)? Whether you are proofreading a draft, listening to a long article, or improving accessibility, you can do it in a few taps on almost any device.

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Quick answer / TL;DR

iPhone/iPad: Settings > Accessibility > Read & Speak, turn on Speak Screen or Speak Selection, then swipe down with two fingers from the top to read the whole screen.
Android: Turn on Select to Speak (Settings > Accessibility), then use the shortcut to tap what you want read aloud, or select text and choose Read aloud from the menu.
Chrome on Android: Open a page, open Chrome menu, then choose Listen to this page to hear the article while you browse.
Windows (web pages and many PDFs): In Microsoft Edge, enter Immersive Reader (often F9) and press Read Aloud for a clean, audiobook-style experience.
Word documents: Use Read Aloud (or Speak for selected text) to listen while you edit.
Mac: Turn on Spoken Content in Accessibility, set a shortcut, then select text and trigger the shortcut to hear it.

Decision table: pick the right read-aloud method

Reading Aloud Decision Table

Goal	Fastest built-in option	Best on	Notes
Proofread writing	Read Aloud inside your editor (or Speak Selection)	Windows, Mac	Best for catching awkward phrasing and missing words while you edit.
Listen to a web article	Browser read-aloud mode	Android, Windows	Great for long reads and cleaner pacing than reading the raw page.
Hear a short snippet	Speak Selection / Read aloud selection	iPhone, Android	Select just the sentence you care about, then play it instantly.
Read a PDF quickly	Open in a reader mode that supports PDFs and use Read Aloud	Windows	Works best on text-based PDFs; scanned PDFs need OCR first.
Accessibility or focus support	Spoken Content / Select to Speak	Mobile	Pair with slower speed for comprehension and line-by-line review.
Create reusable audio (downloads, voiceovers)	Use a dedicated text-to-speech creator workflow	Any	Choose this when you need exports, consistent voices, or multiple languages.

If you only need a quick listen, use the built-in features above. If you need reusable audio (downloads, consistent voice, multi-language), jump to the creator workflow section below.

Create a lifelike voiceover when built-in read aloud is not enough

Generate reusable audio from scripts, then tweak pacing and pronunciation before publishing.

Generate voiceover

Improve text-to-speech so it sounds natural (no app required)

Most read-aloud results sound robotic for simple reasons: messy text, missing punctuation, and unexpanded abbreviations. Fix the input, and the voice improves immediately.

Remove noise: delete navigation junk, headers, footers, and repeated CTAs before you listen.
Add punctuation where you pause: commas for short pauses, periods for full stops. Line breaks help too.
Expand acronyms and symbols: write SEO as S-E-O, replace & with and, and spell out units when needed.
Rewrite tricky numbers: 1/2 becomes half, 2026 becomes twenty twenty-six (or two thousand twenty-six if needed).
Chunk long text: aim for short sections (1 to 3 paragraphs) so you can quickly re-run a segment.
Do a 10-second test: listen to the first paragraph, fix pronunciation issues, then run the rest.

Fix name pronunciation

On iPhone, you can add custom pronunciations so recurring names or brand terms are spoken the way you want.

Long text and character limits

Many read-aloud boxes and APIs cap how much text you can submit at once. For example, Google Cloud Text-to-Speech documents a 5,000 byte total content limit per request (and notes that some languages use multiple bytes per character). Limits can change—check the platform help center for the latest.

Practical rule: if a paste feels long, split it by headings or paragraphs and generate audio piece by piece.
Keep formatting minimal: fancy bullets, emojis, and copied tables often introduce weird pauses.
Use consistent style: the same punctuation patterns produce the most stable pacing.

Fast, reliable workflows (by device)

iPhone/iPad: speak the whole screen or just a selection

Turn on Speak Screen or Speak Selection, then either select text and tap Speak, or swipe down with two fingers from the top to read the whole screen. You can also keep the on-screen controller visible to pause and skip.

Android: Select to Speak for almost any app

Enable Select to Speak from Accessibility settings, then trigger the shortcut and tap text to hear it. For short snippets, you can often select text and choose Read aloud from the pop-up menu.

Chrome on Android: listen to a page like an audio article

In Chrome, use Listen to this page to start playback, then keep reading or scrolling while the page is spoken.

Windows: Microsoft Edge Immersive Reader + Read Aloud

For articles and many text-based PDFs, enter Immersive Reader (for many pages, the shortcut is F9) and start Read Aloud. You can change voice options and speed from the toolbar.

Word documents: listen while you edit

Word includes Read Aloud (whole document) and Speak (selected text). Microsoft notes that Read Aloud does not store your document content or audio data.

Mac: select text, then trigger your Speak shortcut

macOS includes a built-in Speech feature you can enable in Accessibility, then assign a keyboard shortcut to speak selected text.

When you need a polished voiceover (or dubbing)

Built-in read aloud is perfect for quick listening. But if you are creating content (YouTube, ads, courses, podcasts) you often need downloadable audio, consistent branding, and control over voice style and language.

One next step is ElevenLabs. It is designed for lifelike text-to-speech, API workflows, and dubbing. If that is your use case, you can generate a lifelike voiceover from your script.

Multilingual output: its Text to Speech page highlights support for 70+ languages (check current language support on the product page).
Creator-friendly exports: generate and reuse audio across videos, podcasts, and presentations.
Voice cloning with consent: clone your own voice or only voices you have explicit permission to use.
Dubbing workflows: translate and dub audio/video across multiple languages, then review timing and pronunciation.

Who it is for: creators, marketers, teams, and developers who need more than basic accessibility read-aloud.

Use responsibly: do not use synthetic audio for deceptive impersonation, and disclose AI-generated voice where appropriate. Follow the provider policy for prohibited uses.

Want deeper fundamentals? Start with Text-to-speech basics, then use Voiceover scripts and Dubbing basics to plan your workflow.

Localize content with dubbing workflows

Explore dubbing

Mistakes to avoid (so read aloud does not sound weird)

Pasting messy text: menus, cookie banners, and footers get read too. Copy only the main content.
Ignoring punctuation: TTS follows punctuation more than you think. Add commas and periods where you want breathing room.
Leaving abbreviations untouched: write out acronyms (or add hyphens) when pronunciation matters.
Going too fast: speed is great for scanning, but slower playback catches more mistakes when proofreading.
Assuming every PDF is readable: scanned PDFs are images; you will need OCR before any reader can speak the text.
Forgetting disclosure and rights: if you publish AI-generated narration, disclose it when appropriate and only use text/audio you have rights to.

FAQ

How do I get my iPhone to read text aloud?

Turn on Speak Screen or Speak Selection in Settings > Accessibility > Read & Speak, then swipe down with two fingers to read the whole screen or select text and tap Speak.

How do I get Android to read selected text aloud?

Enable Select to Speak, then use the shortcut to tap what you want read. For short snippets, select text and choose Read aloud from the menu (when available).

Can Chrome read a web page aloud?

Yes, on Android you can use Chrome's Listen to this page option to hear the current page read aloud.

What is the easiest way to read a long article on a computer?

Use a browser reader mode (like Microsoft Edge Immersive Reader) and start Read Aloud so the page is simplified and spoken in clean paragraphs.

Why does text-to-speech mispronounce names?

Names and brands are often ambiguous. Add pronunciation hints (like hyphens), expand acronyms, and test the first paragraph before you run the full text. On iPhone, you can add custom pronunciations for repeated terms.

Can I turn text into an audio file I can reuse?

Yes. For quick listening, built-in tools are enough. For reusable audio (downloads, consistent voice style, multilingual output), a dedicated text-to-speech platform is usually the easiest route.

Conclusion

Start simple: pick the built-in read aloud method for your device, clean the text, and listen to the first paragraph before you commit. If you need exportable, brand-consistent narration or dubbing, move from basic read-aloud to a creator workflow.