How to Use Read‑Aloud (Step‑by‑Step)

Last updated: December 2025

Read‑Aloud specifics

Your voices come from your browser/OS. If your voice list looks different on another device or browser, that’s normal.
If a voice sounds robotic: try a different voice, or try another browser (desktop Chrome/Edge are often the most reliable).
iPhone/iPad “no sound”: check Help (Ring/Silent switch, Lockdown Mode, refresh, and tap Start again).

More detail: Browser compatibility & voice availability

Quick start (30 seconds)

Open the Read‑Aloud tool.
Paste your text into the main text box.
Select a Language and Voice (or keep Default).
Adjust Speed if you want (0.9× is a good starting point for studying).
Press Start.

What each control does

Language / Voice: selects which installed voice your browser uses for speech.
Speed: slower helps comprehension; faster helps you skim for gist.
Start: begins reading the text you pasted.
Pause / Resume: stop and continue without restarting from the top.
Stop: ends playback and resets progress.
Progress bar + timer: shows how far through the text you are, plus elapsed/remaining time estimates.

Keyboard shortcuts

Ctrl + Enter (or ⌘ + Enter on Mac) — Start / Restart
Space — Pause or Resume
Esc — Stop and reset progress

A quick “does it work?” test

Paste this into the tool to test punctuation, numbers, and pausing:

Hi! This is a quick Read‑Aloud test.

At 7:30 p.m., I’ll read for 10 minutes—then I’ll take a short break.
If the voice sounds strange, I will try another voice or slow down to 0.9×.
Question: does it pause correctly after commas, periods, and question marks?

Common problems (and fixes)

“I pressed Start but hear nothing (iPhone/iPad)”: make sure the Ring/Silent switch isn’t set to silent, disable Lockdown Mode, refresh the page, then tap Start again. See Help.
“My voice list is empty”: refresh, tap Start once, then check again. If needed, try another browser or update your OS.
“It stops mid‑way through a long text”: split your text into smaller chunks (headings/sections) and play them one at a time.

Privacy note (simple rule)

If the text is sensitive, treat it like clipboard content: avoid pasting private text on shared devices, and don’t paste while screen‑sharing. For details, see Privacy‑First Text‑to‑Speech.

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