Word document to speech

How importing a Word file works

Drag the .docx file onto the text box, or press Import text and choose it. The document is read in your browser and nothing is uploaded, which matters when the file is a contract draft, a performance review or anything else you would not paste into a website. The text lands in the box as plain text, and that box is the single source of truth: whatever you see there is exactly what will be spoken.

If your file is in the older .doc format, open it in Word and use Save As to make a .docx copy first. The importer also reads TXT, Markdown and PDF; for PDFs there is a separate guide on PDF to speech.

Clean up the text before you press Generate

Word documents carry things that look fine on the page but sound odd out loud. After importing, skim the box for stray page numbers, running header text, footnote markers stuck to the ends of words, and a table of contents that would be read as a long list of titles and numbers. Delete what you would not want to hear. If the document uses tracked changes, accept or reject them in Word before importing, so you are listening to the version you actually mean.

Headings work well when they sit on their own line: a line break after a heading gives a short pause, and a blank line between paragraphs gives a natural breath. Where you want a longer gap, for example before a new chapter or between agenda items, type [pause 2s] or use the Pause button to insert one at the cursor.

Tables, lists and names

Tables are the hardest part of any document to listen to, because a grid has no natural reading order. If a table matters, rewrite it in the box as short sentences, such as 'First quarter sales rose four percent. The second quarter was flat.' For bulleted lists, check how the items came through and put a blank line between them, or a period at the end of each, so they do not run together into one breathless sentence.

Numbers, dates, times, percentages and titles like Dr. are read in their spoken form automatically, so a line such as 'Meeting with Dr. Patel on March 14 at 2:30 pm' needs no rewriting. Unusual surnames, product names and acronyms are a different story. If one comes out wrong, spell it the way it sounds, for example 'Win' for 'Nguyen'. There is no custom pronunciation dictionary, so if the name appears many times, make the change in Word with find and replace before importing.

Listening to your own writing

Hearing a draft read by a voice that is not yours is one of the quickest ways to catch missing words, repeated phrases and sentences that go on too long. Your eyes skip over errors because they know what you meant; your ears do not. For that kind of review, see proofreading by listening, which suggests a slightly faster speed and a softer voice.

When you find a problem, fix it in the text box and press Generate again. Only the parts you changed are regenerated, so a one-word correction in a twenty-page document takes a moment rather than a full rerun. Remember to carry the same fix back into your Word file, since the box and the document are not linked.

Saving the audio

MP3 is selected from this page, which is the practical choice for listening on a phone, in the car, or sending the recording to a colleague. If you plan to edit the recording in an audio or video editor, WAV is the better starting point; text to WAV explains why.

There is no character limit, so a long document is fine, but a very long report is often easier to use as several files, one per section, generated one after another. The notes on long text to speech cover timing and workflow for documents that run to many pages.

Frequently asked questions