Text to speech not working properly

Hi,

Thank you for reaching out and for bringing this up. I am here to help.

Before we proceed further, let me ask a few quick questions:

• Which version of Word are you using, Microsoft 365 subscription or Office 2021/2019?
• Can you confirm your Office build number from Word, File > Account > About Word?
• Have you tried to check if there's another update available?
• Do you see multiple voices installed in Windows under Settings > Time & Language > Speech > Manage Voices?
• Does the same issue happen if you test Read Aloud in Word Online at office.com?

In the meantime, here are some steps you can try

1. Open Word, go to File > Account > Update Options > Update Now. This ensures you have the latest patches, which sometimes fix Read Aloud issues.
2. Check installed voices in Windows

Go to Settings > Time & Language > Speech. Under Manage Voices, check if multiple voices (female, male, different languages) are installed. If not, click Add voices and install a preferred one. Restart Word and test again.

3. Open Word, go to Review > Read Aloud. Click the Settings gear icon in the Read Aloud toolbar. Check if the voice options reappear after step 2.
4. Repair Office

Press Windows + R, type appwiz.cpl, press Enter. Select Microsoft Office, click Change, then choose Quick Repair. If that does not help, repeat with Online Repair.

5. Test with Word Online

Sign in at office.com, open a document, and test Read Aloud there. If voices work online, it confirms the problem is limited to your local Office installation.

6. If none of the above works, uninstall Office completely using the Microsoft Support and Recovery Assistant tool, restart your PC, then reinstall from your Microsoft account at office.com/myaccount

Let me know the answers to the questions and how these steps go.

REFERENCE:

Use the Speak text-to-speech feature to read text aloud

Use Immersive Reader in Word

Download, install, or reinstall Microsoft 365 or Office 2024 on a PC or Mac

Download and install or reinstall Office 2021, Office 2019, or Office 2016

Note: Please use the "Add a comment" section below this message to reply, instead of using the Answer field, so that I’ll be notified of your response.

Fix: Microsoft Word Read Aloud Natural Voice Missing (Only Robotic Voices Available)

Problem: After a Microsoft Word update, the Read Aloud feature no longer uses natural online voices. Instead, it only offers the offline robotic voices (David, Mark, or Zira), even when connected to the internet.

Cause: Word may be storing a bad sign-in or error state in the Windows Registry, preventing it from accessing the cloud-based voices.

Solution (Registry Edit):

⚠️ Registry edits can affect your system. Proceed carefully and make a backup first.

Close Microsoft Word.

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

Navigate to the following key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Word\ReadingMode

(Your version number may differ, e.g., 15.0 or 16.0.)

Locate the value named:

ReadAloudSignInErrorCount

Right-click on it and Rename.

For example, change it to:

   ReadAloudSignInErrorCount-1

Close the Registry Editor.

Reopen Microsoft Word and try Read Aloud again.

Result:

When connected to the internet → Word uses the smooth, natural cloud voices again.

• When offline → Word defaults to the three built-in voices (David, Mark, Zira). Fix: Microsoft Word Read Aloud Natural Voice Missing (Only Robotic Voices Available) Problem:
  After a Microsoft Word update, the Read Aloud feature no longer uses natural online voices. Instead, it only offers the offline robotic voices (David, Mark, or Zira), even when connected to the internet. Cause:
  Word may be storing a bad sign-in or error state in the Windows Registry, preventing it from accessing the cloud-based voices. Solution (Registry Edit):

  ⚠️ Registry edits can affect your system. Proceed carefully and make a backup first.

  1. Close Microsoft Word.
  2. Press Win + R, type regedit, and press Enter.
  3. Navigate to the following key:

          HKEY_CURRENT_USER
     

     (Your version number may differ, e.g., 15.0 or 16.0.)
  4. Locate the value named:

          ReadAloudSignInErrorCount
     

  5. Right-click on it and Rename.
     • For example, change it to:

               ReadAloudSignInErrorCount-1
       

  6. Close the Registry Editor.
  7. Reopen Microsoft Word and try Read Aloud again.
  Result:
  • When connected to the internet → Word uses the smooth, natural cloud voices again.
  • When offline → Word defaults to the three built-in voices (David, Mark, Zira).

Word Read Aloud only offers David, Mark and Zira despite being online

Online voices worked in my browser, but desktop Word only offered offline voices. Restarting Word and resetting its voice/experiment caches didn’t resolve it.

What worked:

1. Save your work.
2. Sign out of every work and personal account in desktop Office, not just the active account.
3. Close all Office applications.
4. Reopen Word and sign into your primary licensed account.
5. Restart Word and try Read Aloud.

I subsequently added all my other accounts back, testing between each, and online voices continued working. No reinstall or reimage was needed. This suggests stale Office sign-in state, but I haven’t confirmed the underlying cause.