MS Word Read Aloud voice changes tone

Anonymous
2024-03-20T11:04:45+00:00

I'm using the Read Aloud feature, and the "female" voice changed its tone when it hit this one paragraph. I don't think there's anything special about the text, but the voice changed to sound emotionally elated. Why is it doing this, when I never hear it use emotion anywhere else?

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For home | Windows

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments No comments

89 answers

Sort by: Most helpful
  1. Charles Kenyon 170.8K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2025-03-10T14:22:04+00:00

    Hi Richard,

    It is apparently a bug that is for all devices reintroduced with a recent update. Until it is fixed by Microsoft there is nothing you can do, except post feedback.

    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. Again, nothing written here will get to the people responsible for fixing this. You need to use the feedback mechanisms to put pressure on to fix it. The people responsible for this, and their supervisors do see feedback.

    I recommend using the Public Feedback Portal. https://feedbackportal.microsoft.com/feedback/forum/fb6d67e3-301c-ec11-b6e7-0022481f8472

    See my response here with a list of some other feedback that has been posted. Comment and vote! https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/msoffice/forum/all/ive-been-unable-to-switch-the-read-aloud-function/a2acd6e5-a88f-4903-a930-39abd2ef657e (and maybe vent a little)

    Then, once your own 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.

    For more on this 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.)

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments No comments
  2. Charles Kenyon 170.8K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2025-03-09T20:28:14+00:00

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

    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.

    For more on this 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.)

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments No comments
  3. Anonymous
    2024-12-19T15:49:19+00:00

    Hi guys, I'm glad I found a workable solution. Lmk if it worked for y'all.

    I've answered this in Stack Overflow.

    Here's the link:

    office365 - Why my Read Aloud voice is changing between two paragraph in MS Word using Office 365 subscription? - Stack Overflow

    To those who want to read it here:

    Qn) Why my Read Aloud voice is changing between two paragraphs in MS Word using Office 365 subscription?

    (I have a Word document with only two lines. When I click speak Aloud, it speaks line 1 in British tone and line 2 in some European tone. Please can someone guide how to stick to a British tone only?)

    Ans)

    that's a quick fix... I tried it myself and it worked!

    Just select your line 2 and change the language to British English.

    How to change:

    1. Select the language tool that must appear at the bottom left side of the status bar.
    2. A dialog box "Language" will appear. Under "Mark selected text as:", choose "English (United Kingdom)".
    3. Disable "Detect language automatically"
    4. Click "OK"

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments No comments
  4. Anonymous
    2024-10-20T05:45:39+00:00

    Same with me. I need the more natural sounding voice I heard before in my document. Now I have a monotone Female and monotone Male. I don't have any other drop-down voices like I had in the past. Very frustrating, especially when tears sound like tares, and other words don't make sense from these robot voices. PLEASE FIX ASAP.

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments No comments
  5. Anonymous
    2024-10-14T17:25:39+00:00

    Hi, My name is Milton Marime.

    I faced the same issue as you have and I figure out it is due to that particular text having a different proofing language than the rest of the text. This is probably because you copied and pasted the text from another application like a browser or notepad. In my case, i was writing in English (United Kingdom) and pasted text that had a proofing language in English (Zimbabwe). When the read aloud reached the text in English (Zimbabwe), it changed its tone in the way you described. I resolved this by highlighting the new text and changing the proofing language to English (United Kingdom), or the one you use in you case.

    Hope this helps.

    Cheers

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments No comments