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Every time I try to use the "Read Aloud" function, I get this exact error:
"To choose what voice you hear while using Read Aloud, sign in with your Microsoft account."
It worked fine until two weeks ago (the last time I used it) and I have tried every single thing in every thread: I reinstalled the apps, logged out and in, "repair online", reinstalled the english langague packs on my computer, used safe mode, turned on the optional experience, rebooted my pc, and it still doesn't work. I am out of options.
Last time, it was apparently due to a windows update, and yesterday I did update my windows, but I don't see anyone talking about it, so I don't know, please help.
A family of Microsoft word processing software products for creating web, email, and print documents.
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.
Mine is up and running!!!! 8:30 PM EDT
Evidently today's update set it back in order.
After nearly 5 days of frustration, thank you MS for the fix.
Same issue here.
I've reported it to Microsoft through the help -> feedback -> report a problem, but no fix as of yet. Few days of having to use the AWFUL microsoft robot voices. Hopefully they fix it soon. Otherwise I'll have to find a different app outside of microsoft.
I have the same problem, Microsoft please find a solution.
It's not Copilot. I've removed it and reinstalled. It's the same regardless. Feel free to remove it from your computer. I, also, don't like it when MS forces programs down my throat. Especially when it's just a free trial and I'd need to pay for credits to keep using it.
I'm almost positive someone did a "scream test."
A scream test, for those not involved in IT, is when someone who shouldn't be in charge asks why a service or server is running when it doesn't "seem" to be doing anything. And then they shut if off.
Edit: I forgot to mention where the scream comes in. They shut it off and just wait for people to start screaming that their stuff doesn't work anymore. Then they say, "oops, guess we needed that." and go turn it back on.
I think there's authentication server that Office (Word) checks in with after each update to make sure they're subscribed and still should have access to certain 'features' like Natural-sounding voices (that's the feature by the way. It works with Read Aloud, but that's the feature/service that isn't able to check back in and pops up the error that you aren't signed in)
So, to me, it makes sense someone turned off something they shouldn't have.
I've rolled back and tried different versions (4 different update versions) and then went WAAAAAAY back, and I'm still getting the error for each of these updates. Which leads me to believe it's on their end, not ours (which means there's nothing we can do to fix the issue). Again, sounds like an authentication server or service that got switched off.
Also, I've got ASD and I'm a writer who uses Read Aloud with Natural-sounding voices as part of my process. I can't stress enough how disruptive this has been for me. I wasn't able to write yesterday and today, I might have to resort to using Edge to read my words. Edge has the same feature, and it's still working for me. Again, supporting my hypothesis that they didn't break the program on our end, it's just a stupid authentication issue on their end.
I am having the same issue, very frustrating as I use this function quite regularly to check that my writing 'flows' well in the language it's written in. Using the generic 'Microsoft George' voice just does not do the same job for me. Have tried restarting my laptop several times, and have also checked all my privacy option settings and that I am definitely signed into my account, but still no joy. Really hope there is a fix for this?