Office for Windows is getting natural-sounding voices for reading your emails and documents

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Published onSeptember 23, 2021

published onSeptember 23, 2021

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Microsoft hasannounced that it’s improving the Read Aloud featurein Word and Outlook for Windows by bringing more natural-sounding voices. The new Read Aloud voices are already live for Office Insiders in the Microsoft Word desktop app, and it should make it easier for users to author and review documents.

“Some of you shared that you felt that the original voices sounded too robotic, and you were looking for more natural-sounding reading voices, like the ones we offer for the Read Aloud feature in Microsoft Edge. In response to this feedback, we’re happy to add these new and improved options,” the Office Insider team explained.

To use this feature in Word, open the document and click on the location where you want to begin listening. Select the Review tab and then choose the Read Aloud option. Users will be able to choose from one of the natural-sounding voices in 64 different languages.

As of this writing, the improved Read-Aloud experience is only available in Word for Windows, and it should help to make content accessible for visually impaired people. The rollout of this feature has been temporarily paused in Outlook, but Microsoft says it’s working on expanding it again soon.

Radu Tyrsina

Radu Tyrsina has been a Windows fan ever since he got his first PC, a Pentium III (a monster at that time).

For most of the kids of his age, the Internet was an amazing way to play and communicate with others, but he was deeply impressed by the flow of information and how easily you can find anything on the web.

Prior to founding Windows Report, this particular curiosity about digital content enabled him to grow a number of sites that helped hundreds of millions reach faster the answer they’re looking for.

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Radu Tyrsina

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Office for Windows is getting natural-sounding voices for reading your emails and documents