Read Aloud is a great productivity feature, especially when you want to give your eyes a break. You can have Word read the document for you starting from your cursor and even pause or skip forward and backward to re-listen to important parts.
So it’s definitely inconvenient when Word’s Read Aloud feature stops working. If this happened to you, there’s no need to fret. We’ve put together a quick guide that will help you fix the issue.
1. Restart Microsoft Word
As always, when dealing with a program malfunction, you should restart it. If there’s a temporary glitch, closing and re-launching Microsoft Word might be enough to fix the issue. Once you close Microsoft Word, verify there’s no background process still running.
PressCtrl + Shift + Escto bring up the Task Manager. There, right-clickMicrosoft Wordand selectEnd task.
Open Word and check if the problem is now solved.
You can also have Word read the document for you by pressingCtrl + Alt + Space. If nothing happens when using this keyboard shortcut and Read Aloud seems to be missing from the Ribbon menu, you should enable the feature. Here’s how you can do it:
Now, the Read Aloud feature should be available in theReviewtab, within theSpeechmenu.
3. Check Volume Mixer Settings
There’s a chance you can’t hear Word Read Aloud feature due to incorrect Volume Mixer settings. As you may know, Windows’ Volume Mixer allows you toset different volume levels for different applicationsor change the output device for each running app.
To check the settings, right-click theSpeakericon in the taskbar and selectOpen Volume Mixer. There, head to theAppslist and check the volume slider for Microsoft Word. Also, click on the app and check the selected output device.
If there’s nothing wrong with the Volume Mixer settings, move on to the next solutions.
4. Update Microsoft 365
If restarting Microsoft Word wasn’t enough to fix the glitch, you should update Microsoft 365. If you’re running an outdated version or something went wrong during the latest update installation, you’ll encounter all sorts of issues. Including Word’s inability to read the documents for you.
To update Microsoft 365, open Microsoft Word and go toFile > Account. There, clickUpdate optionsand selectUpdate now. If you’re able to’t update it, check out our guide on how tofix Microsoft 365 installation errors in Windows.
5. Repair the Word Doc
If you notice the Read Aloud issue is limited to an individual document, there’s a chance you’re dealing with a corrupted Word doc. If possible, re-download the document or ask the sender for a different version.
Alternatively, you can try using Microsoft Word’s built-in repair option.
Microsoft Word will now search and automatically fix any detected issues.
6. Repair Microsoft 365
Windows has plenty of built-in repair toolsto help you when running into a problem. So if Word is still giving you the silent treatment, go through the steps below:
If the Read Aloudfeature is still not working, go through the steps again and selectOnline Repair.
7. Launch Word in Safe Mode
Sometimes, add-ins might interfere with Word’s functionality and stop Read Aloud from working. To check if you’re dealing with a problematic add-in, launch Word in Safe Mode. PressWindows key + Rto launch a Run dialog, typewinword / safeand pressEnter. Word will now open without any add-ins.
If the Read Aloud feature works in Safe Mode, you’ll have to identify the conflictual add-in. Here’s how you’re able to do it:
Get Word Reading Your Docs Aloud
Hopefully, one or more of the fixes above helped you fix the problem. If you’re facing the same issue, it might be time to reinstall Microsoft 365 or contact Microsoft support and let them know about the problem.
Now, to keep Word working at its best, don’t miss out on any updates. Also, you might have no chance of fixing Word’s Read Aloud feature if you’re using a pirated version.
