Giving your Mac a new voice is as simple as a few clicks.
- By going to the System Preferences menu, you can change the voice that your Mac uses to read text and notifications.
- There are about a half-dozen voices available by default on your Mac, but you can download more.
- When you change the text-to-speech voice on a Mac, you can also change the speed at which it reads and the language it uses.
The ability of your Mac to read out text on the screen is one of its many accessibility features. This is ideal for users who struggle to see the screen.
However, if you use this feature, you may be dissatisfied with the default voice, which can sound robotic.
Fortunately, you can change your voice at any time. Over a hundred different voices in a variety of languages are available.
Here’s how to change the voice of your Mac’s speech
- Select “System Preferences” from the Apple menu in the top-left corner of your screen.
- Select “Accessibility” from the drop-down menu.
- Select “Speech” from the left sidebar. This will bring up a menu where you can adjust the speech settings.
- To change the voice, open a dropdown menu by clicking on the “System Voice” tab. By default, you can select between two male and three female voices.
- To change the rate at which your Mac speaks, click the “Speaking Rate” slider and drag it left or right to slow it down or speed it up.
- To enable your Mac to speak out announcements — it will notify you when a program requires your attention, as well as read alerts — read text that you select or hover your mouse over, check the box next to those options.
How to Add New Speech Voices to Your Mac
- Return to the “Speech” menu.
- Select “System Voice“, then scroll down to “Customize.”
- You will now be presented with a list of all the voices available in various languages and dialects that you can download and add to your speech options. Most voices can be chosen and then played by clicking “Play” at the bottom.
- When you’ve found the voice and language you’re looking for, check the box next to it and click “OK” at the bottom of the window. Your Mac will download the voice, which you can then choose.
