How To Use Text-To-Speech on Google Docs

Key Takeaways

• Google Docs now offers built-in text-to-speech, making proofreading, accessibility, and multitasking significantly easier for busy professionals.
• Despite its usefulness, Google Docs’ TTS is limited by regional availability, desktop-only access, and basic customization options.
• Users who need universal access or advanced voice controls must enable screen reader support and rely on add-ons or browser extensions.
• Chrome and Firefox extensions like Speechify, Read Aloud, NaturalReader, and Voice Reader offer richer features, broader language support, and higher-quality audio.
• Murf emerges as a strong alternative, offering highly natural voices, customizable narration, and MP3 export capabilities beyond Google Docs’ built-in tool.

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Google Docs is one of the most popular text editors used by business teams across industries. Its ease-of-use and rich features make it the best choice for most, if not all, documenting applications.

The platform has recently rolled out screen reader support as a native feature, which is beneficial for busy professionals for various reasons:

• Faster proofreading and document review
• Improved accessibility for visually impaired users
• Enables multitasking to boost productivity
• Reduces eye strain and cognitive fatigue
• Enhances comprehension by combining visual and auditory input
• Supports language learning and pronunciation

In this article, let's look at how you can enable text-to-speech (TTS) in Google Docs to get the above benefits and some potential challenges you might encounter.

How to Enable Text-to-Speech in Google Docs

You can start listening to the on-screen content in three simple steps:

1. Click on the "Tools" option in the header menu.
2. Scroll down to locate the "Audio" option and place the mouse pointer on it.
3. Click on the "Listen to this tab" feature.

Customizing TTS in Google Docs

After you complete the above steps, you will see a movable audio player on the screen:

Here, you can click on the "1X" icon to change the playback speed, and the three-dot menu after that to modify the voice and provide feedback to Google about your experience.

Limitations of Google Docs' Built-in TTS Capabilities

The feature has two huge limitations that prevent users from getting the full range of benefits.

1. Not Universally Available

The speech extension that creates audio files out of written text is only available in English in a select few regions of the world. Additionally, you must be using a desktop or a laptop computer to use this capability.

This makes it difficult for professionals to consume content on the go. When in transit, mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets, are more convenient. Google very well might make the feature available in multiple languages globally from any device, but it can take time.

In such a scenario, you have to leverage extensions to get your document read digitally. You can find the steps to do that in the following section.

2. Basic Customization Options

You can only change the reading speech and change the voice character. Listeners can't create audio files from their document in specific accents, tones, or styles.

Moreover, for certain words and phrases in foreign languages or dialects, the pronunciation cannot be customized. This depletes the user experience and affects comprehension.

How to Use Text-to-Speech on Google Docs Universally?

1. Give the External Tools Permission to Access the Doc’s Content

Here is how to do it:

Step 1: Open your document in Google Docs

Step 2: Click the ‘Tools’ menu from the menu bar on Google Docs

Step 3: From the drop-down menu, pick ‘Accessibility’

Step 4: Check the box for ‘Turn on screen reader support’ and click ‘OK’

These changes will allow third-party extensions to access the text you want to listen to on the doc.

2. Use an Add-On

Add-ons offer a seamless, integrated experience within Google Docs, making them a more cohesive option than screen readers or extensions. Designed specifically for Google Workspace, they provide advanced features and are easy to manage directly in your document. Let’s explore how to set up and use them for text-to-speech.

1. Open your Google Docs document in the Google Chrome browser.
2. Navigate to the top menu and click on Extensions.
3. In the dropdown menu, select Add-ons and then click Get Add-ons.

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4. Search "text-to-speech" and install the add-on whose features seem to meet your expectations.

Note: You may need to try a few of these tools before finding the one that suits your needs.

3. Install Browser Extensions

Browser extensions are popular among Firefox and Chromium-based browser users. Their web stores contain powerful and cost-effective tools for many daily operational tasks.

Some of the best, most reliable TTS Firefox and Chrome extensions for Google Docs include:

1. Speechify Text to Speech Voice Reader

Speechify Logo

Credit - Speechify.com

• Rating: 4.6/ (16,500+ reviews on Chrome Web Store)
• Download Extension: Speechify Chrome Extension

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Speechify is a text-to-speech voice reader that offers 200+ natural-sounding voices in more than 60 languages. Being one of the fastest-growing voice generator extensions, Speechify’s text-to-speech allows you to listen to docs, articles, essays, emails, and PDFs in any format. Thanks to its extensive features and capabilities, it has over 30 million users.

Pros

1. The tool is available for use anywhere on mobile, desktop, and web
2. Adjust the rate of speech to listen to more content and learn faster
3. Create custom voices — use your own or your loved ones’ voices
4. Get quick AI-generated summaries of the content in the doc

Cons

1. Advanced features are available only with paid plans
2. Voice customization takes a lot of time

Pricing 

• Monthly plan: US $29/month
• Annual plan: US $139/year

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2. Voice Reader: Read Aloud Text to Speech (TTS)

• Rating: 4.2/5 (3,200+ reviews on Chrome Web Store)
• Download Extension: Voice Reader: Read Aloud Text to Speech (TTS)

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Voice Reader: Read Aloud Text to Speech (TTS) is a TTS tool that allows its users to listen to their written content on Google Docs, websites, eBooks, and PDF files.  It supports 50+ languages and allows users to customize the voice and speed of the narration.  

Pros

1. Customize voice with volume, skip forward/backward, and play/pause
2. Read aloud content written in multiple languages
3. Read entire pages or parts of the selected text on Google Docs
4. Customize the tool’s interface as one’s choice

Cons

1. Choosing a language is tricky due to poor UI
2. Voices sound too mechanical

Pricing

• Free TTS tool for Google Docs

3. Read Aloud: A Text-to-Speech Reader

• Rating: 4.2/5 (3,200+ reviews on Chrome Web Store)
• Download Extension: Read Aloud: A Text-to-Speech Voice Reader

Read Aloud: A Text to Speech Voice Reader allows users to listen to their written content on Google Docs, websites, PDFs, Amazon Kindle, EPUB, Google Play Books, and more. The tool supports 40+ languages and reads aloud in different voices. You can also customize the voice, volume, speed, and pitch as per your preferences.

Pros

1. Customize the text-to-speech voice’s pitch, speed, volume, etc.
2. Set custom keyword shortcuts to use the tool more efficiently 
3. A free tool that offers TTS capabilities on Google Docs
4. Add custom voices with in-app purchase options

Cons

1. The user interface is uninspiring
2. Limited text-to-speech features

Pricing

• An open-source, free tool

4. NaturalReader - AI Text to Speech

Rating: 4.2/5 (1,800+ reviews on Chrome Web Store)

Download Extension: NaturalReader - AI Text to Speech

NaturalReader - AI Text to Speech is a top-rated text-to-speech Chrome extension. It works on Google Docs, PDFs, websites, emails, Kindle books, and other online platforms, making it easy to listen to written content. It has millions of users worldwide and offers 200+ human-sounding voices and 50+ languages. You can also pick between male or female voices as per your preference for a highly personalized experience.

Pros

1. AI-powered reader that skips unwanted text for a natural reading flow
2. Continue listening with its smart pause feature
3. Choose any voice style to match the content
4. Download the TTS speech in MP3 format for offline listening

Cons

1. Limited features in the free version
2. Offline usage restrictions

Pricing

Personal use

• Free: Free forever
• Plus: US $20.90/ month (US $119/year)

Commercial and public use

• Free: Free forever
• Single: US $99/month (monthly billing) or US $588/year (annual billing)
• Team (4 users): US $204/month (monthly billing) or US $948 (annual billing)

Murf: Best Alternative to Google Docs' TTS Voiceover

Murf brings 130+ human-sounding voices in over 20+ languages. Its TTS technology is developed with ethically sourced data trained on authentic linguistics and models. You can get highly natural-sounding voices for everything you write on Google Docs and read aloud from online or offline written content.

The latest Murf Speech Gen 2 model generates flawless, fluent, and flexible voices, ideal for listening to your document.

The best part is that Murf lets you control the voiceovers you want. Adjust the speed, pitch, pronunciation, voice palette, and other elements of the narration to create highly personalized and high-fidelity sounds.

Ready to elevate your Google Docs reading experience?

Sign up for Murf today and get free ten voice generation minutes.