Text to Speech
Listen to any text or PDF with the voices already on your device.
Or drop a .txt or text-based .pdf file on the box. Files are read on this device.
Voice and playback
Paste some text to start.
Reading view
Click a sentence to read from there.Keys here: Space plays or pauses, ← and → go back or forward one sentence, Esc stops.
About the Text to Speech
Paste text — or open a .txt file or a text-based PDF — and listen to it read aloud by the voices built into your phone or computer. Choose the language and voice, set the speed and pitch, and follow along: the sentence being read is highlighted, and so is each word when the voice reports its position. Pause and continue where you stopped, or skip back and forward one sentence at a time.
The page uses the Web Speech API that browsers provide. Voices on this device are used by default, and your text never leaves it. Some browsers also offer online voices (for example Google’s in Chrome and Microsoft’s in Edge); they are listed separately and clearly marked, because the browser sends the text to that company’s service to make the speech.
How to use it
- Type or paste text, click Open file for a .txt or text-based .pdf file, or drop the file on the text box.
- Choose a language, then a voice. On-device voices come first; online voices are marked and send the text to their provider.
- Set the speed and pitch, then press Play. The sentence being read is highlighted below; click any sentence to start reading there.
- Use Pause, Stop, and the previous and next buttons to move one sentence at a time. In the reading view, Space plays or pauses and the arrow keys skip.
Examples
Paste the article, choose a voice, speed 1.2×, Play
Read sentence by sentence with the current sentence highlighted; Pause continues from the word where you stopped.
यह वाक्य हिंदी में है।
Choose Hindi (India) and a Hindi voice — for example Microsoft Kalpana on Windows or Lekha on Apple devices.
If the text is in a script the chosen voice cannot read, the page suggests matching languages.
Common uses
- Listening to articles, notes or study material while resting your eyes.
- Proofreading your own writing by ear — mistakes are easier to hear than to see.
- Hearing the pronunciation of words and sentences in another language.
- Reading support for people with dyslexia or low vision.
Getting more and better voices
The voices come from your device, so the list differs between phones, computers and browsers. To add voices, use your system’s speech settings: on Windows, Settings › Time & language › Speech › Add voices; on a Mac, System Settings › Accessibility › Spoken Content › System voice › Manage voices; on iPhone and iPad, Settings › Accessibility › Spoken Content › Voices; on Android, the Text-to-speech output settings (the path differs between phones). Reload this page after adding a voice. All browsers on iPhone and iPad use Apple’s voices.
On-device and online voices
A voice on this device makes the speech locally: nothing is sent anywhere and it works offline. An online voice — the browser reports it as not local — is run by the browser’s maker: when you play it, the browser sends the text to that service (Google, Microsoft or Apple) to make the sound. Online voices often sound more natural, but use them only for text you are happy to share with that company. This page never chooses one for you.
Why there is no MP3 download
The Web Speech API plays speech straight to your speakers; browsers do not give web pages the audio itself, so it cannot be saved as a file. A page that offers a download either records your speakers or sends your text to a server. Here nothing is recorded and nothing is uploaded.
Word highlighting
The sentence being read is always highlighted. Words are highlighted too when the voice reports which word it is reading, as many on-device voices do (for example on Windows, macOS and iOS). Some online voices only report the start and end of each sentence; then only the sentence is highlighted.
PDF files
Text is taken from the PDF’s text layer, page by page, and lines of a paragraph are joined so that the voice does not pause at every line end. Scanned PDFs are pictures of pages and have no text layer: make them searchable with PDF OCR first. Password-protected PDFs must be unlocked first with PDF Unlock.
Limitations
- Voices, languages and sound quality depend on your device and browser; some voices ignore the pitch setting.
- Firefox on Linux has voices only when the system speech service is installed.
- Online voices need a connection, and the browser sends your text to their provider.
- Speech cannot be saved as an audio file (see above).
- Tables, footnotes and columns in PDFs are read in the order the PDF stores them, which is not always the visual order.
- Opening the first PDF downloads the site’s PDF reader (about 2 MB). So that PDFs also open offline, the site may save it in the background after your first visit, unless your browser’s data saver is on or the connection is very slow.
Privacy
Everything happens in your browser, and nothing you type or open is uploaded to MySmartCoPilot. On-device voices — the default — keep your text on this device and work offline. Voices marked online are run by your browser’s maker (for example Google or Microsoft): if you choose one, your browser sends the text to that service to make the speech.
Frequently asked questions
Is it free, and is there a length limit?
It is free. There is no length limit beyond what your device can handle: the page reads one sentence at a time, so long texts work too.
How do I get a Hindi or other Indian-language voice?
Choose the language in the list. If it is missing, add a voice in your system settings (see Getting more and better voices) and reload the page. Windows offers Hindi voices such as Microsoft Kalpana, Apple devices have Lekha, and Android’s speech service includes Hindi and several other Indian languages.
Can I download the speech as an MP3?
No. Browsers play speech straight to the speakers and do not give pages the audio, so no honest in-browser tool can save it. You can keep the text and play it here again at any time.
Why does the reading pause between sentences?
The page gives the voice one sentence at a time. That avoids a known problem where Chrome stops some voices after about 15 seconds of continuous speech, and it lets you pause and skip reliably. The pauses are short and natural with most voices.
Does it work offline?
Yes, with on-device voices, once the page has loaded. Online voices need a connection.