MotionShineShort answer: choose Apple menu > System Settings > Accessibility > Read & Speak (on macOS Sequoia 15 it is called Spoken Content), and turn on Speak selection. Then select text in any app and press Option-Esc. Press Option-Esc again to stop. That is Apple's own method, and it costs nothing. It reads aloud but does not save a file. For an audio file, use the say command in Terminal, or the free Text to speech tool for an MP3 with subtitles.
Steps and menu names are from Apple's Mac User Guide, checked on 7 November 2026 for macOS 27 Golden Gate, Tahoe 26 and Sequoia 15.
Which name does your Mac use?
Apple renamed the setting. The steps are the same, only the pane name changes.
| macOS version | Where the setting is |
|---|---|
| macOS 27 Golden Gate | System Settings > Accessibility > Read & Speak |
| macOS Tahoe 26 | System Settings > Accessibility > Read & Speak |
| macOS Sequoia 15 | System Settings > Accessibility > Spoken Content |
To see your version, choose Apple menu > About This Mac. Older guides online that say "Spoken Content" on a new Mac are not wrong, just dated.
Turn on text to speech (Speak selection)
- Choose Apple menu > System Settings.
- Click Accessibility in the sidebar. You may need to scroll down.
- Click Read & Speak (or Spoken Content on Sequoia 15).
- Turn on Speak selection.
- In any app, select the text you want to hear and press Option-Esc.
- Press Option-Esc again to stop.
Apple's guide says that if no text is selected, the text items in the current window are spoken, and if there is nothing to speak, you hear a sound instead.
In many apps you can also skip the setting: choose Edit > Speech > Start Speaking, and Edit > Speech > Stop Speaking when you are done. This works in TextEdit, and in Preview for a PDF.
Change the voice, speed and shortcut
In the same pane:
- System voice: pick a voice from the pop-up menu. To change how fast or loud it speaks, click the Info button next to it, adjust the settings and click Play to hear a sample.
- More voices: in that Info window, click a language, then a voice name, and click Download if you see the button. Apple notes the voice is not available until the download finishes.
- System speech language: choose the language if it differs from your Mac's language. Detect languages switches between languages when a text mixes them.
- Keyboard shortcut: click the Info button next to Speak selection and press the keys you want instead of Option-Esc.
- Highlight content: have words, sentences or both highlighted as they are read, or choose None.
- Show controller: Automatically, Never or Always. The controller lets you pause, skip a sentence forward or back, and change the speaking rate while it reads.
- Pronunciations: turn custom pronunciations on or off, and edit them, for names the voice says wrong.
To switch Speak selection on and off with a key, choose System Settings > Keyboard > Keyboard Shortcuts > Accessibility, then "Turn speak selection on or off".
Save the Mac's speech as an audio file
Read & Speak only plays the voice. To keep it as a file, use the say command that comes with macOS. Open Terminal (in Applications > Utilities) and type say -o speech.aiff "Paste your text here." then press Return. A new Terminal window starts in your home folder, so that is where speech.aiff lands. Per the command's manual page (type man say):
| You want | Type |
|---|---|
| Read a whole text file | say -f script.txt -o speech.aiff |
| Use a different voice | say -v Daniel -o speech.aiff "Hello" (a voice from the list below) |
| See the voices you have | say -v '?' |
| Speak slower or faster | say -r 160 "Hello" (words per minute) |
AIFF is the default format, and most Mac apps and video editors open it. You get the Mac's own voices, no subtitles, and no MP3 without converting.
The browser option: MP3, WAV and subtitles
When you need a voice-over for a video, the free Text to speech tool on this site works in a browser on your Mac. It is our own tool, so take this as a vendor's description.
- Paste or open your script, up to 20,000 characters at a time.
- Pick one of the voices: eight American and British English voices, or Chinese, Spanish, French, German, Russian, Arabic, Hindi or Bangla.
- Set the speed (0.5x to 2x) and the pauses after sentences and between paragraphs.
- Click Make the speech. The first time, the voice downloads (about 92 MB for English) and stays for next time.
- Download MP3 or WAV, and Subtitles .srt or .vtt timed to the audio.
The voices run in your browser tab, so the text is never uploaded. It is slower than the Mac's own voice because your computer builds each sentence with an AI model.
| Read & Speak | say command | Text to speech tool | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free | Free | Free |
| Saves a file | No | AIFF | MP3 or WAV |
| Subtitles | No | No | SRT and VTT |
| Voices | Mac system voices | Mac system voices | 20 AI voices, 9 languages |
| Best for | Listening to anything on screen | Quick files, scripts | Voice-overs for videos |
If your Mac does not speak
| What happens | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Option-Esc does nothing | Speak selection is off | Turn it on in Read & Speak or Spoken Content |
| You hear a short sound | No text it can read | Select the text first, then press the shortcut |
| The shortcut works in some apps only | Another app uses Option-Esc | Set a different shortcut with the Info button |
| Silence | Volume or output device | Check the volume and the sound output in Control Center |
| The voice you picked is missing | Download not finished | Wait for it, then choose it under System voice |
| The Mac talks when you did not ask | VoiceOver is on | Press Command-F5 to turn VoiceOver off |
The last fix is from Apple's guide. On a Mac or Magic Keyboard with Touch ID, you can also hold Command and press Touch ID three times.
Put the voice on a video
If the voice is for a tutorial or a demo, record the screen first and lay the audio under it. MotionShine, by the maker of this site, is a free Mac screen recorder with a voice over lane in its editor. Free exports go up to 720p at 30 fps with no watermark. If you would rather use your own voice, see how to record your voice on a Mac, and for slides, how to record a PowerPoint presentation with voice on Mac.
FAQ
How do I turn on text to speech on a Mac?
Choose Apple menu > System Settings > Accessibility > Read & Speak (Spoken Content on Sequoia 15) and turn on Speak selection. Then select text and press Option-Esc. These are the steps in Apple's Mac User Guide.
What is the shortcut for text to speech on a Mac?
Option-Esc, once Speak selection is on. Press it again to stop. You can change it with the Info button next to Speak selection.
Can my Mac read a PDF out loud?
Yes. Open the PDF in Preview, select text or click into it, and press Option-Esc, or choose Edit > Speech > Start Speaking. To turn a PDF into MP3 files you can take with you, see how to turn a PDF into an audiobook.
Can I save the Mac's text to speech as an MP3?
Not directly. The say -o command in Terminal saves an AIFF file, which you can convert. For an MP3 straight away, use the free Text to speech tool in your browser.
How do I get better voices on my Mac?
Click the Info button next to System voice in Read & Speak, choose a language, then a voice, and click Download. When it finishes, pick it from the System voice menu.
Why is my Mac reading everything out loud?
VoiceOver, the screen reader, is probably on. Apple's guide says to press Command-F5 to turn it off.
