OneTaskBy Tim King · Updated
Text to Speech Download
Read Text Aloud and Save the Speech as Audio
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How the Text to Speech Downloader works
This text to speech download tool reads your text aloud in any voice your browser has, then records the speech so you can keep it. Paste the text, pick a voice, set the rate and pitch and press Play to listen. Press Export, share this tab with "Share tab audio" ticked, and the speech is recorded as a WebM audio file. Nothing is uploaded.
Browsers have a built-in speech engine, the Web Speech API, but it speaks straight to the speakers and offers no way to save what it says. The only honest way to capture it in a web page is to record the tab's own audio while it speaks, which is what Export does.
How the text to speech download works
Choose a voice. The list is whatever your browser and operating system provide, so it differs between machines. Chrome adds a set of "Google" voices, Edge adds Microsoft's natural-sounding online voices, and Safari offers the macOS and iOS voices.
Only some voices can be saved. Tab recording captures sound the browser itself plays. The online voices in Chrome ("Google US English" and friends) and Edge ("Microsoft … Online (Natural)") are rendered inside the browser, so they record. Voices that belong to the operating system are played by the system directly and bypass the tab, so the recording comes out silent. If your file is empty, pick a voice marked "In the browser (online)" in the panel.
Sharing the tab. When you press Export the browser asks what to share. Pick this tab and make sure "Share tab audio" is ticked; the picture is discarded and only the sound is kept. Recording stops by itself a moment after the speech ends. Tab audio sharing works in Chrome and Edge on desktop; Firefox and Safari do not offer it yet, so there Play works but Export cannot record.
The file. The recording is saved as WebM with Opus audio, which plays in every modern browser, VLC and most editors. If you need MP3 or WAV, open it in any audio converter.
Rate and pitch. Rate 1 is the voice's natural speed; 0.8 is easier for listening practice and 1.5 suits skimming. Some online voices ignore pitch or cap the rate.
FAQ
Why is my downloaded file silent?
The voice you chose is an operating-system voice, which plays outside the browser tab and cannot be captured. Choose one of the browser's own online voices, such as a "Google" voice in Chrome, and export again.
Is the text sent anywhere?
This page sends nothing. The browser's online voices, though, are generated by Google or Microsoft, so with those voices your text goes to them to be spoken. Device voices keep it local but cannot be recorded.
Can I use the audio commercially?
That depends on the voice's licence, not this page. The voices belong to Google, Microsoft or Apple; check their terms before using recordings in a product.
See also: all Audio & Video tools, Units, Images, Documents, Data & Code.
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