Spice Up Your Windows: Get More Text to Speech Voices!
Want more voices for your Windows text-to-speech? You got it! If you’ve installed language packs, you’re in for a treat. This guide will show you how to unlock a treasure trove of extra voices on Windows 10 & 11 with a simple registry tweak.
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Unleashing Hidden Voices: A Registry Adventure¶
Ready to dive into the world of registry edits? It’s easier than you think! But before we start, safety first! Back up your registry or create a system restore point. This way, you can easily revert any changes if something goes wrong.
Step-by-Step Registry Tweak Guide¶
Here’s how to unlock those extra voices:
- Open the Run dialog: Hit Windows key + R.
- Launch Registry Editor: Type
regeditand hit Enter.
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- Navigate to the Key: Head to this path:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Speech_OneCore\Voices\Tokens - Export the Voice: Right-click the voice you want to unlock and select Export. Save it to your desktop for easy access.
- Edit the .reg File: Right-click the exported .reg file and choose Edit. This will open it in Notepad.
- Replace the Path (Part 1): Find this line:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Speech_OneCore\Tokensand replace it with:HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Speech\Voices\Tokens - For 64-bit Windows Users (Optional but Recommended): If you’re on a 64-bit system and want the voice available for 32-bit apps too, copy everything below the
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00line and paste it at the end of the file. - Replace the Path (Part 2 - 64-bit only): In the pasted section, find this path:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Speech\Voices\Tokensand replace it with:HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\SPEECH\Voices\Tokens - Save the Changes: Save the edited file as a new .reg file (give it a descriptive name).
- Merge into Registry: Double-click the new .reg file to merge the changes into your registry.
Enjoy Your New Voices!¶
That’s it! You’ve successfully unlocked those extra text-to-speech voices. Head to the Speech settings in your Windows settings app, and you’ll find your new voices ready to go.
Text-to-Speech Voices Available in Windows (Sourced from Microsoft)¶
Here’s a handy table showing the languages and voices you can expect to find in Windows. Keep in mind that some languages only have one gender voice available.
| Language, Country, or Region | Male Voice Name | Female Voice Name |
|---|---|---|
| Arabic | Not applicable | Hoda |
| Arabic (Saudi Arabia) | Naayf | Not applicable |
| Bulgarian | Ivan | Not applicable |
| Catalan | Not applicable | Herena |
| Chinese (Simplified) | Kangkang | Huihui, Yaoyao |
| Cantonese (Traditional, Hong Kong SAR) | Danny | Tracy |
| Chinese (Traditional, Taiwan) | Zhiwei | Yating, Hanhan |
| Croatian | Matej | Not applicable |
| Czech (Czech Republic) | Jakub | Not applicable |
| Danish | Not applicable | Helle |
| Dutch | Frank | Not applicable |
| English (Australia) | James | Catherine |
| English (Canada) | Richard | Linda |
| English (Great Britain) | George | Hazel, Susan |
| English (India) | Ravi | Heera |
| English (Ireland) | Sean | Not applicable |
| English (United States) | David, Mark | Zira |
| Finnish | Not applicable | Heidi |
| Flemish (Belgian Dutch) | Bart | Not applicable |
| French (Canada) | Claude | Caroline |
| French (France) | Paul | Hortence, Julie |
| German (Germany) | Stefan | Hedda, Katja |
| German (Switzerland) | Karsten | Not applicable |
| Greek | Stefanos | Not applicable |
| Hebrew | Asaf | Not applicable |
| Hindi (India) | Hemant | Kalpana |
| Hungarian (Hungary) | Szabolcs | Not applicable |
| Indonesian (Indonesia) | Andika | Not applicable |
| Italian | Cosimo | Elsa |
| Japanese | Ichiro | Ayumi, Haruka |
| Malay | Rizwan | Not applicable |
| Norwegian | Jon | Not applicable |
| Polish (Poland) | Adam | Paulina |
| Portuguese (Brazil) | Daniel | Maria |
| Portuguese (Portugal) | Not applicable | Helia |
| Romanian (Romania) | Andrei | Not applicable |
| Russian (Russia) | Pavel | Irina |
| Slovak (Slovakia) | Filip | Not applicable |
| Slovenian | Lado | Not applicable |
| Korean | Not applicable | Heami |
| Spanish (Spain) | Pablo | Helena, Laura |
| Spanish (Mexico) | Raul | Sabina |
| Swedish | Bengt | Not applicable |
| Tamil | Valluvar | Not applicable |
| Thai (Thailand) | Pattara | Not applicable |
| Turkish | Tolga | Not applicable |
| Vietnamese | An | Not applicable |
That concludes our journey into unlocking extra text-to-speech voices. We hope you found this guide helpful! Feel free to share your thoughts, questions, or experiences in the comments below. We’d love to hear from you! And if you’re looking for more Windows tips and tricks, be sure to visit again soon!
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