# Speech (Read Aloud) is not Working **URL:** \ **Category:** Scrivener for Windows\ **Tags:** bug, troubleshooting, os-related\ **Created:** [April 6, 2024, 9:02am UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/speech-read-aloud-is-not-working/140046 "2024-04-06T09:02:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Migdee04](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/user_avatar/forum.literatureandlatte.com/migdee04/32/32038_2.png) [@Migdee04](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/Migdee04)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2024, 9:02am UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/speech-read-aloud-is-not-working/140046/1 "2024-04-06T09:02:08Z")
Hello everyone. Author Migdalia Torres here. This April Camp NaNoWriMo is not working for me when it comes to the Scrivener 3 (Windows 11) Speak and Read Aloud. This is one of my favorite features and it is now working. I have to read aloud to myself, and I would prefer Speech and Read for English as my Second language and Espanol is my first. The pronunciation of words is crucial in this one. Any suggestions as to why it is not working on my Scrivener 3 Windows 11., Also, I have not seen any Updates for Scrivener 3 (Windows 11). Have we been forgotten? (mt) ---
**Author:** ![RuthS](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/user_avatar/forum.literatureandlatte.com/ruths/32/17147_2.png) [@RuthS](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/RuthS)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2024, 9:37pm UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/speech-read-aloud-is-not-working/140046/2 "2024-04-10T21:37:25Z")
Hi Migdee04, and welcome to the forum. First, please try rebooting your computer if you haven’t already. If text-to-speech still doesn’t function after that, please try the following steps: 1. Download and unzip the attached “qtexttospeech\_winrt.zip” file: [qtexttospeech\_winrt.zip](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/uploads/short-url/y5dP7M6IleonQP0p415GZEGyOdd.zip) (26.0 KB) 2. Make sure Scrivener is closed. Then, move the “qtexttospeech\_winrt.dll” file into the “texttospeech” subfolder in Scrivener’s installation folder. (On most PCs, the path will be `C:\Program Files\Scrivener3\texttospeech`). 3. Once the file has been placed into the `texttospeech` folder, launch Scrivener and try using the text to speech function to see if the issue is resolved. ---
**Author:** ![ADGreenwrites](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/c68b51/32.png) [@ADGreenwrites](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/ADGreenwrites)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2024, 3:31pm UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/speech-read-aloud-is-not-working/140046/3 "2024-06-12T15:31:12Z")
I’m having trouble with the text-to-speech. I was playing with the settings trying to find a voice or pitch that I liked and now it won’t play at all. Is there a way to fix this? ---
**Author:** ![RuthS](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/user_avatar/forum.literatureandlatte.com/ruths/32/17147_2.png) [@RuthS](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/RuthS)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2024, 11:42am UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/speech-read-aloud-is-not-working/140046/4 "2024-06-13T11:42:54Z")
It would be helpful to know if you’re using a Mac or a Windows computer and which version of Scrivener you have installed. On both operating systems, we’re borrowing from the OS provided text-to-speech tools, so having the OS version information could also be helpful in case you’ve encountered a known bug. ---
**Author:** ![ADGreenwrites](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/c68b51/32.png) [@ADGreenwrites](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/ADGreenwrites)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2024, 2:03pm UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/speech-read-aloud-is-not-working/140046/5 "2024-06-13T14:03:04Z")
I’m using version 3 of Scrivener and Windows. ---
**Author:** ![RuthS](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/user_avatar/forum.literatureandlatte.com/ruths/32/17147_2.png) [@RuthS](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/RuthS)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2024, 2:09pm UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/speech-read-aloud-is-not-working/140046/6 "2024-06-13T14:09:47Z")
I’ve just merged your post into another post with a similar issue. If you scroll up, you’ll see some troubleshooting suggestions I had posted previously. I recommend starting there to see if those suggestions resolve the issue. ---
**Author:** ![Migdee04](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/user_avatar/forum.literatureandlatte.com/migdee04/32/32038_2.png) [@Migdee04](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/Migdee04)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2024, 6:19pm UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/speech-read-aloud-is-not-working/140046/7 "2024-06-21T18:19:08Z")
Thank You so much. I did just that and when you put it in the Folder the Speak Aloud began to work. Once again Thank You for your help. ---
**Author:** ![onewnan](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/o/53a042/32.png) [@onewnan](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/onewnan)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2025, 12:38am UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/speech-read-aloud-is-not-working/140046/8 "2025-09-14T00:38:13Z")
I have the same problem running Scrivener 3.1.6.0 (2862669) 64-bit - 02 Sep 2025 on Windows 11 Home 24H2. I installed qtexttospeech\_winrt as described but it made no difference. ---
**Author:** ![Vincent\_Vincent](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/user_avatar/forum.literatureandlatte.com/vincent_vincent/32/19680_2.png) [@Vincent\_Vincent](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/Vincent_Vincent)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2025, 1:12am UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/speech-read-aloud-is-not-working/140046/9 "2025-09-14T01:12:30Z")
Did it ever work? If not, it could be your audio that’s routed wrong in Windows’ settings (?) ---
**Author:** ![onewnan](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/o/53a042/32.png) [@onewnan](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/onewnan)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2025, 1:27am UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/speech-read-aloud-is-not-working/140046/10 "2025-09-14T01:27:34Z")
Other speech to text functions like Narrator work fine through my headphones, and speech used to work fine with Scrivener. I suspect the new Scrivener release. ---
**Author:** ![onewnan](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/o/53a042/32.png) [@onewnan](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/onewnan)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2025, 3:17pm UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/speech-read-aloud-is-not-working/140046/11 "2025-09-17T15:17:13Z")
> I turned out to have two problems: > > > > > 1. I had forgotten Scrivener speech settings are nexxt to the speech command in the edit dropdown, not in the main settings. They had been working but reset somehow, I selected the winrt engine, having installed the DLL. > > > > 1. There was an issue with output to my Jabra headset which initially only affected Scrivener, but eventually all audio software connected to Jabra. Windows showed activity but the headset only made a slight click. I reset the phones, downloaded firmware, and bypassed the dongle, to connect directly with my laptop. Now all output works, including Scrivener speech. ---
**Author:** ![PKEIIYSRS](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/user_avatar/forum.literatureandlatte.com/pkeiiysrs/32/35483_2.png) [@PKEIIYSRS](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/PKEIIYSRS)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2025, 6:52am UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/speech-read-aloud-is-not-working/140046/12 "2025-09-18T06:52:56Z")
I am having some similar problems getting my Windows 11 pc to read aloud my text in Scrivener. Scrivener MUST be the window in focus to keep the Windows text to speech engine talking. Clicking another app stops the text-to-speech engine from reading aloud. It not a big problem, but I sometimes like to multi-task and look at text messages, etc. while listening to Windows reading my story aloud. I can’t do that. I wish Scrivener would continue prattling on until I indicate it can stop. Often, I cannot resume the reading aloud function from the Scrivener menu. However, I CAN usually resume from the Windows magnifier tool. (I have uploaded a screenshot). I float the magnifier tool above Scrivener so it is handy. It has a ‘read from here’ and a ‘playback’ buttons. ![Screenshot 2025-09-17 233234](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/uploads/default/original/3X/3/0/3090de2e7dada75bc751849eea6347dcfc7df71e.png) I am using Win 11 Home Version 10.0.26100 Build 26100 Scrivener Version: 3.1.6.0 (2862669) 64-bit - 02 Sep 2025 ---
**Author:** ![BlackAeronaut](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/user_avatar/forum.literatureandlatte.com/blackaeronaut/32/18043_2.png) [@BlackAeronaut](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/BlackAeronaut)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2025, 8:42am UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/speech-read-aloud-is-not-working/140046/13 "2025-09-20T08:42:08Z")
I just had to apply this fix for a second time. It works, but it’s awfully annoying to have to download and copy the text-to-speech dll file every time it breaks. This seems to be an issue in Scrivener where sometimes messing around with the Text-To-Speech settings somehow breaks it. Is this a known bug that is on the fix-list? Just for the record, I’m using: Scrivener Version: 3.1.6.0 (2862669) 64-bit Windows 10 Home Edition Version 22H2 Build 19045.6332 Hardware details available upon request.