Change your Mac's voice and how fast it talks

Why it happens

Your Mac reads text aloud with one main voice, called the system voice, at a set speed. Features like Speak selection use it. Siri and VoiceOver each have a voice of their own, set somewhere else.

How to fix it

1. Open the Apple menu, choose System Settings, then click Accessibility in the sidebar.

2. Click Read & Speak, then choose a voice from the System voice menu.

   Accessibility›Read & Speak›System voice

3. For more choice, pick Manage Voices… at the bottom of that menu and tick the voices you want. Each one downloads the first time.

4. Click the info button (ⓘ) next to System voice and drag Speaking rate to make it faster or slower.

Still not fixed?

1. Want Siri to sound different? Siri has its own voice. On macOS 26, open Apple Intelligence & Siri and change Voice. On macOS 27, click Siri in the sidebar, then Voice.

   macOS 26 Tahoe Apple Intelligence & Siri›Voice

   macOS 27 Golden Gate Siri›Voice

2. Changing the voice of VoiceOver, the screen reader? Open VoiceOver Utility from Accessibility > VoiceOver, then go to Speech and Voices.

   Accessibility›VoiceOver

3. If a voice sounds flat or robotic, download one marked Enhanced from Manage Voices… in the System voice menu. These sound more natural but take more space.

4. If no voice speaks at all, check your sound output and volume in Sound settings, then try another voice. If it still stays silent, contact Apple Support.