How to Listen to a PDF: Read Aloud with Speed and Voice Control

Long reports, study notes, a contract you must go through, an article saved as PDF. Reading them on a small screen tires your eyes, and when you are cooking, walking or travelling, you cannot read at all.

The easy way is to listen to the PDF. A read aloud tool speaks the text of the page, while you do something else.

When do you need Read Aloud?

• Study material or notes that you want to revise by listening
• A long report you need to go through while you travel
• Reading is tiring for your eyes, and listening is easier
• You want to catch mistakes in your own writing by hearing it
• You want to follow the text while it is spoken, to practise a language

How to listen to a PDF step by step

1. Open the Read Aloud tool. Use the button at the top of this page to open Pdfyra Workspace.
2. Add your PDF. Tap Select PDF file, or drop the file in. You can also pick it from Google Drive or Dropbox.
3. See the page text. Pdfyra shows the text of the page, such as "Page 1 of 2", so you can follow along.
4. Tap play. The reading starts. Use the previous and next buttons to move between pages, and the stop button to stop.
5. Set the speed. Move the Speed slider to make the voice slower or faster.
6. Choose a voice. Pick one from the Voice list. The change applies from the next sentence.

Tips for better listening

Start slow for difficult text. Technical or legal text is easier to follow at normal or slower speed.

Speed up for familiar content. Notes you already know can be played faster to save time.

Try different voices. Some voices sound clearer than others, and the list depends on your device and browser.

Use earphones in public places. They give clear sound and keep your documents private.

Scanned file? A scan is only a picture, so there is no text to read. First get the text with how to extract text from a scanned PDF, or see how to scan documents to PDF.

Only some pages? Take out the pages you need first. See how to extract pages from a PDF.

Many files? Join them into one before listening. Here is how to merge PDF files on your phone.

Locked file? If it asks for a password, see how to unlock a PDF.

Ready to listen?

Open the tool, add your PDF, tap play and let it read for you.