New versions of Windows often add new text-to-speech voices. Windows Vista added Anna which was retained up to Windows 7. Windows 8 also had new voices, David, Zira and Hazel. Windows 10 features a set of additional voices which you can use with Narrator and Cortana.
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If you are following Winaero for some time, you may remember the article related to one of the pre-release Windows 10 builds where we saw how it was possible to get two extra voices, Microsoft Mark Mobile and Microsoft Eva Mobile. The same method can be used to get extra voices in recent Windows 10 builds.
Tip: If you a fan of Text-to-Speech voices, you can get many more localized voices if you install Language Packs for your version of Windows. For example, the Spanish version includes Helena and Sabina. The French version has Microsoft Hortense, German has Hedda, Japanese has Haruka and Huihui, Chinese Traditional version has Tracy and so on. See the corresponding table at the end of this article.
The voices can be unlocked with a special Registry tweak. Before proceeding, ensure that your user account has administrative privileges. Now, follow the instructions below.
To unlock extra Text to Speech voices in Windows 10, do the following.
- Open the Registry Editor app.
- Go to the following Registry key.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Speech_OneCore\Voices\Tokens
See how to go to a Registry key with one click. Here you will see the list of voices installed in your Windows 10. In my case, it looks as follows, while I can't access all of them.
- On the left, right-click on the voice you want to make available and select 'Export' from the context menu.
- Open the *.reg file with Notepad and replace the portion
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Speech_OneCore\TokenswithHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Speech\Voices\Tokens.
- If you are running 64-bit Windows, you may want to make the voice available to third-party 32-bit apps. Copy everything below the
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00line and paste to the end of the file. - For the pasted lines, replace the registry path from
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Speech\Voices\TokenswithHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\SPEECH\Voices\Tokens. - Save your edited file as a new *.reg file and double-click it to merge it.
Voila, you can access this voice from the Settings app.
The exported Registry file for the George (en-GB) voice:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Speech_OneCore\Voices\Tokens\MSTTS_V110_enGB_GeorgeM]
@="Microsoft George - English (United Kingdom)"
"809"="Microsoft George - English (United Kingdom)"
"CLSID"="{179F3D56-1B0B-42B2-A962-59B7EF59FE1B}"
"LangDataPath"=hex(2):25,00,77,00,69,00,6e,00,64,00,69,00,72,00,25,00,5c,00,53,\
00,70,00,65,00,65,00,63,00,68,00,5f,00,4f,00,6e,00,65,00,43,00,6f,00,72,00,\
65,00,5c,00,45,00,6e,00,67,00,69,00,6e,00,65,00,73,00,5c,00,54,00,54,00,53,\
00,5c,00,65,00,6e,00,2d,00,47,00,42,00,5c,00,4d,00,53,00,54,00,54,00,53,00,\
4c,00,6f,00,63,00,65,00,6e,00,47,00,42,00,2e,00,64,00,61,00,74,00,00,00
"VoicePath"=hex(2):25,00,77,00,69,00,6e,00,64,00,69,00,72,00,25,00,5c,00,53,00,\
70,00,65,00,65,00,63,00,68,00,5f,00,4f,00,6e,00,65,00,43,00,6f,00,72,00,65,\
00,5c,00,45,00,6e,00,67,00,69,00,6e,00,65,00,73,00,5c,00,54,00,54,00,53,00,\
5c,00,65,00,6e,00,2d,00,47,00,42,00,5c,00,4d,00,32,00,30,00,35,00,37,00,47,\
00,65,00,6f,00,72,00,67,00,65,00,00,00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Speech_OneCore\Voices\Tokens\MSTTS_V110_enGB_GeorgeM\Attributes]
"Age"="Adult"
"DataVersion"="11.0.2013.1022"
"Gender"="Male"
"Language"="809"
"Name"="Microsoft George"
"SayAsSupport"="spell=NativeSupported; cardinal=GlobalSupported; ordinal=NativeSupported; date=GlobalSupported; time=GlobalSupported; telephone=NativeSupported; computer=NativeSupported; address=NativeSupported; currency=NativeSupported; message=NativeSupported; media=NativeSupported; url=NativeSupported; alphanumeric=NativeSupported"
"SharedPronunciation"=""
"Vendor"="Microsoft"
"Version"="11.0"The same file after all the required edits:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Speech\Voices\Tokens\MSTTS_V110_enGB_GeorgeM]
@="Microsoft George - English (United Kingdom)"
"809"="Microsoft George - English (United Kingdom)"
"CLSID"="{179F3D56-1B0B-42B2-A962-59B7EF59FE1B}"
"LangDataPath"=heWx(2):25,00,77,00,69,00,6e,00,64,00,69,00,72,00,25,00,5c,00,53,\
00,70,00,65,00,65,00,63,00,68,00,5f,00,4f,00,6e,00,65,00,43,00,6f,00,72,00,\
65,00,5c,00,45,00,6e,00,67,00,69,00,6e,00,65,00,73,00,5c,00,54,00,54,00,53,\
00,5c,00,65,00,6e,00,2d,00,47,00,42,00,5c,00,4d,00,53,00,54,00,54,00,53,00,\
4c,00,6f,00,63,00,65,00,6e,00,47,00,42,00,2e,00,64,00,61,00,74,00,00,00
"VoicePath"=hex(2):25,00,77,00,69,00,6e,00,64,00,69,00,72,00,25,00,5c,00,53,00,\
70,00,65,00,65,00,63,00,68,00,5f,00,4f,00,6e,00,65,00,43,00,6f,00,72,00,65,\
00,5c,00,45,00,6e,00,67,00,69,00,6e,00,65,00,73,00,5c,00,54,00,54,00,53,00,\
5c,00,65,00,6e,00,2d,00,47,00,42,00,5c,00,4d,00,32,00,30,00,35,00,37,00,47,\
00,65,00,6f,00,72,00,67,00,65,00,00,00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Speech\Voices\Tokens\MSTTS_V110_enGB_GeorgeM\Attributes]
"Age"="Adult"
"DataVersion"="11.0.2013.1022"
"Gender"="Male"
"Language"="809"
"Name"="Microsoft George"
"SayAsSupport"="spell=NativeSupported; cardinal=GlobalSupported; ordinal=NativeSupported; date=GlobalSupported; time=GlobalSupported; telephone=NativeSupported; computer=NativeSupported; address=NativeSupported; currency=NativeSupported; message=NativeSupported; media=NativeSupported; url=NativeSupported; alphanumeric=NativeSupported"
"SharedPronunciation"=""
"Vendor"="Microsoft"
"Version"="11.0"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\SPEECH\Voices\TokensW\MSTTS_V110_enGB_GeorgeM]
@="Microsoft George - English (United Kingdom)"
"809"="Microsoft George - English (United Kingdom)"
"CLSID"="{179F3D56-1B0B-42B2-A962-59B7EF59FE1B}"
"LangDataPath"=hex(2):25,00,77,00,69,00,6e,00,64,00,69,00,72,00,25,00,5c,00,53,\
00,70,00,65,00,65,00,63,00,68,00,5f,00,4f,00,6e,00,65,00,43,00,6f,00,72,00,\
65,00,5c,00,45,00,6e,00,67,00,69,00,6e,00,65,00,73,00,5c,00,54,00,54,00,53,\
00,5c,00,65,00,6e,00,2d,00,47,00,42,00,5c,00,4d,00,53,00,54,00,54,00,53,00,\
4c,00,6f,00,63,00,65,00,6e,00,47,00,42,00,2e,00,64,00,61,00,74,00,00,00
"VoicePath"=hex(2):25,00,77,00,69,00,6e,00,64,00,69,00,72,00,25,00,5c,00,53,00,\
70,00,65,00,65,00,63,00,68,00,5f,00,4f,00,6e,00,65,00,43,00,6f,00,72,00,65,\
00,5c,00,45,00,6e,00,67,00,69,00,6e,00,65,00,73,00,5c,00,54,00,54,00,53,00,\
5c,00,65,00,6e,00,2d,00,47,00,42,00,5c,00,4d,00,32,00,30,00,35,00,37,00,47,\
00,65,00,6f,00,72,00,67,00,65,00,00,00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\SPEECH\Voices\Tokens\MSTTS_V110_enGB_GeorgeM\Attributes]
"Age"="Adult"
"DataVersion"="11.0.2013.1022"
"Gender"="Male"
"Language"="809"
"Name"="Microsoft George"
"SayAsSupport"="spell=NativeSupported; cardinal=GlobalSupported; ordinal=NativeSupported; date=GlobalSupported; time=GlobalSupported; telephone=NativeSupported; computer=NativeSupported; address=NativeSupported; currency=NativeSupported; message=NativeSupported; media=NativeSupported; url=NativeSupported; alphanumeric=NativeSupported"
"SharedPronunciation"=""
"Vendor"="Microsoft"
"Version"="11.0"Here is the list of voices that can be found in various language packs.
| 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 |
Cortana voices
The same way, you can access extra Cortana voices. Export the voices from the following Registry branch:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\AppContainer\Storage\microsoft.windows.cortana_cw5n1h2txyewy\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Speech_OneCore\Isolated\jWXZvMzcRxToSdOzNgXV_L3ZSrLDNbZuY5NZNWCCUd8\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Speech_OneCore\Voices\Tokens
Then edit the exported file and place the values of the exported path under the following Registry branches
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Speech_OneCore\Voices\Tokens
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Speech\Voices\Tokens
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\SPEECH\Voices\Token
For reference, you can download the Registry tweak for the Eva voice.
Download Registry Tweak for Eva Voice
That's it. (via Reddit).
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Thank you SO much for this… I was beating my head against a wall trying to get an alternate voice to work. This was a PERFECT instructional!
Also needs to be added for Wow6432Node so dozens of 32-bit old Speech apps get these voices :)
THANK YOU.
THANK YOU.
THANK YOU.
Unbelievable how much time was required to find this good answer.
oh hell yeaaaah, spent days trying to figure out why the hell one system setting had voices and the other one wouldn’t populate
This method doesn’t help in case of windows 11. I think something more has to be done. Kindly help