Unlock Extra Text to Speech Voices in Windows 10

Microphone Dictation Speech Icon

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.

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.

  1. Open the Registry Editor app.
  2. 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.

  3. On the left, right-click on the voice you want to make available and select 'Export' from the context menu.
  4. Open the *.reg file with Notepad and replace the portion HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Speech_OneCore\Tokens with HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Speech\Voices\Tokens.
  5. 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 5.00 line and paste to the end of the file.
  6. For the pasted lines, replace the registry path from HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Speech\Voices\Tokens with HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\SPEECH\Voices\Tokens.
  7. 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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Author: Sergey Tkachenko

Sergey Tkachenko is a software developer who started Winaero back in 2011. On this blog, Sergey is writing about everything connected to Microsoft, Windows and popular software. Follow him on Telegram, Twitter, and YouTube.

5 thoughts on “Unlock Extra Text to Speech Voices in Windows 10”

  1. 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!

  2. oh hell yeaaaah, spent days trying to figure out why the hell one system setting had voices and the other one wouldn’t populate

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