Read Aloud function on PDFs opened with Microsoft Edge, just constantly loading but never works

Hello LEB_129，

Welcome to the Microsoft community.

You are experiencing an issue where the Read Aloud feature is not working properly when opening PDF files in the Microsoft Edge browser. Although you have tried updating your browser, clearing cookies, and testing in multiple versions of Edge, the issue persists. The blue loading bar continues to display at the top of the PDF, but the read aloud feature never kicks in.

Looking forward to more information from you to help me better analyze your problem:

• How long have you had this problem?

• Have you made any major changes to your computer recently?

• View Microsoft Edge versions

  Find out which version of Microsoft Edge you have - Microsoft Support

• You are all PDF text can not use the function?

It is recommended that you perform the following steps:

Reset Microsoft Edge:

Open the Edge browser.

Click on the three dots (Settings and More) icon in the top right corner.

Select Settings.

In the left-hand menu, scroll to the bottom and select Reset Settings.

Select "Reset to default settings".

Confirm the reset.

Disable extensions:

Sometimes third-party extensions may interfere with the read-aloud function of PDF.

Open the Edge browser.

Click on the three dots (Settings and More) icon in the top right corner.

Select Extensions.

Disable all extensions and try to use the read-aloud feature again.

Start Edge in Safe Mode:

I suggest you go into Safe mode to see if  the system itself has a problem. We can use this to isolate the problem as Safe Mode enables a minimal number of additional services or apps to rule out issues caused by personalized settings and third-party apps.  

The above steps will help to narrow down where the problem occurs.Looking forward to you sharing more information.If you have any other questions, please contact us

Best wishes

Lyla Liu - MSFT |Microsoft Community Support Specialist

Looking forward to more information from you to help me better analyze your problem:

• How long have you had this problem?
  From the past 3-4 months. I thought it was bug from an update, so I tried installing old versions, but it didn't work.

• Have you made any major changes to your computer recently?

  No.

• View Microsoft Edge version

  Current Version 124.0.2478.51 (Official build) (arm64) - mac os

• You are all PDF text cannot use the function?

  Yes, Read Aloud feature is not working with any of the pdfs.
  
  Whenever I do Read Aloud on a pdf, it just keepings loading infinitely. It's one of the Main Reason I use Edge.
  Please help.

I tried on safe mode (using F5 to enable network connections still) but no PDFs would open whilst on this mode. (Screenshot attached). They all said: Hmmm... can't reach this page, then: It looks like the webpage at file.... FILE ADDRESS... might be having issues or it may have moved permanently to a new web address.

Hello LEB_129，

Welcome to the Microsoft community.

Thank you for the additional information, I have reviewed a lot of information regarding your question and tested accordingly.

You can try the procedure and check if the method -applies to your computer environment:

you can download this extension that also lets you upload a pdf Read Aloud: A Text to Speech Voice Reader - Microsoft Edge Addons. From the upload you can either use the extension or use the built-in edge read aloud feature because after uploading the file the pdf is in a website format and not a file format.

Microsoft Edge read aloud function is not working on pdf files - Microsoft Community

I will be very happy with any progress on your question, so please feel free to contact us with any questions you may have.

Best wishes

Lyla Liu - MSFT |Microsoft Community Support Specialist

The read-aloud extension works but does not have the same quality of audio when compared to the read-aloud feature that comes in-built in Edge.

I believe there is a bug after version 120.0.2210.xxx which made the in-built read-aloud feature faulty.

Thanks for your replies.

Agreed, the extension mentioned above is significantly worse quality and less user friendly than the original function.

I agree that it seems like a bug in the update, how can we get this reported and fixed?

Thanks

Hi Lyla,

As mentioned by others below, we believe this is an issue/bug from the recent update, any news on when this will be fixed?

Many thanks

I have the same issue, been there for few months. Don't see any fix so far

I'm having this issue too. I need it for my college classes. I've tried everything I can think of, still not working for me.

Hi Lyla,

Any updates on this, it's evident that other's are also having this problem.

Thanks!