Changing voice on the Mac

By rachel, 29 November, 2023

Forum
macOS and Mac Apps

Hi,, wondering if anyone can help please? Before i updated my Mac book to the most up-to-date version of Mac OS the other day i had my preferred Irish Siri voice, and can't ever remember having a particularly hard time changing it. Once i had completed this most recent update i noticed Voiceover had switched back to the default daniel voice. Trouble is i'm having an awful time trying to change it back to the irish siri that i prefer (i just hate the daniel voice). So once in Voiceover utility, i am arrowing down to "speech", Vo right arrow to "custom language" and interacting with the table, VO right to the voice pop-up menu, Vo space on that and arrowing to the voice i'd like. When i VO space on that voice to choose it it's only speaking a tiny sample; daniel just stays checked no matter what i'm doing. Apologies for the long winded description, but i hope maybe it might work to help someone figure out whether i'm missing something? I don't remember struggling like this last time. Many thanks in advance for any help.

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By Brian on Friday, November 24, 2023 - 16:10

Well not really.
Although, if I understand your question, you are stuck at the list of voices and cannot proceed from there?
You are doing everything right, just need a few more steps. Do this:

1. Once you are inside the list of voices from within VO Utility, press Shift + VO + 'm'. All at once. This will open a context menu where you can listen to a sample, or download the voice. Press enter, or VO + space on the download option.

2. Once it is downloaded, press Shift + VO + Command to access the VO Voice menu. While holding those buttons down, use left or right arrow to navigate between the different categories, then when on 'Voice', press up or down to find your preferred voice. Once you are on that voice, just release Shift + VO + Command and you should be good to go.

HTH. 😅

By rachel on Friday, November 24, 2023 - 16:10

Thanks brian. Sorted now. The voice i use didn't need downloading, but at least i know how to do that now if ever i do want to download. I wouldn't have had a clue.