How to speed up microsoft word 2007 and 2010

Microsoft Office is perhaps the most used program in Windows 10, or for that matter in any Windows version. If you are a professional, MS Word, Excel and Powerpoint are something which you need regularly. These apps are most convenient to work on text documents, spreadsheets for data keeping, and for presentation purposes.

However, these apps can get sluggish at times, causing them to open very slow. This can be frustrating while you are working on a project, but there is a way by which you can open the Office documents faster. Let’s see how.

Table of Contents

#1 – How to Fix Microsoft Word Open Very Slow in Windows 10 Using File Options

Choose any application of MS office which is opening slow on your PC. In this case we have taken MS word for an example.

Step 1: Open MS Word > Click on the File tab on the upper left of the document.

Step 2: Click on the File tab > click on Options in the context menu.

Step 3: In the Word Options window > click on the Advanced tab on the left side of the pane > on the right side of the pane, scroll down to the General category > uncheck the Update automatic links at open option > press OK.

*Note – Pressing OK will save the changes and take you back to the open Word doc. Now, click on File and then Options again to reach the Word Options window.

Step 4: On the left side of the pane, click on Trust Center > on the right side of the pane, click on the Trust Center Settings button. Press OK to save the changes and exit.

Step 5: In the Trust Center window > on the left side panel click on Protected View > on the right-hand side panel uncheck all the options under the Protected View category. Press OK to save and exit.

Step 6: Again click on File > Option > on the left side of the window click on Macro Settings > on the right-hand side of the panel click the radio button next to the option – Disable all macros without notification. Now press the OK button to save the changes and exit.

You are done. Now, you can try opening MS Word and it will open immediately.

#2 – How to Fix Microsoft Excel Open Very Slow in Windows 10 Using File Options

Step 1: Repeat the same process with MS Excel from Step 1 to Step 2.

Step 2: On the left side of the panel, click on Advanced > on the right-hand side of the panel > General category > uncheck Ask to update automatic links. Press OK to save and exit.

Step 3: Repeat the steps from Step 4 to Step 6 as in the case with MS Word.

You are done with the MS Excel configurations and it will open up immediately now.

Microsoft Office is ubiquitous in offices and workplaces everywhere. It is a powerful suite of programs that allows you to do almost anything you want with the click of a button, but that power comes with a downside: sometimes these programs run slow enough to frustrate even the most patient user. But there are some tricks you can use to make Microsoft Office run more smoothly.

1. Stop loading unnecessary add-ins: If Word is taking a long time to start up, it could be that it is using resources to automatically load in templates and add-ins that you will never use. A simple solution is to move the startup files that Word loads every time you open the program. To do this, make sure your computer is set to show hidden folders. Then go to C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\Microsoft\Word\STARTUP and move the .dot files there to C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\Microsoft\Templates. After that the add-ins will not load automatically at startup, but if you ever need them you can access them in the Templates and Add-ins option under Tools.

2. Optimize settings based on what you need: Microsoft Word has a lot of bells and whistles, but the fact is that the majority of users never have use for most of them. Changing or turning off settings you personally do not need will help the program run faster. To get started with what settings to change and how to find them, read this article.

Excel

3. Delete hidden and invisible objects: Copying and pasting information into Excel spreadsheets can introduce a number of objects that are invisible to the user but weigh the spreadsheet down with extraneous information that can make the program sluggish. The Microsoft Excel blog recently posted step-by-step instructions detailing how to track down and delete hidden objects in Excel 2007 spreadsheets. (Find that post here).

4. Keep it clean and simple: Excessive formatting, such as adding a lot of colors and fancy fonts, can bog down a spreadsheet. It is usually best to keep the font at your desired default and use colors sparingly. Also, complex, multi-step calculations all done in one cell can significantly slow down calculation time. Try to spread out calculations into multiple cells, with each one containing a simpler, intermediate formula. Keep as few references as possible in each formula to cut down on speed-stealing repetitive calculations.

Outlook

5. Archive older items to reduce your PST file: The PST file in Outlook contains all of your information and e-mails, and as such will keep growing over time. Since Outlook has to load this file every time it starts, if it gets too large it will massively slow down the startup time. Simply deleting old e-mails will not resolve the problem, especially if you have a lot of messages that you want to keep. What you can do, though, is archive older e-mails by going to File and then to Archive. This will transfer the data you specify into a special archive PST file that Outlook will not load upon startup. You can access this archive at any time by going to File and then Open Data.

6. Make sure Outlook is up to date: Remember to download updates and service packs for Microsoft Office. Service packs fix performance issues that can crop up when users are running outdated versions of Microsoft Office. For more information on how to keep Outlook up to date and other tricks to make it run faster, see this Lifehacker post.

PowerPoint

7. Get rid of extraneous files: PowerPoint can accumulate files in the TEMP folder that will take up space and resources. Periodically delete these files to keep PowerPoint running smoothly. If you are working with an older computer, consider using PowerPoint’s compression tool to reduce image sizes while retaining quality. This will significantly reduce the overall file size and allow for faster loading times when you open it.

8. Disable Live Preview: If you hover over a formatting option in PowerPoint 2007 with Live Preview enabled, it will automatically show you a preview of what your presentation would look like if that option was selected. While this is a neat tool that allows you to see at a glance what changes will look like before committing to anything, its excessive load time on older machines can make formatting a chore. To turn this feature off, click the Office button, then PowerPoint Options. In the PowerPoint Options dialog box, select Popular and then uncheck Enable Live Preview.

James is a writer at Office Kitten, one of the leading business supplies specialist in the UK.

My biggest complaint that I have when using Open Office is the speed of the application. It loads terribly slow for instance and it only topped by the time GIMP needs to start up on my PC.

Way to slow to edit a document quickly in my opinion unless you have the application open all the time anyway. There are however options to speed up Open Office which you can do by editing a couple of parameters in the Open Office settings.

I was a bit skeptical at first but soon found out that the changes would indeed speed up Open Office tremendously. Start Open Office and click on Tools > Options. This should open the configuration. Click on Memory in the left menu and change the following settings to the values you see on the right.

• Number of Steps: 30
• Use for Open Office: 128
• Memory per Object: 20
• Number of Objects: 20

Click on Java in the left menu afterwards and uncheck Use a Java Runtime Environment. Click OK and restart Open Office to see how fast it is now. That’s really a difference don’t you think?

Update: Recent versions of the popular Office suite show improved loading times. The tweaks outlined above are still valid on the other hand, especially the bit about removing the Java Runtime Environment from the Office suite to speed up the load time. That is, of course, only an option if you do not need Java for functionality in the Office software.

Another possible option is to move the Open Office installation to a faster drive. Moving it from a conventional hard drive to a Solid State Drive can improve the loading times of the Office software by a lot. I’d say that unchecking the Java option is your best bet to speed Open Office up though.

You can alternatively uninstall Java completely instead if you do not really need it, as it will have the same effect.

Another thing that you may want to try out is ti disable loading printer settings with the documents which may speed up the loading and performance especially for spreadsheet files. You find the option under Tools > Options > Load/Save.

10 Amazing Tips to Speed Up Microsoft Outlook Performance Quickly

If you are using Microsoft Outlook for many years, you have noticed that it slows down and or behave badly sometimes. Therefore, this post will offer you 10 effective tips to speed up outlook performance

Microsoft Outlook is no doubt a popularly used email client among business users. As it stores a large amount of data and needs to use on regular basis, which slows down its processing speed. However, it starts taking lots of time to start, navigate between the folders or while sending new emails. It becomes so irritating and frustrating to wait for such a long time. Therefore, speeding up Outlook 2019 / 2016 / 2013 / 2010 / 2007, one needs to remove the hurdles while processing & boost Outlook performance.

There are some users who have suffered many times with the poor performance of Outlook like experiencing an endless waiting or missing an important task due to slow Outlook, etc. Therefore, do not wait so long!

Use the 10 amazing tips to speed up Outlook performance, which is discussed below:

Most Popular Tips to Enhance / Boost MS Outlook Performance

Tip 1: Update Microsoft Outlook & Windows 10

It is a well-known fact that if your Microsoft Outlook & Windows 10 is not up-to-date, then you might have an effect on the performance of Outlook. Therefore, always keep Outlook & Windows updated to boost Outlook performance. In order to update Outlook 2019 / 2016, navigate to File >> Office Account >> Update Options >> Update Now option.

Tip 2: Disable Unused Add-ins

It might be possible that some other third-party tools are installed as add-ins in MS Outlook that you do not know. However, most of them are useless and degrading the Outlook performance. Therefore, it always beneficial to disable the unused add-ins from Outlook to speed up Outlook performance. To do the same, navigate to File >> Options >> Add-ins >> Go option. After that, in the pop-up dialog box, remove all except Microsoft add-ins.

Tip 3: Turn Off RSS Feeds Feature

Another important parameter is the RSS Feeds that affect the Outlook performance. If it is not important to you or never used by you, then it is recommended to disable it to start speeding up Outlook. For disabling the RSS feeds, navigate to File >> Options >> Advanced option. After that, you can easily locate the RSS Feeds icon and disable the two options under it. This will surely boost Outlook performance.

Tip 4: Cut Down the Published & Shared Calendars

In Outlook, users easily share and publish calendars with each others. In addition, it works really well in Outlook 2019 / 2016 / 2013 / 2007. Therefore, it leads to some many published & shared calendars in Outlook and makes Outlook works slowly. To speed up Outlook performance, it is suggested to remove all published & shared calendars, which is not important. It is always better to have only one or two published & shared calendars.

Tip 5: Download IMAP Emails Completely

It is always clear to the users that IMAP account downloads only the email header part. As, a user double-click on the email, it will download the complete email contents, which will absolutely degrade the Outlook working. Therefore, one should make it download complete emails when its is synchronized. To do this, choose the target account from send/receive groups. After that, check the Download complete item including the attachments option.

Tip 6: Use Cached Exchange Mode

If a user is using an Exchange account, the Outlook will read data over the network also that takes lots of time. Thus, speed up Outlook performance, one is suggested to use the cache exchange mode. Using this, one can effectively take data file from the Exchange Server and cache it to the system. For this, in Account Settings, choose the Exchange Account. Then, click on the Change button. Now, you can activate the cached Exchange Mode from the new window.

Tip 7: Archive Old Outlook Emails

Storing a large amount of data in PST file is also one of the major factors that affect the performance. Therefore, you are advised to archive old data timely to boost Outlook performance. To do the same, you can use the Cleanup software and Auto Archive option.

Tip 8: Move Attachments to Local Storage

Apart from archiving the PST file data, it is always recommended to store or move all attachments to the local machine and delete them from Outlook. This will help in reducing the size of PST file suddenly. However, if the message body contains attachments, then first turn the message into edit mode after that move attachment to local storage.

Tip 9: Large Size PST File

Another possible thing that a user can try to speed up Outlook performance is compact the size of large PST file. This will instantly speed up the Outlook as it frees some of the space. Now, to do the same, go to Account Settings and double-click the PST file. After that, a dialog box appear, click on Compact Now option to reduce the PST file size.

Tip 10: Fix Outlook files

In the case of any error in the PST file of the MS Outlook, it will directly badly affect the performance of the Outlook. However, to fix the error in PST file, one can use expert utility called Outlook Recovery Tool by SysTools that will to repair Outlook PST file easily.

Or Scanpst.exe (Inbo Repair Tool), the Microsoft inbuilt tool

The Bottom Line

Most of the users are suffering from slow performance issue of the MS Outlook and needs to enhance it. Therefore, considering the requirement of the users, we have discussed 10 effective tips for speeding up Outlook instantly. One can use them and speed up/ boost Outlook performance without any external help.

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August 27, 2016 April 15, 2019 Last updated on
April 15, 2019

Is your Microsoft Office not working properly or crashing in a frequent manner? You must be wondering about the reason causing this. Deletion of a necessary Office file might be causing this. Or a file used by Microsoft Office application might be corrupted. But don’t worry! Microsoft itself has an option to deal with such a problem. You can repair Microsoft Office installation setup.

How to repair Microsoft Office?

To repair Microsoft Office program, follow the steps shown below:

Step 1: First of all, go to Program and Features. For that, click Start button > type Programs and Features in the search box and hit Enter.

Step 2: In the Program and Features window will be launched.

Now select Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2010 or whichever your version is, right click it and click Change.

Step 3: Please wait while setup prepares the necessary files.

Step 4: Change your installation of Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2010.

Select Repair from the options and click Continue.

Step 5: The repairing process of Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2010 is being conducted. Please wait until it gets successfully completed.

Note: Make sure no document is opened in any of the Office’s components during this process.

Step 6: The repairing process is completed now.

Now click C lose button.

Step 7: In order to complete setup, a system reboot is necessary.

Click Yes to reboot the system.

Microsoft Office Diagnostics

Other than repairing Microsoft Office installation setup, there is one more thing you can try. In MS Office 2007, you can use Microsoft Office Diagnostics, a part of Microsoft Office Tools. Follow the steps shown below:

Step 1: Go to Start menu > All Programs > Microsoft Office.

Now click Microsoft Office Tools to expand the options, and then click Microsoft Office Diagnostics.

Step 2: The Microsoft Office Diagnostics window will be appeared.

Now click Run Diagnostics.

Step 3: Click Continue to identify the problems and repair the installation setup of Microsoft Office.

Step 4: If everything would be OK, you will receive a message saying “The diagnostic tests found no problems”.

Click Continue to connect to Microsoft’s Servers and view recommended next steps. Or you may exit from this by clicking Cancel.

Note: The Microsoft Office Diagnostics feature is only available in MS Office 2007.

As a writer, it’s really frustrating when Microsoft Office is slow. When I’ve got an idea for something to write, I want to just be able to get on with writing without any hanging around. It’s particularly annoying when you go on the web to check something in the dictionary and it takes a long time to switch back to Word afterwards. My computer was slow to open new applications (including Word, Excel and PowerPoint), and was slow to open files in them. It was also really slow doing basic Windows functions like generating thumbnails in a folder of photos, and I’ve been working extensively on organising my photos recently, so that was particularly irritating. I had stopped using iTunes sometimes because I have a large music library and that often made the machine slow down.

I thought I would have to buy a new computer to speed things up, which would be a huge expense. But there is a simple and cheap technique that has speeded up my computer no end. Put simply, you can use a USB key (also called USB drive or flash drive) as extra memory for your computer. I’m amazed at how much faster it has made my PC. My applications open quickly, and Windows is much more responsive.

The technology is called ReadyBoost and is available in Windows 7 and Windows Vista. It remains supported in Windows 8.

Here’s how you use it:

Get a USB key. It must have a capacity of at least 256MB, and Microsoft recommends that it has a capacity of between one and three times the amount of memory you have installed on your computer. For example, if your computer has 3GB of RAM installed, get a USB key that is at least 3GB to 9GB. It doesn’t matter if it’s too big, because you can choose how much of it you use for ReadyBoost. USB keys are amazingly cheap now. You can currently get a 32GB USB key for about a tenner on Amazon.

If your experience is anything like mine, you’ll find that plugging in a £10 USB key will make your computer feel like a new machine. You can use multiple USB keys for ReadyBoost too. It enables you to speed up iTunes, and make Word and Excel faster too. Give it a go!

Find out more about Microsoft Office

My book Microsoft Office for the Older and Wiser is out now. Through a series of projects, it shows you how to make the most of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote. You’ll learn how to design letters, posters and newsletters; how to work out your holiday budgets and manage your address book with Excel; how to create a photo album with PowerPoint; and how to keep a recipe book using OneNote. There’s a bonus chapter showing you how you can use email to keep in touch with friends, too.

Update: This book is now out of print and the rights have reverted to me. Copies are still available to buy, and you may find you can borrow it from your local library. If you are interested in Microsoft Excel, I recommend my new book, 100 Top Tips: Microsoft Excel.

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© Sean McManus. All rights reserved.

Visit for free chapters from Sean’s coding books (including Mission Python, Scratch Programming in Easy Steps and Coder Academy) and more!

Discover my latest books

100 Top Tips: Microsoft Excel

Power up your Microsoft Excel skills with this powerful pocket-sized book of tips that will save you time and help you learn more from your spreadsheets.

Scratch Programming IES

This book, now fully updated for Scratch 3, will take you from the basics of the Scratch language into the depths of its more advanced features. A great way to start programming.

Mission Python

Code a space adventure game in this Python programming book published by No Starch Press.

Cool Scratch Projects in Easy Steps

Discover how to make 3D games, create mazes, build a drum machine, make a game with cartoon animals and more!

Raspberry Pi For Dummies

Set up your Raspberry Pi, then learn how to use the Linux command line, Scratch, Python, Sonic Pi, Minecraft and electronics projects with it.

Earworm

In this entertaining techno-thriller for adults, Sean McManus takes a slice through the music industry: from the boardroom to the stage; from the studio to the record fair.

Scratch and Raspberry Pi resources

Sean’s Scratch Resources

Tips, tutorials and free book chapters for Scratch, a coding language widely used in schools.

Sean’s Raspberry Pi Resources

Tutorials and guides for the Raspberry Pi, a budget computer perfect for learning to program.

Still using Word 2010? Get the latest version and bring out your best writing with Word in Microsoft 365.

Support for Word 2010 has ended

Get the most up-to-date version of Word and do your best writing. Upgrade to Microsoft 365.

What’s new with Word in Microsoft 365?

Bring out your best writing

Go from blank page to polished document in no time with the Researcher and Editor tools.

Coauthor with anyone anywhere

Invite others to edit and comment, manage access, and keep track of versions.

Take Word on the go

Review and edit files at work, home, or anywhere in between with mobile apps.

Always up to date

Get exclusive, new features, and security updates available only for Word in Microsoft 365.

Put your best writing forward

Write confidently and count on intelligent technology for spelling, grammar, and stylistic writing suggestions. Go from pen and paper to digital inking and edit intuitively with tools at your fingertips.

Stay in the zone

Access everything you need without leaving Word, whether it’s a PowerPoint slide, cited research, or details from LinkedIn to help you create a persuasive resume.

Work together effectively

Collaborate in real time from anywhere. Easily share documents and invite others to edit or add comments. Everyone can work together, no matter your preferred language or accessibility options.

Compare Word 2010 and Word with Microsoft 365

Word in Microsoft 365

*included with Microsoft 365

Word 2010

Word in Microsoft 365

*included with Microsoft 365

Word 2010

Word in Microsoft 365

*included with Microsoft 365

Word 2010

With XML-based file formats, documents are smaller, more robust, and integrate with more information systems and external data systems.

The tabbed ribbon system streamlines menu commands, styles, and resources.

Collaborate with anyone

Easily share files and coauthor simultaneously. Always have the latest version backed up on OneDrive, with 1TB of secure cloud storage.

Take Word on the go

Review and edit documents from anywhere with the Office mobile apps. Enjoy a familiar user experience on iOS®, Android™, and Windows mobile devices.

Advanced research features

Built in tools like Smart Lookup and Researcher let you find contextual information from the web without leaving your document.

Language assistance tools

In-app translation of over 60 languages empowers communication and, the Read Aloud feature helps improve accessibility and reading skills.

Write your best resume

Word automatically pulls in industry keywords and relevant job descriptions from LinkedIn to help you craft a more compelling resume.

Always up to date

Always have the latest Office apps, features, and services.

Swipe to view more plans

Word in Microsoft 365

*included with Microsoft 365

With XML-based file formats, documents are smaller, more robust, and integrate with more information systems and external data systems.

The tabbed ribbon system streamlines menu commands, styles, and resources.

Collaborate with anyone

Easily share files and coauthor simultaneously. Always have the latest version backed up on OneDrive, with 1TB of secure cloud storage.

Take Word on the go

Review and edit documents from anywhere with the Office mobile apps. Enjoy a familiar user experience on iOS®, Android™, and Windows mobile devices.

Advanced research features

Built in tools like Smart Lookup and Researcher let you find contextual information from the web without leaving your document.

Language assistance tools

In-app translation of over 60 languages empowers communication and, the Read Aloud feature helps improve accessibility and reading skills.

Write your best resume

Word automatically pulls in industry keywords and relevant job descriptions from LinkedIn to help you craft a more compelling resume.

Always up to date

Always have the latest Office apps, features, and services.

Word 2010

With XML-based file formats, documents are smaller, more robust, and integrate with more information systems and external data systems.

The tabbed ribbon system streamlines menu commands, styles, and resources.

Collaborate with anyone

Easily share files and coauthor simultaneously. Always have the latest version backed up on OneDrive, with 1TB of secure cloud storage.

Take Word on the go

Review and edit documents from anywhere with the Office mobile apps. Enjoy a familiar user experience on iOS®, Android™, and Windows mobile devices.

Advanced research features

Built in tools like Smart Lookup and Researcher let you find contextual information from the web without leaving your document.

Language assistance tools

In-app translation of over 60 languages empowers communication and, the Read Aloud feature helps improve accessibility and reading skills.

Write your best resume

Word automatically pulls in industry keywords and relevant job descriptions from LinkedIn to help you craft a more compelling resume.

Always up to date

Always have the latest Office apps, features, and services.

Ready for Microsoft 365?

Top Questions

Office 2010 includes applications such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook. They’re available as a one-time purchase for use on a single PC.

If your business lives and breathes on generating and editing Microsoft Word documents, having the program suddenly take forever to load documents can be cause for alarm. There are a handful of causes for slowdowns when a document opens, and tracking down which one is causing the problem can take some detective work. Fortunately, the sleuthing is quick and straightforward.

Basic Document Properties

Step 1

Locate the document in Windows File Explorer, and examine its properties, particularly its file size. Documents with a lot of embedded macros or print-resolution images can take a very long time to load. A lot of businesses load up Word documents with pictures and logos for brochures, and Word has to process all of those images before the file opens.

Step 2

Make a local copy of the file if it exists on a network share. When networks aren’t configured properly, accessing files that are spread out on the network will be constrained by the bandwidth of your network. This can be the source of delays in opening a file that sporadically loads slowly when the network is occupied with a high bandwidth operation like a system-wide backup.

Step 3

Clear copies of temporary files from the directory. When Word loads a document into memory, it also attempts to load any relevant temporary files, and if there are multiple temporary files, identifiable by the “

” as the first character in the name, it tries to load them all.

Step 4

Download and Run the Word Fixit Wizard.

Flushing the Normal.dot Template

Step 1

Close Word, and use the “Search” charm, or Windows Search in earlier versions, to search for the “normal.dot” file. You may need to select the option to view non-indexed, hidden and system files for it to become visible. For versions of Word older than 2007, it will pull up a file called “normal.dot.” For Word 2007 and later, it will pull up a file called “normal.dotm.”

Step 2

Right-click the file. Rename it to “oldnormal.dot” or “oldnormal.dotm.” The normal.dot file has all of your standard document formatting in it and any macros you want used across multiple word document files. It is the template file that generates new blank Word documents, and can sometimes get corrupted or have more macros loading than you’re currently using. Slow-loading Word documents used to be a sign of macro viruses back in the 1990s, and while not as common now, they still propagate.

Step 3

Restart Word. Word will generate a new normal.dot file with no macros and default formatting in it. You may want to edit the normal.dot file to apply your standard formatting on it, but be careful that you don’t re-introduce the cause of the slow-down.

Starting Word Without Add-ins

Step 1

Bring up the command prompt by pressing the “Windows” and “X” keys together.

Step 2

Type “winword /a” to launch Word with no add-ins loaded.

Step 3

Use the “File” tab to load the troublesome word document, and see if the speed problem goes away.

• PCWorld: Why Does Word Load So Slowly?
• Legal Office Guru: Reader Question: How Do I Speed Up Word?

• If flushing the old normal.dot file doesn’t fix your problems, you can rename the oldnormal.dot file normal.dot and restore them.

Ken Burnside has been writing freelance since 1990, contributing to publications as diverse as "Pyramid" and "Training & Simulations Journal." A Microsoft MVP in Excel, he holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Alaska. He won the Origins Award for Attack Vector: Tactical, a board game about space combat.

We at Book Cave prefer Jutoh for ebook creation because it gives us more control than most other ebook software out there, while still maintaining a friendly interface.

This post will tell you how to change the speed of Microsoft Word’s “Text-to-Speech” feature (which allows you to highlight text and have it dictated back to you). For authors, hearing their book read back to them is a great way of catching errors they have missed the first passes through (and we love error-free books to promote with our content-rated book deals). This article will not tell you how to put the Text-to-Speech button on your menu ribbon, but if that’s what you’re looking for, you can find our article about that here.

Note: Do not confuse the Text-to-Speech feature with the Read-Aloud feature. Text-to-Speech will read back a highlighted section, and you can make changes in the text without disrupting the reading. Read-Aloud will read one word at at time beginning where you put your cursor and does NOT allow a continuous reading while trying to edit because it will start again at the new place each time you move your cursor and attempt an edit.

Text-to-Speech

Microsoft Word uses text-to-speech functionality that is built into Windows. Any Windows application can use this, so it should come as no surprise that the text-to-speech settings are part of Windows Control Panel and not your Microsoft Word program.

For Windows 8 and older, the easiest way to get to these settings is by using Windows search.

• If you are still in Windows 7 or older, click the Start button and type “text to speech” on the search box. Now click the “Change text to speech settings” line.
  

• If you are in Windows 8, there’s no need to push the Start/Window button to find the search box. Just type “text to speech” in the search box, then click the “Change text to speech settings” line.
  

• In Windows 10 there are two places with Text to Speech options, one in System Settings and the other in the Control Panel. WARNING: The one in System Settings has no impact on Microsoft Word’s “Speak” feature, but it is the one that shows up in the search. Don’t choose it. You must go to the Control Panel. To open the Control Panel, type “control panel” in the search box and click the top line.
  
  Now type “text to speech” in the search box found on the top right corner of the Control Panel, then click the “Change text to speech settings” line.
  

The Text to Speech settings window will look something like this.

You see that “Voice speed” slider? Move it to the right to make it talk faster, and to the left to make it talk slower. Use the “Preview Voice” button above the slider to test the settings. Once you are satisfied with the results, push the OK button.

You may have more than one “voice” installed. My version of Windows 10 has a male voice (David) and a female voice (Zira). However, the Windows 7 computer I tried this on only had the male voice.

This post would not be complete without showing you how to get to the “Speak” feature in Word. It’s not on any of the ribbons and as far as I know it is not on the Quick Access toolbar either unless you take actions to put it there. We have a good article on how to do this here.

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