Written by Pratik Nayak, the developer of Readlet. This guide covers the free options built into macOS as well as our app. Updated November 6, 2026.
First, check whether the PDF is searchable
Open the PDF in Preview and try to select a single word, or press Command-F and search for one. If you can select or find words, the PDF is searchable and any read-aloud tool has real text to work with.
If nothing selects, the pages are images, usually from a scanner or a phone camera. Speech tools need text recognition (OCR) first, and results depend on the scan quality.
The free way: macOS speech
macOS can speak selected text in almost any app, including Preview.
- Open Apple menu > System Settings > Accessibility, then Spoken Content (called Read & Speak on the newest macOS).
- Turn on Speak selection.
- Select text in the PDF and press Option-Esc. Press it again to stop.
In many apps you can also choose Edit > Speech > Start Speaking. You can change the system voice and speaking rate in the same settings.
Apple's guide to having your Mac speak text ↗
With Readlet
Readlet is a small Mac app that reads text aloud with a natural neural voice. It is built for listening to longer passages.
- Open the PDF directly. Use Open document to read a searchable PDF from start to finish. Opening documents works without Screen Recording or Accessibility permission.
- Or point at the screen. Drag over the text you can see, and Readlet recognizes it on your Mac and reads it. This also works for a scanned page that is on screen, and needs Screen Recording permission.
- Listen your way. Pause, change speed or stop from a small player. Choose between the Heart, Bella, Emma and Adam voices.
After a one-time voice download of about 392 MB, text recognition and speech run on your Mac. Your documents are not uploaded.
Limits worth knowing
- Searchable local PDFs work best. Complex layouts, columns, tables, protected content, tiny text and low-quality scans may not read correctly.
- Full multi-page scanned-PDF OCR is not included. Readlet reads the scanned page you can see, not the whole scanned file.
- A PDF open in a web browser may be limited to the visible page. Download it and open it in Readlet to read the entire file.
- Readlet requires an Apple Silicon Mac with macOS 26 or newer, and its voice is English.
Which should you use?
- A short passage, now: select it and press Option-Esc. It is free and already on your Mac.
- A long searchable PDF: try Readlet's Open document, with a more natural voice and a player you can pause.
- A scanned PDF: run it through an OCR tool to make it searchable first, or read it page by page with Readlet's point-and-read.