VoicedByMe / Use cases / Read text on the screen

Guide · OCR · Games · Windows and Mac

Read any text on the screen, even when you can't select it.

To hear text you can't select, like game dialogue, a screenshot or a paused video, capture that part of the screen, let text recognition (OCR) find the words, and have them read aloud. Windows and the Mac can do it free in a few steps. VoicedByMe does it with one shortcut, CtrlAltO, offline, in a natural voice or your own.

Download for Windows Download for Mac Free for a day · then $30 once

Samples made offline with ready-made voices. All of them are AI-generated.

Free ways

With what's already on your computer.

Windows: PowerToys Text Extractor

Install Microsoft PowerToys, press WinShiftT and drag over the text. It's copied to the clipboard; paste it into something that reads aloud, like Word's Read Aloud or Narrator. Two tools and a paste each time, but free and offline.

Windows: NVDA

The free NVDA screen reader can recognise the text in the current window with NVDAR. It reads the whole window, HUD numbers and all, which is a lot for a single dialogue box.

Mac: Live Text and Spoken Content

Take a screenshot with CmdShift4, open it, select the text (Live Text), then press OptionEsc after turning on Speak selection in Accessibility → Spoken Content.

All three work. The common complaint in r/disabledgamers and r/Dyslexia threads is the same: too many steps for something you do every few seconds in a game, and voices that tire you out over an evening.

One shortcut

Drag over it. Hear it.

Press the shortcut

CtrlAltO on Windows or Mac. You can change it in Settings.
Drag over the text

Just the dialogue box, the subtitle line or the paragraph. The rest of the screen is left alone.
Listen

Text recognition built into Windows or macOS finds the words, and VoicedByMe reads them in a natural voice or your own. Nothing is sent anywhere.

What it reads

Anything you can see.

Game dialogue

Visual novels, RPGs and anything with unvoiced text. Capture just the box so menu numbers aren't read.

Paused videos and slides

Subtitles, lecture slides and on-screen captions, a frame at a time.

Pictures and screenshots

Images people send you, memes, photos of signs and menus. Drop an image file in, or paste a picture.

Scanned PDFs

Pages that are only pictures are recognised too, so old scans can be read or made into audiobooks.

Apps that won't let you select

Locked documents, images of text in web pages, remote desktops.

Selectable text

When you can select it, it's quicker still: CtrlAltR reads the selection in any app.

Tips

For games and tricky text.

If the capture doesn't appear over a game, switch the game to borderless or windowed mode: exclusive fullscreen hides other windows.

Plain text on a solid background is recognised best. Glowing fantasy fonts, text over moving video and very small type can come out wrong, so make the text bigger if the game allows it.

On Windows, recognition uses the languages installed under Settings → Time & language. On a Mac, VoicedByMe needs Screen Recording permission the first time.

Compared

Ways to hear text on the screen.

	Each time	Just one part of the screen	Voice	Offline	Price
VoicedByMe	One shortcut and a drag	Yes	Natural AI voices or your own	Yes	$30 once
PowerToys Text Extractor and a reader	Capture, paste, then read	Yes	System or Word voices	Yes	Free
NVDA's text recognition	One key	No, the whole window	Screen-reader voices	Yes	Free
Mac Live Text and Spoken Content	Screenshot, select, then read	Yes	Apple's voices	Yes	Free

As of October 2026. Check each app's own site for its current features and prices.

Questions

How do I make my PC read text from a game?

Capture the dialogue box and run text recognition on it. Free: PowerToys Text Extractor, then a reader. One step: VoicedByMe, CtrlAltO and drag over the box.

Can Windows read text from an image aloud?

Not in one step. Windows can recognise text in images (PowerToys, the Snipping Tool's text actions, NVDA), and Narrator or Word can read it, but you copy and paste between them. VoicedByMe does both together.

Can it read a video's subtitles aloud?

Yes, a capture at a time: pause, press the shortcut and drag over the subtitle. It doesn't follow subtitles continuously while the video plays.

Does it work offline?

Yes. The text recognition is the one built into Windows or macOS, and the voice runs on your computer.

Which languages can it read?

It reads eight languages: English, Spanish, German, French, Portuguese, Italian, Japanese and Russian. Recognition on Windows uses the languages you have installed; on a Mac it recognises English, Spanish, German, French, Portuguese, Italian, Japanese and Russian text.

Does this help with dyslexia?

Many people with dyslexia use text to speech for game dialogue and documents, and hearing it in a voice they like helps. It's a reading aid, not a treatment.

How much does it cost?

$30 once for the first 50 customers, then $50. No subscription. The full app is free for one day so you can try it first. A license is for one computer.

For Windows 10 and 11, and Macs with Apple silicon

If you can see it, you can hear it.

$30once. Launch price for the first 50 customers, then $50.
One computer. No subscription.

Download for Windows Download for Mac Also for Windows 10 and 11 Also for Macs with Apple silicon

The full app, free for 24 hours. Purchases aren't refundable, so please try it first.