Make Excel mobile for iPhone or iPad read aloud a workbook. Great for double-checking figures from a printed source. The options aren’t very good but we’ll explain what might be possible.
Excel 365 does not have a Read Aloud or Speak feature similar to Word for iPhone/iPad let alone Word for Windows. The same goes for the ‘all-in-one’ Microsoft 365 / Office app which includes Excel.
Try using the ‘Speak Selection’ as we’ll describe below. This worked on Apple devices in the past but, when we checked in March 2023, the ‘Speak’ menu option had disappeared from Excel. We’re not sure if this is a change by Apple or Microsoft.
Turn to the iOS Accessibility options at Settings | Accessibility | Spoken Word
Turn on Speak Selection.
Optionally adjust the Speaking Rate and choose from the Voices available.
In Excel, a Speak option appears in the popup menu for a selection.
That’s the good news, now the bad news.
Speak will only read one cell. Even if there’s a many cell selection.
Speak Screen in Accessibility might seem like an alternative but, unfortunately, it only reads the menus and tabs, not the worksheet.
Microsoft should fix the Read Aloud options in Excel 365 for iOS. Either change the Speak option so an entire selection is spoken, not a single cell. Or add the Read Aloud option already in Word for iOS and Excel for Windows. Alas, almost three years have passed with no change.
Read Aloud a doc in Word for iPhone or iPad
Read Aloud in Word 365 and 2019 in depth
Unhelpful Office error message for Read Aloud
Powerpoint speaks aloud in Office 365, 2019, 2016 and earlier
Excel speaks aloud cells
Hear a document with Speak in Word 2016, 2013 and 2010
