How Do You Convert a PDF to Audio?
You convert a PDF to audio by adding it to QuickCatPDF's PDF to Audio converter, checking the text, and clicking Make MP3. The text is spoken by a computer voice in the PDF's language and saved as an MP3 you can play on any phone, car stereo or computer.
To just listen now, click Listen in browser instead. It's free, with no sign-up.
How to Convert PDF to MP3 With QuickCatPDF
Turning a PDF into speech takes four steps.
- Click Select PDF file or drop a PDF on the page; its text is read in your browser.
- Check the text, and choose the Voice language, voice and speed.
- Click Make MP3 for an audio file, or Listen in browser to hear it now.
- Download the MP3, or one MP3 per chapter in a ZIP.
What Is Read Aloud?
QuickCatPDF reads the PDF's text in your browser and leaves out page numbers, headers and footers, so the voice doesn't say "page 12" every minute. Scanned pages are read with text recognition. The text appears in a box where you can fix or delete anything before it's spoken; a line starting with ## starts a new chapter.
In our test, a short two-chapter story became a 20-second MP3 in about half a second. With One per chapter, the same PDF gave a ZIP with one MP3 for the title and one for each chapter.
Which Languages and Voices Are Available?
Make MP3 speaks 35 languages, including English (US and UK), Hindi, Urdu, Marathi, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Gujarati, Punjabi, Arabic, Persian, Spanish, French, German, Chinese and Korean, with a male or female voice and three speeds. The language is detected from the text's script; choose it yourself for languages that share a script, such as Marathi and Hindi.
The voices come from eSpeak NG, an open-source speech engine. They're clear but sound synthetic, closer to a sat-nav than to a narrator. In our test, a Hindi PDF was detected as Hindi and became 52 seconds of Hindi speech in about a second.
Make MP3 or Listen in Browser?
| Make MP3 | Listen in browser | |
|---|---|---|
| What you get | An MP3 file to keep | Speech played now, with pause and stop |
| Voices | 35 languages, same on every device | Your device's own voices, often more natural |
| What's uploaded | Only the text, deleted right after | Nothing |
The browser's speech can't be saved as a file, and some devices have no voices for less common languages.
For an e-book to read on a Kindle instead, use PDF to AZW3, and for a scanned document, Scanned PDF to Word shows you the recognised text first.
Frequently asked questions
Is PDF to audio free?
Yes, free with no sign-up and no watermark. There's a fair-use limit of 60 files an hour.
Is my PDF uploaded?
No. The PDF is read on your device, and Make MP3 sends only its text, which is deleted right after.
How long can the text be?
Up to 200,000 characters per MP3, about 3 hours of speech. For a longer book, choose a page range and convert it in parts.
Can I get a WAV file?
The download is MP3, which plays everywhere and is about five times smaller than WAV. Any audio editor can save it as WAV.
Can I get the text instead?
Yes, use PDF to Text, or PDF to EPUB for an e-book. Other formats are on the PDF Converter.
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