Speaking the Contents of Cells

by Allen Wyatt
(last updated May 11, 2013)

3

Do you like to hear freaky mechanical voices telling you what you just entered into a cell? If you are using Excel 2003, you're in luck. You can activate this precise feature by following these steps:

  1. Display the Text to Speech toolbar. (Choose View | Toolbars | Text to Speech, or choose Tools | Speech | Show Text to Speech Toolbar.)
  2. Click the right-most tool on the toolbar. (The Speak on Enter tool.)

At this point, assuming you have your speakers turned on and the volume turned up a bit, you'll hear a mechanical voice announce that the feature has been activated. Now, every time you enter a new value in a cell and then leave that cell, the voice tells you what you entered. If you enter a formula, then the voice announces the result of the formula.

To turn off the feature, again click the Speak on Enter tool. The voice announces that the feature is now off, and you can go on with your work in blissful silence.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (2394) applies to Microsoft Excel 2003.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He  is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

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What is 9 + 4?

2013-05-11 13:49:04

awyatt

Bob,

You can view any tips you want -- old or new. Just search using the box in the upper-right of any page, or go to the home page (excel.tips.net) and "drill down" through topics.

-Allen

2013-05-11 13:32:31

Bob Eggleston

Is there a way to view older tips?

Can I change the color of an entire column?

2013-05-11 10:25:00

JMJ

Well, quite a funny tip!
Unfortunately, on my PC, all the tools of this toolbar are grayed, so I can't try it!
Any ideas?
Thanks!

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