How to have Apple Notes read a note aloud on Mac

Short answerOpen the note, press Command-A, and choose Edit → Speech → Start Speaking (Stop Speaking to end). For a highlight and a controller with speed and pause, turn on Speak selection and press Option-Esc. Aloud reads the selection with Control-Option-S in Kokoro or Apple voices, exports to .m4a, and has Shortcuts and Siri actions.

The free built-in fix

1. Select the note. Open it and press Command-A.
2. Start Speaking. Edit → Speech → Start Speaking.
3. Stop. Edit → Speech → Stop Speaking.
4. Add highlighting. Turn on Speak selection and press Option-Esc.

The better fix: Aloud

If the built-in tools keep getting in your way, Aloud (ours, $19 once per Mac, macOS 14 or later) is made for this:

• Select text in any app and press Control-Option-S (or right-click → Services → Read with Aloud).
• A reading window with a word highlight and click-to-seek, so you can jump to any sentence.
• Speed from 0.75x to 2x, changed mid-sentence, and resume from the last sentence.
• Natural voices: your Mac's Enhanced and Premium voices, the on-device Kokoro neural voice (Apple silicon, macOS 15+), or ElevenLabs/Cartesia with your own API key.
• .m4a export and Shortcuts and Siri actions.

Buy Aloud, $19 once   Launch offer: code LAUNCH25 takes 25% off until Oct 31. 3-day free trial, no card or account.