Text-to-speech keyboard shortcut on Mac (and how to change it)

Short answerThe built-in shortcut is Option-Esc: select text and press it to hear it, and press it again to stop. Turn it on in System Settings → Accessibility → Spoken Content (Read & Speak on newer macOS) → Speak selection, and change it with the (i) button. Aloud adds Control-Option-S (selection), Control-Option-A (web article), Control-Option-O (text on screen) and Control-Option-X (paragraph under the pointer).

The free built-in fix

1. Turn on Speak selection. System Settings → Accessibility → Spoken Content (or Read & Speak) → Speak selection.
2. Use Option-Esc. Select text and press Option-Esc. Press it again to stop.
3. Change the shortcut. Click (i) next to Speak selection and press a new combination.
4. Add a toggle. System Settings → Keyboard → Keyboard Shortcuts → Accessibility → Turn speak selection on or off.

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:

• Control-Option-S reads the selection; Control-Option-A reads the front browser tab's article; Control-Option-O reads text you box on screen; Control-Option-X reads the paragraph under the pointer.
• 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.
• Private by default: with Apple or Kokoro voices nothing leaves your Mac; no account, no analytics in the app.

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