How to Highlight Words as They Are Read Aloud
Learn how to turn on word highlighting in Helperbird, so each word lights up as it is spoken and your eye can follow along with the voice.
Jump to the stepsOn this page7 sections
What This Does
With this on, each word lights up as it is spoken. Instead of listening and reading separately, your eye is pulled along by the voice.
This is a beta feature, so it is still being worked on.
Who is This For?
This is helpful for:
- Anyone who loses their place when listening and reading at the same time
- Readers with dyslexia, where pairing the sound with the word helps it stick
- Students learning to read, or reading in a second language
- Anyone who drifts off partway through a paragraph
Step 1: Turn It On
- Choose Text to speech settings beside a speech player.
- Find Highlight spoken words in the Text to speech section.
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Highlight spoken words starts on. Turn it on if you previously switched it off.
Step 2: Pick a Color
- Choose a Highlight color swatch below the switch.
- Choose Play sample, the play button beside the sentence at the top of the section.
Each spoken word in the sample uses your chosen color. Your choice saves at once. Yellow is the default.
The text color keeps the words clear. Check the sample again if you use a color overlay or dark mode.
Where It Works
Highlighting appears in Reading Mode, on the current PDF page, and when you have selected some text and had it read. It does not highlight when reading a whole page you have not selected.
If Nothing Highlights
Word highlighting only works with your computer's own voices. If you have chosen one of the Natural voices, the words will not light up, because those voices do not report their position as they speak.
Switch to a local voice in your Text to speech settings and it will start working. Voice availability depends on your browser and device.
Need Additional Help?
If you have any questions or run into any issues, please contact the Helperbird support team. You can reach us at Helperbird support. We are happy to help you get the most out of Helperbird.
Printed from the Helperbird Help Center · Updated October 26th, 2026
Questions? We are happy to help — helperbird.com/support