Translation appears, but there is no sound: what to check

In the text translation tool

Press Read translation beneath the completed result. Read original speaks the input language instead. Translation does not start playback automatically.

1. Check the target language, then choose an available voice for that language.
2. If the reading button is disabled, check for a matching on-device voice. The tool only offers local voices made available by your browser; translation language support does not guarantee a voice is installed.
3. If the control shows Resume, use it to continue. Otherwise stop and retry with one short sentence.
4. If playback starts but you hear nothing, check system volume, the browser’s sound setting and the selected speaker or headphones.

When the language has no available voice

Add a voice for the target language using your operating system’s speech or accessibility settings, then reopen the page and check the voice list again. The browser determines which installed voices it exposes, so a voice may still be unavailable in a particular browser.

You can keep translating and copying text while reading is unavailable. Switching to an unrelated language’s voice is unlikely to give useful pronunciation. For Chinese writing variants, also check the voice’s region; simplified or traditional characters alone do not select a regional accent.

Browser documentation: available device voices

Try a saved sample without installing a voice

The Japanese-to-English and English-to-Japanese worked examples include saved CastReader audio beside their transcripts. Listen to original and Listen to translation play those fixed files; they do not need an installed system voice or a new translation request.

These buttons read only the displayed saved example. Use Read original or Read translation in the text tool to hear text you entered. Starting one playback stops the other on the same page.

In the YouTube extension preview

Translate subtitles and Read translation are separate switches. First wait for translated captions, then enable Read translation and keep the video playing through a captioned segment.

If captions themselves are absent, start with the caption checks in the YouTube guide. If translated captions appear but narration does not, check the reading control and any visible service message. A device voice missing from the website tool does not diagnose the extension’s narration path.

While watching the demonstration on this site

The demonstration is a video recording with its own sound control. Press its sound button and use the narration chapter to hear the English sample. An automatically playing muted preview will not produce sound until you turn sound on.

This control changes the recording’s audio. It does not turn narration on in an extension or translate a different YouTube video.