Issue with SAPI5 Synthesizer

[Wei Chong Tang]

Dear NVDA team,

I am facing an issue with my SaPI5 snythesizer in NVDA. I was doing a system cleanup a few days ago and might have accidentally deleted some files, and it effected my SAPI5 synthesizer in NVDA. How can I fix this? Thank you.

Yours Sincerely,

Tang Wei Chong.

[Mister Kayne]

It is likely that some core registry entries or speech engine files required by the SAPI5 interface were removed during the cleanup process. To resolve this, please try the following steps in order:

 

1. Repair NVDA:

Sometimes, a simple repair can restore missing or corrupted components. Open the Windows Control Panel, go to "Programs and Features," select NVDA from the list, and choose the "Repair" option if available. If not, reinstalling NVDA over your existing installation often fixes issues without removing your personal settings.

2. Re-register the SAPI5 Components:

If the issue persists, the SAPI components might need to be re-registered with Windows.

Open the Command Prompt as an administrator (Search for "cmd," right-click it, and select "Run as administrator").

Type the following command and press Enter:

regsvr32 sapi.dll

Restart your computer and then restart NVDA to see if the SAPI5 voices reappear in the synthesizer selection menu.

3. Check for Missing Speech Voices:

It is possible that the registry keys pointing to your installed voices were deleted. You can verify if voices are still present by going to Windows Settings > Time & Language > Speech and ensuring at least one voice is installed and working under the "Speech" section. If no voices are listed there, you may need to add a language or voice pack through Windows Update settings.

 

Warm regards,

Mister Kayne
Author: The Somebody, Nobody, Anybody & Everybody Blog!

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[Wei Chong Tang]

Dear 'Mister Kayne,

Thank you for the tips. Now the issue is that the SAPI5 synthesizer is there, but when I select it it displays the "synthesizer error"dialog box. ?What is the issue and how can I resolve this?

Tang wei Chong.

Virus-free.www.avg.com

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/a/nvaccess.org/d/msgid/nvda-users/002a01dd0c89%249073e470%24b15bad50%24%40mister-kayne.com.

[dark...@gmail.com]

Greetings! Please provide us a little bit more information which SAPI5 synth you're using. Is it someof built in Windows voices, if so, you may need to perform a restore of possibly damaged system components using this command

DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth

Run this command as administrator. 

If you're using a third party SAPI5 TTS try to reinstall itand check the result.

[Wei Chong Tang]

Hi Dark,

Yes I am using voices from windows also third party installed voices like claro Ting Ting.

Also, can you please provide a step by step guide on how do I perform the DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth action? Thank you.

Thank you. Regards

Tang wei Chong.

Virus-free.www.avg.com

[Wei Chong Tang]

Dear Dark,

Thanks for the tip! I have tried resetting NVDA to factory default and it still didn't work. The new set of chinese voices are not as good as the older ones, especially for mandarin. I wonder if there is any reason why the developers of vocalizer didn't want to implement the VocalizerOtomotive into a later version of NVDA. Is it because there is no demand for it? The new voices especially for mandarin have a muffled sound, which makes their quality not as good as the older versions. I strongly suggest Rui or people in charge to consider making VocalizerOtomotive compatible to NVDA forever. Is there any workaround

Virus-free.www.avg.com

On Thu, Jul 9, 2026 at 5:49 PM DarkMad <dark...@gmail.com> wrote:

Greetings! Did you check how your SAPI synths are working with another
programs? Also did you tried to create a portable copy of NVDA and check
your SAPI voices using this copy. If they're workingthen something is
wrong in your NVDA configuration and you may need to Reset configuration
to factory defaults using NVDA menu.

If you're using licensed Vocalizer addon from CodeFactory or Tiflotacnia
you can upgrade it to modern Tiflotecnia voices addon, unfortunately,
upgrade is paid and there will be no official upgrade of old Vocalizer
addons.

Best regards!