How to Fix It When You Can't Change Google Assistant's Voice

Three reasons why this happens and how to fix it

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Updated on February 24, 2021

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As a virtual assistant, Google Assistant can engage in two-way conversations to confirm and receive voice commands. You can select from several options for the Google Assistant voice, including male and female options, as well as various accents. If you find that you can't change the Google Assistant voice, it's likely a conflict with the language settings on your phone.

How to Change Google Assistant's Voice

What Prevents You From Changing the Google Assistant Voice?

If the option to change the Google Assistant voice is not listed, then the problem is usually related to the language settings on your device. There are two important language settings: the language of the phone operating system (OS) and the input language that Google Assistant uses to understand you.

The primary language or dialect of the OS must be covered under the Google Assistant language options. If it's not, the option to change the Google Assistant voice does not appear. If, for example, the OS language is set to English (Ireland), you won't see the option to change the Google Assistant voice in the settings menu of the Google Assistant app. If the OS system language is set to English (United States), and you still can't change the Google Assistant voice, set the Google Assistant input language to English (United States).

If that doesn't work, there may be a problem with the Google app or a bug that prevents Google Assistant from working correctly on your phone.

How to Change the Operating System Language

If you are unable to change the Google Assistant voice, the first step to fix the problem is to change the system language of your phone to English (United States).

Android Device

Here's how to change the system language on an Android device. (Scroll down for iOS instructions.)

Open the Settings app and then select System.
Select Languages & input.
Select Languages.
If "English (United States)" isn't present on this screen, select Add a language.
Select English (United States).

Return to the Google Assistant app to see if the Assistant Voice option is listed in the Settings > Assistant menu. If it is, you can change the voice. If it isn't, continue with the following instructions to remove secondary languages from the OS.
Select the menu icon indicated by three vertical dots (⋮).
Select Remove.
Tap each language you want to remove and then select the trash can icon to delete those languages.

Every language that has a check mark next to it is removed in the next step.
Select OK in the confirmation screen to remove the selected languages.
Check to see if you are able to change the Google Assistant voice. If you aren't, change the Google Assistant input language.

iOS Device

To change the system language on an iOS device:

Open the Settings app and select General.
Select Language & Region.
Tap iPhone Language and select English (US).
Return to the Google Assistant app to see if the Assistant Voice option is listed in the Settings > Assistant menu. If it is, you can change the voice. If it isn't, continue with the following instructions to remove secondary languages from the OS.
Return to the Language & Region menu and tap Edit.
Tap the red dash icon next to each language that is not English.
Select Delete in the slider that opens next to each non-English language you tap.
Tap Done when you are finished removing languages.
Check to see if you are able to change the Google Assistant voice. If you aren't, change the Google Assistant input language.

How to Change the Google Assistant Input Language to Change the Google Assistant Voice

The next step is to make sure that the Google Assistant input language is set to English (United States). While there are a number of languages that are compatible with Google Assistant, selecting anything other than English (United States) may block the option to choose a different Google Assistant voice.

Open Google Assistant and select your user icon.

In older versions of Google Assistant, select the blue inbox icon, then select the menu icon indicated by three vertical dots (⋮) instead of your user icon.
Select Settings.
Select Assistant.

In older versions of Google Assistant, select Preferences.
Select Languages.
If English (United States) isn't on the list, select the language that is on the list.
Select English (United States).

All the languages in this list work with Google Assistant. However, you may need to set the input language to English (United States) to change the Google Assistant voice.
Check to see if you can change the Google Assistant voice under the Settings > Assistant menu of Google Assistant.

How to Change the Google Assistant Voice

After you set both the OS language and the Google Assistant input language to English (United States), you can change your Google Assistant voice to any of the available options.

How to Reset Google Assistant to Restore the Voice Selection Option

If you still aren't able to select a new voice for Google Assistant, the last thing to try is to restore the Google app to its factory settings. This process removes any corrupt data in the app and uninstalls any updates you might have installed. After you complete this process, download and install the latest Google app updates.

Here's how to restore your Google app on an Android device:

This option is not available on iOS devices, although you can delete the Google Assistant app and then redownload it from the App Store.

Open the Settings app, then select Apps & notifications.

On older versions of Android, you may have to select Apps instead.
Select Google.
Select Storage.
Select Clear Cache.
Select Clear Storage.

On older versions of the Google app, you may have to select Manage Storage instead.
Select Clear All Data.
Select OK to confirm the data deletion.
Select the back arrow to return to the App info menu.
Select Disable.
Select Disable App.

Do not leave the Google app disabled. Make sure to complete the following instructions to reenable the Google app, or your phone may not work correctly.
Select OK.
Select Enable.

You may be able to change the Google Assistant voice after enabling the Google app. If you can't, complete the following instructions to update your Google app.
Scroll down and select App details.
Select Update.
Wait for the update to finish. Then check to see if you're able to change the Google Assistant voice. If you can't, wait for Google to issue a patch to fix the problem. Visit the official Google Assistant support forum for additional information or report your problem.

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