Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Word in Microsoft 365. If you are using an earlier version (Word 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Word, click here: Inserting a Sound File in Your Document.

Inserting a Sound File in Your Document

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated October 28, 2023)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Word in Microsoft 365

If you are the type that likes to give your documents a slant toward multimedia, Word allows you to insert sound files in your document. This is done in this manner:

Position the insertion point where you want the sound inserted.
Display the Insert tab of the ribbon.
Click Object in the Text group. Word displays the Object dialog box.
Click on the Create from File tab. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The Create from File tab of the Object dialog box.

Use the controls on the dialog box to locate a sound file that you want included with your document.
Click on OK. An icon for the object appears in your document where the sound file is inserted.

You can later listen to your sound file by simply double-clicking on the speaker icon.

Finally, realize that when you insert an object in this way, how the object is inserted depends on the version of Word you are using. In some versions, the sound file is actually placed within the Word document; it is embedded. In other versions of Word, the object may be inserted as a link. Either way, the sound file should work just fine if you double-click it. However, if you move the document to a different location (including to a different system), then your sound file may not play properly because the document containing the link (the document in which you inserted the sound file) is no longer in the same place.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (5911) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Word in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Inserting a Sound File in Your Document.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. Learn more about Allen...

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