Did you know you can type in Windows 11 using your voice and turn your words into text? This feature, called Voice Typing, is available for free in all editions of Windows 11. It works with any app you can use to type text (Word, Notepad, PowerPoint) or any web-based app for text editing, including Google Docs. If you want to try it out, read this guide and learn how to turn on Voice Typing, the keyboard shortcut for Voice Typing, how to use and configure Voice Typing, and which Voice Typing commands are available. Let’s get started:
How to turn on Voice Typing on your Windows 11 PC
If you want to type using your voice, simply press these keys on your keyboard:
Windows + H
This keyboard shortcut activates Voice Typing. You should see a small window with a microphone icon in the middle, similar to the one in the screenshot below. A pop-up message is also displayed the first time you use it, letting you know that: “Voice typing turns your voice into text with Microsoft’s online speech services.”
Voice Typing in Windows 11
Before pressing the Windows + H keyboard shortcut for Voice Typing, you should first open the app or website where you want to dictate. Otherwise, Voice Typing displays this message: “To use voice typing, select a text box then try again.”
Before dictating, you should select a text box
What do you need for Voice Typing in Windows 11?
To use Voice Typing on your Windows 11 PC, laptop, or tablet, you need a working microphone or a webcam with a built-in microphone, an active internet connection, and an app that allows you to type text. Voice Typing is available in 46 languages as long as you install Enhanced speech recognition. I will share more details on this subject later in this article.
Which apps are compatible with Voice Typing in Windows 11?
Voice Typing should work with any Windows app that has a text field. I tested it with Notepad, Microsoft Word, and Google Docs. I’ve also loaded Google Docs in several web browsers, including Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, and Vivaldi, and the feature worked every time.
How to use Voice Typing to talk instead of type
After activating Voice Typing, you see a small pop-up with a few icons:
- The microphone icon is used to start and pause Voice Typing.
- The cogwheel icon gives you access to the settings available for Voice Typing.
- The question mark icon takes you to a web page where you can find Microsoft’s official product documentation.
- The x icon in the top-right corner is for closing Voice Typing.
The buttons available for Voice Typing and what they do
When you want to talk and have your words transcribed into text, simply click or tap the microphone icon. When it turns blue, you can start talking.
Ensure the mouse cursor is inside a text box, and your words are automatically transcribed. As long as you speak clearly, Voice Typing will recognize your words and convert them into text.
Dictating to Voice Typing is easy
How to configure Voice Typing in Windows 11
If you click on the Settings cogwheel icon, you see a menu with a few options:
- Voice typing launcher – if you plan to use this feature regularly, you should enable this switch. When you do this, a launcher is displayed each time you place your mouse cursor in a text box.
- Automatic punctuation – when enabled, Voice Typing automatically adds punctuation to your text.
- Select default microphone – gives you a list of all the sound devices that can be used as a microphone. Select the one you want to use from the list.
- Give feedback – you can report bugs to Microsoft, request improvements, and more. When you click or tap this option, the Feedback Hub opens, where you can give feedback on this product and other Windows features.
Setting up how Voice Typing works in Windows 11
If you activate the Voice typing launcher, here’s how it looks. Windows 11 automatically displays it when you click or tap inside an app with a text box, like Notepad, Word, or PowerPoint.
The Voice typing launcher is shown automatically, if enabled
If you’re multilingual, you can switch between multiple languages and dictate simply by changing the keyboard language in Windows 11: press the Windows + Spacebar shortcut on your keyboard.
Which Voice Typing commands can you use in Windows 11?
Voice Typing has some commands that you can use to do things like pause the dictation, delete the last word or phrase, select the last word or phrase, and so on:
- Stop or pause Voice Typing: Pause voice typing, Pause dictation, Stop voice typing, Stop dictation, Stop listening, Stop dictating, Stop voice mode, Pause voice mode
- Delete last spoken word or phrase: Delete that, Erase that, Scratch that
- Select the last spoken word or phrase: Select that
- Press Enter: Press Enter
- Press Backspace: Backspace, Press Backspace
- Press Tab: Tab, Press Tab
- Press Space: Insert Space, Press Space.
You can also use Voice Typing commands to insert punctuation marks:
- To insert ‘’: begin/open single quote, end/close single quote
- To insert –: Hyphen, minus sign, n-dash
- To insert –: m-dash
- To insert !: exclamation mark/point
- To insert ?: question mark
The list is very long; Microsoft documented it in the Punctuation commands section on this page.
In how many languages can you use Voice Typing?
Voice Typing is available in 46 languages. The list includes widely spoken languages like English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Chinese, Russian, Hindi, and less-used languages like Bulgarian, Czech, or Romanian. For the complete list, consult Microsoft’s official documentation and extend the Supported languages section on this page.
If you’re using a supported language but Voice Typing isn’t activating when you press Windows + H on your keyboard, you should check whether Text-to-speech and Enhanced speech recognition are installed for your language.
Install Text-to-speech and Enhanced speech recognition for your language
If they’re not, this is why Voice Typing isn’t available. Reinstall the display language and ensure that you select these two optional language features, or go to Settings > Time & language > Language & region, click or tap the three dots next to your language, and select Language options.
Accessing Language options
Then, click or tap the Download button next to Text-to-speech, Basic speech recognition, and Enhanced speech recognition.
Click or tap Download next to these features
Wait for all these features to download and install, then try again. If you need help handling languages in Windows 11, I recommend this guide: How to change the language on Windows 11.
How well does Voice Typing work for you?
I’ve tried Voice Typing several times, and I noticed that it’s more productive for me to use it when writing text that isn’t very technical. I can’t use it for my regular writing at Digital Citizen because it requires a lot of testing and documentation, and Voice Typing slows me down. However, it works great when I have to write notes in OneNote. The same is true when I want to write my journal or save some thoughts I want to return to later. If you didn’t know about this feature, try it out, and then let me know if you like it or not. Is Voice Typing good enough for you? Comment using the options below and let me know.
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