How to Enable and Use Voice Typing in Windows 11

Jul. 22, 2021

If I have to pick one of thebest new features in Windows 11, I would certainly choose the voice typing experience in Windows 11. It’s just so seamless, accurate and the voice recognition is surprisingly good. It seems Microsoft has done a ton of improvements to its online Microsoft Speech Services. So if you want to enable and use voice typing in Windows 11, follow our simple guide below. You can evenget this Windows 11 feature on Windows 10by following the last method. On that note, let’s dive in.

Here, we have mentioned two ways to use voice typing in Windows 11. The first one is the built-in voice typing tool, while the other one is the built-in dictation tool in Office apps on your Windows 11 PC. Moreover, I have also mentioned how to use voice typing in Windows 10 and some helpful dictation commands.

The native voice typing tool in Windows 11 is a system-wide utility and works in all apps and environments, be it a browser, Notepad, or an Office app. If you see a text field, just summon the voice typing toolbar, and you are ready to go. That said, keep in mind, you will need an active internet connection for voice typing to work.

1. The easiest way to enable voice typing is using aWindows 11 keyboard shortcut. Press “Windows key + H” simultaneously to open the voice typing prompt immediately.

2. Next,click on the “mic” buttonand start speaking. Using the online Microsoft Speech Services, your dictation will be converted from speech to text in no time. I was surprised to see that Windows 11’s voice typing experience was usable and accurate. You can see the voice typing feature in action here:

3. The best part about voice typing in Windows 11 is that it comes with support for “Auto punctuation“, and again, it works really well. By the way, it’s not enabled by default. You need to click on the “Settings” icon and turn on the “Auto punctuation” toggle.

4. In case your dictation is not being picked properly, you can navigate to “Settings -> Time and Language -> Speech”. Here, select the appropriate “Speech Language” from the drop-down menu based on your region or accent.

You can alsoturn on the “Voice typing launcher”so that the voice typing overlay appears whenever you click on a text field. No matter which app or window you are in, simply click on the “mic” button and start voice typing instantly.

1. To enable this feature, click on the “Settings” icon in the voice typing overlay. Then, turn on the “Voice typing launcher” toggle.

2. For example, I am on Google Review’s page on Chrome and the Voice typing launcher automatically comes up when I click on the text entry field.

3. Now, I can click onthe “mic” buttonand add my review with utmost ease. Quite helpful, right? You can do this on any webpage, text field in programs, web form, etc.

In case you are unaware, besides the built-in voice typing, Office apps also come with a“Dictate” option, and it works very much the same. In fact, it also has support for Auto punctuation and works on Windows 10 too. Those who use the free Office portal on the web can also take advantage of Microsoft Speech Services without any limitation. On a side note, you can find thedifferences between Office Web and Desktop appsfrom our detailed article. Keep in mind, theTranscribe feature on Wordis different from voice typing, and it’s only available to paid users. To learn how the voice typing feature works in Microsoft Office apps, follow the steps below:

1. To use voice typing within Office apps on your Windows 11 PC, open one of these apps – Word or PowerPoint. On the top-right corner, you will find a “Dictate” option. The same step is applicable for Office on the web as well.

2. Click on “Dictate”, and you can straight awayspeak to convertyour speech to text in real-time. Just hit the “mic” button and start talking.

3. And similar to Windows 11’s built-in voice typing, you can click on the “Settings” icon and enable “Auto punctuation”. You can also customize your preferred spoken language and enabe the profanity filter while working on office documents or school projects.

While Windows 11 has a much smarter voice typing utility, Windows 10 also comes with a native Dictation Tool. You can use the same “Windows + H” keyboard shortcut, and the dictation pop-up will appear at the top of the screen.

The difference between dictation tools on Windows 10 and voice typing in Windows 11 is thelack of auto punctuationon the former. You need to use dictation commands to add punctuations, letters, symbols, etc., in Windows 11. Here is how to go about it.

1. First off, open Settings and move to Privacy -> Speech, and turn on “Online speech recognition“.

2. Now, press the “Windows + H” shortcut, and you will be able to dictate your speech. Here, you won’t find auto punctuation. Instead, you need to use the dictation commands I have mentioned below to add punctuations, symbols, and special characters.

Currently, only English (US) supports advanced dictation commands, but the following languages support basic symbols, texts, numbers, etc.

Here are the dictation commands you can use while voice typing on your Windows 10 or Windows 11 computer:

If you want to dictate letters, numbers, punctuation, and symbols, you need to follow the below commands. For example, if you want to add an uppercase letter, you simply need to say “uppercase” before the letter.

Smart Voice Typing with Auto Punctuation in Windows 11

So that is how you can enable and use voice typing in Windows 11. I useGboard’s voice typingevery day on my Android phone, and I must say, Microsoft has greatly improved the voice typing experience in Windows 11. It’s fast, accurate, and the auto punctuation works for the most part. I am excited about Windows 11 and what other new features it will bring before the final release. As for now, you can learnhow to take screenshots on Windows 11orcustomize the Windows 11 Start Menuorcheck Screen on time in Windows 11. Anyway, that is all from us. If you have any questions, comment down below and let us know.

Passionate about Windows, ChromeOS, Android, security and privacy issues. Have a penchant to solve everyday computing problems.