In this blog, we will walk you through how to dictate in word and have your fingers taking a well-earned break while your mouth does the talking. So before you go jumping in and dictating everything in Word, just remember to proofread your document before sending it on or finalising the file. Punctuation may be slightly out and you may speak a little differently to how you would like something typed. Although like Siri, dictating in Word is not completely fool proof, sometimes a word can be heard and typed incorrectly or misunderstood. To use it, your PC needs to be connected to the internet.It’s like having Siri on hand, in Word to manage all of the heavy lifting, or in this case all of the typing. When you are finished dictating and wish to close the tool, click on the “X” found on the far right of the dictation tool.ĭictation is available in US English only. The tool will also stop listening after 10 seconds of silence.ħ. When you are finished speaking, click on the microphone symbol again, or say “ stop listening” and the dictation app will stop listening. As you speak in to the mic, your words will appear on-screen. When the tool is ready, the word “ listening” will appear on-screen.Ħ. The tool might take a moment to initialize. To start dictating, click on the microphone symbol. Then, head into the Outlook app and swipe from the left side of the screen.
To see a list of text-based dictation commands, click here.ĥ. Play your emails aloud in Outlook on iOS: Make sure your Surface Earbuds are connected to your iPhone or iPad. Microsoft Word is a great example of an app that works well with the dictation tool. Open the program or app that you wish to dictate into. Hint: Placing the tool on top of the task-bar is a great way to keep the tool out of the way while still having access to it.Ĥ. Most smartphones have a dictation function for taking notes, or you can use Evernote or other apps.
Use free built-in software on your computer. To move the tool, left-click, hold, and drag it to the location of your choosing. Most authors use Nuance Dragon which has PC and Mac versions and is the most developed speech-to-text software around. The dictation tool will now appear on screen. Go to Home > Dictate dropdown > Transcribe. To start dictating, press the Windows logo key + H.ģ. Transcribe live audio Make sure youre signed in to Microsoft 365, using Microsoft Edge or Chrome. Most new laptops come pre-built with microphones, and if that’s the case, the built-in microphone will be detected during this set-up process.Ģ.
Follow the on-screen prompts to connect your mic. Type “ microphone” in the windows search bar and select “ set-up a microphone”.
As long as youre running the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update or higher, you. First, the microphone needs to be set-up. Open an application in which you want to dictate text, such as Notepad, WordPad, Microsoft Word, or your email software. Stay tuned for an upcoming how-to guide that breaks down Windows Speech Recognition step-by-step.įor now, let’s take a look at how the dictation feature works:ġ.
It’s worth noting that a similar tool, called Windows Speech Recognition, has been available for Windows 10 for a while now, and while it does a great job of allowing users to control their PCs using their voice, it’s not necessarily designed as a speech-to-text tool, although it does have some of that functionality. Windows dictation is incredibly straightforward and user-friendly, and for users who aren’t able to type because of physical or visual challenges, the dictation tool allows these individuals to nonetheless be highly productive in the Windows 10 environment. Recently, Microsoft released the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, and with it came the new dictation feature, which allows users to speak instead of typing text. Windows 10 is constantly evolving in its ability to provide built-in accessibility features for its users, with new accessibility features being added with almost every major update.