How to Type With Your Voice in Windows 10
Show If youre tired of typing with a keyboard, entering text can be as easy as using your voice in Windows 10. The OS includes built-in speech recognition and dictation features. Heres how to set them up. How to Enable Dictation and Speech Recognition in Windows 10Microsofts dictation software is a useful way to write text quickly in Windows 10 using the Windows+h keyboard shortcut. But it may not already be enabled by default on your system, so you may have to make a quick trip to settings to enable it. Begin by opening Windows Settings. To do so, open your Start menu and click the gear icon. You can also get there by pressing Windows+i on your keyboard. In Settings, click Ease of Access. Advertisement On the left pane, scroll down and click Speech in the sidebar. Under Speech settings, click the switch located below Turn on Speech Recognition. It should switch over to the On position. Keep in mind speech recognition is only available in a few languages, including English, French, German, Spanish, Mandarin, and Japanese. To perform this action quickly, hit Windows+Ctrl+s to toggle speech recognition on or off instantly. The Best Tech Newsletter Anywhere Join 425,000 subscribers and get a daily digest of features, articles, news, and trivia. Sign Me Up!We've got your info - thanks for signing up! We were unable to subscribe you! Please check your e-mail address or contact us for assistance. Signing you up... By submitting your email, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. When you toggle speech recognition on for the first time, you will need to set it up to recognize your voice. To perform the initial microphone setup,hook upeither a headset microphone, desktop microphone, or other peripheral mics. Then follow the on-screen prompt to choose and calibrate your microphone. We recommend using a headset mic for dictation software. Advertisement Once the headset is connected, say the on-screen phrase into your microphone, so the system will capture your voice and be able to recognize it while using the program. Finish up by selecting whether or not you want to allow the computer to review documents and email to help it improve speech recognition accuracy. Once the setup is complete, youre ready to begin typing with your voice! RELATED: How to Set Up and Test Microphones in Windows 10 Typing With Your Voice In Windows 10After youve successfully set up your microphone, you can start typing with your voice. The wizard will ask you to toggle run Speech Recognition every time you start up the computer. Answer appropriately according to your preferences,and youre finally ready to start typing with your voice. Advertisement If you want to use dictation, select a text field and call up the dictation bar with Windows+h. Well use a blank text document as an example. After hitting Windows+h, the dictation bar will pop up at the top of the screen: Dictation will automatically turn on and prompt you to speak once you call up the dictation bar. If it doesnt, simply click the microphone icon to enable it. Begin speaking into your microphone. Speak in complete, deliberate sentences. You can say whatever you like, and youll see it typed on the screen as you go along. Here are some tips while you dictate:
Remember to speak clearly and avoid speaking too fast, as it can mess with your writing flow as the software tries to catch up your pace (When talking fast, we experienced some input lag until we slowed down a bit). Advertisement Stop dictating by say, stop dictating. To turn it back onor if it cuts out unexpectedlyclick the microphone on the dictation bar to re-enable it: Dictation will allow you to use your voice to write things faster and easier than if you were typing them, and its pretty fun too. How to Disable Dictation and Speech Recognition in Windows 10Dictation software is ideal for a number of uses, but there you may decide to disable it at some point. If you accidentally enable dictation or simply no longer wish to use it, disabling it is fairly straightforward. All you need to do is hit Windows+h again to toggle it off. If you want to shut off speech recognition entirely, so you dont accidentally start dictation, disable it by usingWindows+Ctrl+s. This will completely disable speech recognition. Advertisement Alternatively, head back to Windows Settings. Click Ease of Access again, find Speech, and flip the switch beneath the words Turn on Speech Recognition to the off position. Remember, you can always turn speech recognition back on and use the dictation feature any time with Windows+H. Happy writing! David Buck David Buck is a former radio guy/musician who researches and writes about all manner of strange and interesting music, tech, retro games, audio gear, and data. Read Full Bio ยป |