If you’re 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. Here’s how to set them up.
How to Enable Dictation and Speech Recognition in Windows 10
Microsoft’s 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.”
In Settings, click “Ease of Access.”
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.
In Speech Settings, click “Turn on Speech Recognition.”
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.
When you toggle speech recognition on for the first time, you will need to set it up to recognize your voice.
In the Speech Recognition Setup Wizard, click “next” to start setting up your microphone.
To perform the initial microphone setup, hook up either 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.
Select your microphone from the available options. Headset microphones are ideal for speech recognition.
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.
Say the on-screen text to set up your microphone.
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.
Choose whether to enable or disable document review.
Once the setup is complete, you’re ready to begin typing with your voice!