How do I turn on voice typing?
- Click in the text box where you want the words.
- Press the Windows key and H together. (On a touch keyboard, press the microphone button.)
- Wait for the "Listening..." alert, then speak.
Microsoft says voice typing uses online speech recognition powered by Azure Speech services, so you need internet, a working microphone and your cursor in a text box.
How do I stop it?
Say a voice typing command such as "Stop listening", or press the microphone button on the voice typing menu. To move around the menu with the keyboard, press Windows, Alt and H.
How do I get punctuation?
Click the gear icon on the voice typing menu and turn on Automatic punctuation. You can also say punctuation as you speak. The same settings let you filter profanity, choose the default microphone, turn the voice typing launcher on, and set how long it waits before acting on a command.
What can I say to edit?
Microsoft lists commands such as "delete that" and "select that", and spoken keys such as "press Enter", "press Backspace", "press Tab" and "press Space". The full list, by language, is in Microsoft's voice typing guide.
How do I change the language?
Voice typing uses your keyboard's input language. Add a language under Settings, Time and language, Language and region, then switch with the language switcher on the taskbar or Windows key plus Space. Microsoft's list of supported languages includes Chinese (Traditional, Hong Kong SAR), Chinese (Traditional, Taiwan) and Chinese (Simplified, China); it does not say Cantonese or Mandarin.
What is fluid dictation?
On Copilot+ PCs, in English locales, Microsoft's fluid dictation corrects grammar, punctuation and filler words as you speak, using on-device models. It is on by default. Say "Revert", "Undo that" or press Ctrl+Z to restore what you said. It is switched off in password and PIN fields.
Why is voice typing not working?
See voice to text not working. The usual causes are no internet, the wrong microphone, microphone access turned off for apps, or no cursor in a text box.
Is there another option on Windows?
Win+H is free and is often enough. Zefmi is a paid app for people who want a hold-to-talk key, AI clean-up on any PC, and Cantonese or Mandarin. See dictation for Windows.
Steps checked against Microsoft's voice typing page on 31 Oct 2026. Windows 10 has different steps, shown on the same Microsoft page.
Website by ContentMetric