How to use speech to text in Microsoft Word

Speech to text in Microsoft Word is a hidden gem that is powerful and easy to use. We show you how to do it in five quick and simple steps

Woman sitting on couch using laptop

Master the skill of speech to text in Microsoft Word and you'll be dictating documents with ease before you know it. Developed and refined over many years, Microsoft's speech recognition and voice typing technology is an efficient way to get your thoughts out, create drafts and make notes.

Just like the best speech to text apps that make life easier for us when we're using our phones, Microsoft's offering is ideal for those of us who spend a lot of time using Word and don't want to wear out our fingers or the keyboard with all that typing. While speech to text in Microsoft Word used to be prone to errors which you'd then have to go back and correct, the technology has come a long way in recent years and is now amongst the best text-to-speech software .

Regardless of whether you have the best computer or the best Windows laptop , speech to text in Microsoft Word is easy to access and a breeze to use. From connecting your microphone to inserting punctuation, you'll find everything you need to know right here in this guide. Let's take a look...

How to use speech to text in Microsoft Word: Preparation

The most important thing to check is whether you have a valid Microsoft 365 subscription, as voice typing is only available to paying customers. If you’re reading this article, it’s likely your business already has a Microsoft 365 enterprise subscription. If you don’t, however, find out more about Microsoft 365 for business via this link . 

The second thing you’ll need before you start voice typing is a stable internet connection. This is because Microsoft Word’s dictation software processes your speech on external servers. These huge servers and lighting-fast processors use vast amounts of speech data to transcribe your text. In fact, they make use of advanced neural networks and deep learning technology, which enables the software to learn about human speech and continuously improve its accuracy. 

These two technologies are the key reason why voice typing technology has improved so much in recent years, and why you should be happy that Microsoft dictation software requires an internet connection. 

An image of how voice to text software works

Once you’ve got a valid Microsoft 365 subscription and an internet connection, you’re ready to go!

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Step 1: Open Microsoft Word

Simple but crucial. Open the Microsoft Word application on your device and create a new, blank document. We named our test document “How to use speech to text in Microsoft Word - Test” and saved it to the desktop so we could easily find it later.

Microsoft Word document

Step 2: Click on the Dictate button

Once you’ve created a blank document, you’ll see a Dictate button and drop-down menu on the top right-hand corner of the Home menu. It has a microphone symbol above it. From here, open the drop-down menu and double-check that the language is set to English.

Toolbar in Microsoft Word

One of the best parts of Microsoft Word’s speech to text software is its support for multiple languages. At the time of writing, nine languages were supported, with several others listed as preview languages. Preview languages have lower accuracy and limited punctuation support.

Supported languages and preview languages screen

Step 3: Allow Microsoft Word access to the Microphone

If you haven’t used Microsoft Word’s speech to text software before, you’ll need to grant the application access to your microphone. This can be done at the click of a button when prompted.

It’s worth considering using an external microphone for your dictation, particularly if you plan on regularly using voice to text software within your organization. While built-in microphones will suffice for most general purposes, an external microphone can improve accuracy due to higher quality components and optimized placement of the microphone itself.

Step 4: Begin voice typing

Now we get to the fun stuff. After completing all of the above steps, click once again on the dictate button. The blue symbol will change to white, and a red recording symbol will appear. This means Microsoft Word has begun listening for your voice. If you have your sound turned up, a chime will also indicate that transcription has started. 

Using voice typing is as simple as saying aloud the words you would like Microsoft to transcribe. It might seem a little strange at first, but you’ll soon develop a bit of flow, and everyone finds their strategies and style for getting the most out of the software. 

These four steps alone will allow you to begin transcribing your voice to text. However, if you want to elevate your speech to text software skills, our fifth step is for you.

Step 5: Incorporate punctuation commands

Microsoft Word’s speech to text software goes well beyond simply converting spoken words to text. With the introduction and improvement of artificial neural networks, Microsoft’s voice typing technology listens not only to single words but to the phrase as a whole. This has enabled the company to introduce an extensive list of voice commands that allow you to insert punctuation marks and other formatting effects while speaking. 

We can’t mention all of the punctuation commands here, but we’ll name some of the most useful. Saying the command “period” will insert a period, while the command “comma” will insert, unsurprisingly, a comma. The same rule applies for exclamation marks, colons, and quotations. If you’d like to finish a paragraph and leave a line break, you can say the command “new line.” 

These tools are easy to use. In our testing, the software was consistently accurate in discerning words versus punctuation commands.

Phrase and output screen in Microsoft Word

Microsoft’s speech to text software is powerful. Having tested most of the major platforms, we can say that Microsoft offers arguably the best product when balancing cost versus performance. This is because the software is built directly into Microsoft 365, which many businesses already use. If this applies to your business, you can begin using Microsoft’s voice typing technology straight away, with no additional costs. 

We hope this article has taught you how to use speech to text software in Microsoft Word, and that you’ll now be able to apply these skills within your organization. 

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How to Convert Speech to Text in Word? A step-by-Step Guide

(Note: This guide on how to convert speech to text in Word is suitable for all MS Word versions including  Office 365 )

Typing a large document might be hectic sometimes. It is a rigorous process to sit with your keyboard and click key after key. You might wonder if there is an easier way to type. 

Fortunately, an alternate way to ease your efforts in typing is to use the Speech-to-Text feature in Word. 

The speech-to-text feature is particularly useful when you have to type fast. This reduces the additional work you have to do while taking notes for meetings, jotting down quick ideas, or drafting any content. 

Speech-to-Text is the cutting-edge feature adopted by many businesses and technological streams to increase user-friendliness and maintain productivity features. Among them, Microsoft has one of the advanced speech-to-text features. 

If you are planning on a long write-up, this article is for you. In this guide, I’ll explain how to activate the speech-to-text feature in Word and how to make the best out of it.

You’ll Learn

Prerequisites to Know Before Using Speech to Text Feature in Word

How to activate the speech to text feature in word, settings option, help option.

Related Reads:

How to Add Columns in Microsoft Word? All You Need to Know

How to Superscript in Word? 4 Easy Methods

How to Make a Checklist in Word? 3 Simple Steps

Enabling voice typing in Microsoft Word is easy. However, there are some points to bear in mind to make the best of the voice typing feature.

  • Make sure you have logged in to the Microsoft official account. Only then you will find the Dictate option in the Home option. But a workaround is to use the built-in Windows speech-to-text function. To activate Windows speech-to-text feature, hold the Windows key and press H. In this way, you can enable the voice typing feature for Word and in all text spaces. But, this feature has some limitations to the language options.
  • Speak clearly with proper pronunciation. It is very common for Word to interpret your speech into a relatable word. However, you can change the text through suggestions or manually.
  • Try to stay in a silent and noiseless room. It is very easy for microphones to pick up stray noises and convert them into text, which might interfere with your speech.
  • The efficiency of speech-to-text conversion relies on the speed of the internet. Make sure you have a stable and reliable internet connection to use the speech-to-text feature with ease. 
  • Make sure you allow access to the microphone option for Word. In case the microphone does not have access, the Dictate feature will not be turned on and speech won’t be converted to text. Access to the microphone can be given when activating the Dictate option.
  • It is always better to have an external microphone to discern your speech into text in a better way. However, the internal microphone array also does a good job of listening to your speech and converting them to text.

Open a Word document.

In the Main Menu, select Home. Under Voice, select the Dictate option. 

Or, you can use the keyboard shortcut (Alt+`) to enable the voice typing feature in Word.

Go to Home

This opens up a small dialog box. 

To activate the speech-to-text feature, tap on the microphone icon. You will hear a chime and the dialog box shows “Listening…”. 

Listening activated

You can also see the dictate icon in the main menu changes.

Click on Dictate

As you speak, Microsoft Word converts the speech into text. The text appears on the screen as you speak. 

Convert speech to text in word

You can exit the Dictate mode by clicking on the close button in the top right corner of the dialog box. Also, the Dictate mode automatically closes when you open another window or move away from the Word file.

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Additional Attributes of Dictate Mode

To the left of the microphone button, you can find the Settings Option. You can customize the Dictate mode by using the Settings button. It shows three options: 

Click on Settings

  • Enable Auto Punctuation: You can toggle this feature ON to add punctuation marks as you speak. Initially, punctuation marks were entered manually. Now, enabling this option adds punctuation marks like commas, periods, hyphens, and exclamations wherever necessary without being prompted by the user. 

Select enable auto-punctuation

  • Filter Sensitive Phrases : Toggling this option ON enables you to cloak any sensitive content inappropriate. When any awkward context arises, Word automatically masks the said word by replacing it with “*****”.
  • Languages : This is one of the notable features of the Dictate option in Microsoft Word. This helps you type out the text in the language of your choice. 

For example, if you want to make a Japanese script, select Japanese in the Spoken Language option and start speaking. Microsoft recognizes the uttered word and types out the content in Japanese. 

Type using other languages

Microsoft takes great measures to add more languages and increase their compatibility with the feature. Currently, Word supports 15 languages and 36 preview languages. However, preview languages have comparatively less accuracy than the supported language. 

To the right of the microphone button, you can find the Help option. Click on the Help option when faced with any query using the Dictate option. This directs you to Microsoft’s official help page to help solve your queries.

Another most important feature of the speech-to-text conversion in Microsoft Word is its ability to act on verbal commands.

You can add punctuation marks by saying “period”, “comma”, and other such commands. Word will add “.” and “,” in the respective places. For example, in the statement “My favorite colors are red, blue, and green”, you can add the commas “,” by uttering the word comma.

Commands

You can edit the text using voice commands like “delete” or “undo” to delete or undo any text after your command. For example, in the command “have a nice day. And a great weekend”, you can utter “delete weekend” to delete the word.

Using Voice Commands

You can also use the “bold”, “strikethrough”, “italics”, and other commands to format the words. Consider the statement, “have a nice day”. To bold the words “nice day”, just utter the words “bold nice day”.

Bold the text

Another one that concerns most people is a breach of privacy. Microsoft has rolled out an official statement saying they don’t store any information. The spoken words are only used to convert your speech into text and provide you with the best results. 

Suggested Reads:

Footnotes in Word and Endnotes in Word

How to do a Mail Merge in Microsoft Word 2013 – Part 2

Using Settings and Preferences in Microsoft Word 2013

Closing Thoughts

In this guide, we saw how to convert speech to text in Word and the additional attributes of the speech-to-text feature.  

Speech-to-Text is one of the golden features of Microsoft. This method of typing is preferred by a majority of common Word users. Initially, you might face a bit of a struggle to properly pronounce the words and make the best of the speech-to-text feature, but as you progress, you will develop a flow for it. 

For more high-quality guides on MS Word or Excel, please visit our  free resources  section.

SimonSezIT has been effectively teaching Excel for 15 years. We have a very comprehensive set of courses with in-depth training modules covering all major business software.

You can access all these  130+ courses  for a low monthly fee. Please visit our courses section for more information about our offers.

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Chris “Simon” Calder was working as a Project Manager in IT for one of Los Angeles’ most prestigious cultural institutions, LACMA.He taught himself to use Microsoft Project from a giant textbook and hated every moment of it. Online learning was in its infancy then, but he spotted an opportunity and made an online MS Project course - the rest, as they say, is history!

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Dictate a document on your desktop, dictate a document on the web, dictate a document on your mobile device.

Whether out of necessity or convenience, you can give your keyboard a break and dictate a document in Microsoft Word. You can use the feature in the desktop app, Word for the web, and in the mobile app.

You will need a Microsoft 365 subscription in order to dictate. If you're using Microsoft Office , you may not have the dictation feature. 365 for the web, however, is free for anyone with a Microsoft account.

With your computer's internal microphone, or with a USB microphone in hand, you can dictate your document in Word on both Windows and Mac. Head to the Home tab and click "Dictate."

On the Home tab, click Dictate

When the microphone icon appears, you can drag to move it anywhere you like. Click the icon to begin dictating, click again to stop or pause. You can also say "Pause dictation" or "Stop dictation" and can click the icon to resume.

Dictate in Word on your desktop

To enable auto-punctuation, change the dialect, or filter sensitive language, click the gear icon to open the Settings.

Dictation settings in Word desktop

If you need help with what you can say for things like punctuation, symbols, making corrections, or controlling dictation, click the question mark icon near the microphone to open the Help sidebar.

Help with dictation in Word

To stop using dictation , click the "X" in the corner of the icon's window to close it.

Related: How to Use Voice Dictation on Windows 10

The web version of Microsoft Word is free, as long as you have a Microsoft account . The dictation feature is currently available when using Edge, Firefox, Chrome, and Brave  web browsers .

Visit Microsoft Word for the web , sign in, and open your document or create a new one. Go to the Home tab and click the Dictate icon. If it's your first time using the feature, you'll be prompted to allow access to your microphone .

On the Home tab, click Dictate

Just like in the desktop application, you'll see a small microphone icon at the bottom. You can move the icon by dragging it. Simply click the icon and begin speaking.

You can pause or stop by clicking the icon again or by saying, "Pause dictation" or "Stop dictation." Then click the icon to continue when you're ready.

Dictate in Word on the web

To adjust the language, microphone, or other options, click the gear icon near the microphone icon to open the Dictation Settings. Make your changes and click "OK" to save them.

Dictation settings in Word on the web

For help with what you can say or specific commands for controlling dictation, click the question mark icon to open the Help panel on the right.

Help with dictation in Word online

When you finish using dictation, click the "X" in the corner of the icon's window to close it.

Related: How to See Which Apps Are Using Your Microphone on Windows 10

If you use Word on your Android device, iPhone, or iPad, dictation can be handy, especially when you're on-the-go. Open your document and tap the microphone icon.

Begin speaking, tap the icon to pause or stop, or say "Pause dictation" or "Stop dictation" just like the desktop and web applications .

Tap the microphone icon to dictate

To change the settings, tap the gear icon. Make your adjustments and tap the X to save them and return to your document.

Dictation settings in Word mobile

For additional help with dictation on your mobile device , tap the question mark icon.

Help with dictation in Word mobile

To stop dictating and type instead, simply tap the keyboard icon.

Stop dictating in Word

If you enjoy using the dictation feature in Microsoft Word, be sure to check out how to transcribe audio in Word too.

Related: How to Use Microsoft Word's Hidden Transcription Feature

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How to Dictate Documents in Microsoft Word

Great for writing speeches or your autobiography

Author avatar

Most people can speak faster than they can type. Take advantage of this superpower by dictating your documents! Using speech-to-text is a great way to quickly get your thoughts down in writing. We’ll show you how to dictate documents in Microsoft Word on a computer or your smartphone.

If you use the Mac or Windows desktop version of Word, you won’t find the dictate button unless you subscribe to Microsoft 365. However, you can use the free Microsoft Word web app or smartphone apps to dictate to your heart’s desire. We’ll assume you have a good internet connection and a device with a microphone enabled. 

How to Dictate Documents in Microsoft Word image 1

How to Use Dictation in Word on Macs, PCs, or the Web

The steps for dictating documents in Word are largely the same, no matter whether you’re using the desktop app or the browser-based version.  

  • Launch the Word app, either the desktop app on your Mac or PC or the web app in Chrome, Firefox, or Edge.

How to Dictate Documents in Microsoft Word image 2

  • In the Home menu, select the microphone icon.

How to Dictate Documents in Microsoft Word image 3

  • If prompted, select the button to Allow the use of your microphone.

How to Dictate Documents in Microsoft Word image 4

  • Web app users will see a toolbar with controls for your microphone. Select the microphone icon to begin dictating.

How to Dictate Documents in Microsoft Word image 5

  • Once the microphone icon is activated, you can begin speaking, and you’ll see your words appear in the Word document.

How to Dictate Documents in Microsoft Word image 6

  • Web users can select the gear icon on the dictation toolbar to choose the spoken language, select which microphone device they want to use, and toggle auto-punctuation and the profanity filter on or off.

How to Dictate Documents in Microsoft Word image 7

  • You can use your keyboard or Word’s suggestions to edit your document without needing to turn the microphone off. 
  • When you’re finished, you can exit dictation by selecting Close ( X ) in the dictation toolbar or pressing the microphone button on the ribbon again. 

That’s enough to get started with dictating a Word document on a computer. But keep reading for some expert tips and tricks.

How to Use Dictation on Your Smartphone’s Word App

Smartphones are made for dictation. You might feel strange talking to yourself, but it’s certainly faster than using your phone’s tiny keyboard.

How to Dictate Documents in Microsoft Word image 8

Start with a new Word document or open an existing one. Tap the screen where you want to start dictating, and then select the microphone icon. You can choose the microphone icon inside the Word app itself or the icon on your soft keyboard. Either one will work. 

How to Dictate Documents in Microsoft Word image 9

The benefit of using the Word app’s microphone icon is that you’ll have access to some other dictation tools. You’ll see a toolbar with standard punctuation, a spacebar, and a carriage return (new line) button. Sometimes it’s easier to tap those buttons than it is to use voice commands. 

How to Dictate Documents in Microsoft Word image 10

You’ll also have access to the gear icon to adjust the settings like the spoken language, auto punctuation, and the profanity filter.  

How to Dictate Documents in Microsoft Word image 11

The first time you select the microphone icon in the Word app, you may be prompted to grant Word permission to record audio on your phone. You can choose to either allow it every time you use the app or only this time.

How to Dictate Documents in Microsoft Word image 12

At any point, you can always select the Help button, where you’ll find information on all the voice commands you can use. 

Tips and Tricks for Dictating in Microsoft Word

Sure, you can dictate the text of a Word document, but did you know about all the other things you can do in Word with voice commands? You can use your voice to edit, format, create lists, and add a comment. 

Punctuation Tips & Tricks

You’ll get used to saying the names of punctuation marks and symbols when you dictate.

How to Dictate Documents in Microsoft Word image 13

  • Add punctuation simply by saying the name of the punctuation mark you want to insert. You can say things like period , comma , new line , and apostrophe . 
  • Say open quotes and close quotes .
  • You can say ellipsis or dot dot dot … it’s up to you!
  • For punctuation like parentheses, brackets, and braces, you can say either left or open bracket (or parentheses or brace) and either right or close bracket (or parentheses or brace). 
  • If it’s a character, you can probably dictate it. Try commands like asterisk , m-dash , copyright sign , and degree symbol . 

Editing Tips & Tricks

Think of it this way. You’re the boss and Word is your employee. Just tell Word what you want it to do. 

How to Dictate Documents in Microsoft Word image 14

  • If you say delete , Word will delete the last word or punctuation mark that appears before the cursor.
  • If you say delete that , it’ll remove the last thing you said.
  • You can tell Word to delete a specific word in the middle of a sentence. For example, let’s say you dictated, “You can’t judge a book by its awful cover.” You could say delete awful , and then you’d be left with “You can’t judge a book by its cover.”
  • Rather than saying backspace repeatedly to go back several spaces, you can just say backspace [1-100] . In other words, you can say backspace twenty . 
  • If you make a mistake, you can always say undo .

Formatting Tips & Tricks

Like the editing tips, you can use voice commands to add formatting to specific words or phrases.

How to Dictate Documents in Microsoft Word image 15

  • For simple formatting like bold , italics , underline , and strikethrough , you can pair those commands with words or phrases in your document. For example, in the screencap below, we said, “ bold phrases ,” and it did!
  • To undo all the formatting from the document, say clear all formatting . 
  • Use the align command to align your text left, right, or center.
  • If you’re not sure a particular command exists, try it and find out. For example, you can say, underline last sentence , and Word will know exactly what you mean.
  • Creating lists is easy with commands like start list , start numbered list , and exit list .

Bonus Dictation Tips & Tricks

Before you go, check out these final dictation tips and tricks.

How to Dictate Documents in Microsoft Word image 16

  • Say add comment to create a blank comment box that you can type into.
  • Even better, say something like add comment I love this paragraph period , and it will insert a comment with the text “I love this paragraph.”
  • Dictate currency symbols. You can say dollar sign , pound sterling sign (don’t forget the “sterling” or it will insert the # sign), euro sign , or yen sign .
  • Insert common emojis like smiley face , winky face , heart emoji , or frowny face . 

 If you know of any more dictation commands in Microsoft Word, leave them in the comments!

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Maggie Marystone is a freelance technology writer, human rights worker, and storyteller based in Chicago. Read Maggie's Full Bio

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speech to text word 2021

How to use speech-to-text on Microsoft Word to write and edit with your voice

  • You can use speech-to-text on Microsoft Word through the "Dictate" feature.
  • With Microsoft Word's "Dictate" feature, you can write using a microphone and your own voice.
  • When you use Dictate, you can say "new line" to create a new paragraph and add punctuation simply by saying the punctuation aloud.
  • If you're not satisfied with Word's built-in speech-to-text feature, you can use a third-party program like Dragon Home.
  • Visit Business Insider's Tech Reference library for more stories.

While typing is certainly the most common way to create and edit documents in Microsoft Word , you're not limited to using a keyboard. 

Word supports speech-to-text, which lets you dictate your writing using voice recognition. 

Speech-to-text in Word is convenient and surprisingly accurate, and can help anyone who has issues typing with a typical keyboard. 

You can use speech-to-text in Microsoft Word in the same way on both Mac and PC.

Check out the products mentioned in this article:

Apple macbook pro (from $1,299.00 at apple), acer chromebook 15 (from $179.99 at walmart), how to use speech-to-text on word using dictate.

Make sure you have a microphone connected to your computer. This can be built-in, like on a laptop, or a separate mic that you plug into the USB or audio jack. 

It doesn't matter which type you use, though the best kind of mic to use is a headset, as it won't need to compete with as much background noise as a built-in microphone.

1. In Microsoft Word, make sure you're in the "Home" tab at the top of the screen, and then click "Dictate."

2. You should hear a beep, and the dictate button will change to include a red recording light. It's now listening for your dictation. 

3. Speak clearly, and Word should transcribe everything you say in the current document. Speak punctuation aloud as you go. You can also say "New line," which has the same effect as pressing the Enter or Return key on the keyboard. 

4. When you're done dictating, click "Dictate" a second time or turn it off using your voice by saying, "Turn the dictate feature off."

You can still type with the keyboard while Dictate is on, but if you click outside of Word or switch to another program, Dictate will turn itself off.  

Want to change languages? You can click the downward arrow on the Dictate button to choose which of nine or so languages you want to speak. You might also see additional "Preview Languages," which are still in beta and may have lower accuracy.

Speech-to-text alternatives

You're not limited to using the Dictate feature built into Word. While not as popular as they once were, there are several commercial speech-to-text apps available which you can use with Word. 

The most popular of these, Dragon Home , performs the same kind of voice recognition as Word's Dictate, but it also lets you control Word, format text, and make edits to your text using your voice. It works with nearly any program, not just Word.

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How to Use the Dictation Tool in Microsoft Word

speech to text word 2021

Pankil is a Civil Engineer turned freelance writer. Since his arrival at Guiding Tech in 2021, he delves into the world of how-tos, and troubleshooting guides for Android, iOS, and Windows. Besides his new-found love for mechanical keyboards, he's a disciplined footfall fan and loves international travel with his wife.

  • Microsoft Word includes speech-to-text functionality, allowing you to write and edit your documents in various languages.
  • The dictation tool is available on all platforms, including PC, Mac, Android, iPhone, and the web.
  • Word’s dictation tool also lets you edit, format, and insert punctuation marks using voice commands.

On Microsoft Word for PC or Mac

After you’ve connected a microphone to your computer, you can start using the dictation tool in Microsoft Word. You can use the following steps to dictate documents on both Windows and Mac.

Step 1: Open any document in Microsoft Word.

Step 2: In the Home tab, click the Dictate button.

Dictate Tool in Microsoft Word

Step 3: When you activate the Dictate button, you will see a red dot appear on it. Additionally, a small recording window will also appear. After that, you can start speaking to see text appear on the screen.

Using Dictate Tool in Microsoft Word

Step 4: Click the gear-shaped icon to change your spoken language or select a different audio input device. Additionally, you can enable auto-punctuation and filter for sensitive phrases from this menu.

Dictation Tool Settings

You can pause the dictation tool by clicking the microphone icon or close it by clicking the X icon . Note that if you switch to another app or program on your computer, the dictation tool will pause automatically.

Pause or Close Dictation Tool

On Microsoft Word Online

Using the dictation tool in Microsoft Word Online is a similar experience to one on the desktop. You can use the web version of Microsoft Word for free with your Microsoft account.

The dictation tool in Word Online works with all the popular browsers, including Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and Brave. Here’s how you can use it.

Step 1: Open your preferred web browser and visit Microsoft Word for Web .

Step 2: Sign in with your Microsoft account and open a new or existing document.

Step 3: Click the Dictate icon and allow the browser to access your microphone if you haven’t already.

Dictate Tool in Microsoft Word Online

Step 4: Once the floating dictation window appears, Word should start transcribing everything you say in your document.

Using Dictate Tool in Microsoft Word Online

You can click the cog-shaped icon to change language, microphone device, and access additional options.

Dictation Tool Settings in Word Online

How to Use the Dictation Tool in Microsoft Word on Mobile

Microsoft Word’s dictation tool isn’t just for desktop users. You can also use this tool to dictate documents on your Android or iPhone. This saves you from typing a lot while creating long documents with your phone.

Step 1: Open the Microsoft Word app on your Android or iPhone.

Step 2: Open any existing document or create a new one. Tap the microphone icon on your right. You may have to grant Word permission to record audio if you’re using this feature for the first time.

Step 3: The app should start recording your voice and transcribing everything you say. You can use the available shortcuts to add punctuation, new lines, and erase words.

Dictate Tool in Microsoft Word Mobile App

Step 4: Tap the gear-shaped icon to reveal the dictation settings. You can change the spoken language, enable or disable auto-punctuation, and access other options from this menu. After using the tool, tap the keyboard icon .

Dictation Tool Settings in Word for Mobile

Various Dictation Commands You Can Use in Microsoft Word

The best part about Word’s dictation tool is that it lets you edit, format, and insert punctuation marks using voice commands.

You can say the name of the punctuation mark or a symbol you want to insert, and Word will add it to your document. For instance, if you say “comma,” Word will insert a comma. Likewise, you can also say “plus sign” or “equal sign,” and Word will add it to your document.

Add Symbols Using Voice Commands

Aside from inserting symbols and punctuation, you can format your text using voice commands. For instance, if you say “I love using Microsoft Office” and then say “Bold Microsoft,” it will bold the word Microsoft in your sentence. Likewise, you can use formatting commands to italicize, highlight, or underline words in a sentence .

Voice Commands in Word

Here are some additional dictation commands you can use in Microsoft Word.

  • New line: to leave a line break
  • Insert comment: to add a comment box
  • Delete: to delete the last word or punctuation mark
  • Delete that: to remove the last spoken phrase
  • Exit dictation: to close the dictation tool

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Last updated on 27 June, 2024

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speech to text word 2021

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How to use the Dictation feature in Word 2019, Outlook 2019, Word 365, Outlook 365 and macOS

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  • May 23, 2024 13:59

Dictation lets you use speech-to-text to create content. You will need a microphone or a headset, earbuds or use the built-in microphone in your device. 

Windows OS - Turn Online Speech recognition on:

  • Type Settings on the “Type here to search” from the windows taskbar.
  • Click Privacy .
  • Click Speech .
  • Switch the Online speech recognition to on.
  • Close the window.

Windows OS - Enabling and Using Dictation in Word 2019 and Outlook 2019

  • Open Word 2019 and/or Outlook 2019.
  • Click File from the left side of the taskbar at the top.
  • Choose Options .
  • Click General .
  • Scroll down to “ Office intelligent services ” and check Enable services .

Activating the Dictation toolbar

mceclip1.png

  • Start speaking and see the text appear on the screen from your voice.
  • Click the Microphone at the top of the dictation toolbar to start speaking again.
  • Click the “ X ” to close the dictation toolbar.

Windows OS - Word 365 Web and Desktop App

  • Open Word 365

dictation button.jpg

  • Click the microphone and start speaking.
  • Click the microphone button again to stop the dictation.

mceclip2.png

  • Choose “Help” from the dictate toolbar to view the Dictate Commands.

Outlook 365 Desktop App only

NOTE : Outlook 365 (web version does not have a dictation option)

  • Start a New Email.
  • Click in the body of the message and click the Dictate button from the top toolbar.
  • Click the microphone icon from the toolbar that appears at the bottom of the email window and begin speaking.
  • Click the microphone button again to stop the dictation .

macOS  OS - Turn Online Speech recognition on:

  • System Preferences - Keyboard - Dictation - On - Enable Dictation
  • Open Outlook or Word
  • Start a new message/document.
  • Click the Microphone on the toolbar.
  • OK to allow access.

The Dictate feature is also available in Microsoft OneNote and PowerPoint.

Transcribe an Audio File in Word as Text

References/links  .

Dictate in Microsoft 365

Last Reviewed :   23-May-2024

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Home » Tech Tips » Apps » How to Use Voice Typing in Microsoft Word Windows and Mac?

How to Use Voice Typing in Microsoft Word Windows and Mac?

Preparing a long document by typing word by word can easily make you boring. Microsoft Word being a most popular documentation software offers simple solution to overcome this situation. It is called “Dictate” feature which helps to convert your speech to text and type on the document. You can use voice typing in Microsoft Word without touching keyboard and finish the document quickly. After finishing the document, you can use Editor to check spelling and grammar to correct mistakes before sharing the document with others.

Voice Typing in Microsoft Word

Before explaining the function in Word, here are the things you should understand.

  • Voice typing or dictate function needs internet connection. This means, your voice input is sent to Microsoft and processed for converting to text. Though Microsoft claims they do not store any voice data, you should be aware of this and avoid using dictation for preparing confidential documents.
  • The function is available in both Windows and Mac versions of Word as part of Microsoft 365 subscription.
  • You do not need to activate voice typing and is available as an in-built feature in Word. Similarly, you also do not need any additional configurations in system level.
  • Dictate feature in Word is different than “Voice typing” accessibility feature in Windows operating system and “Dictation” feature in macOS.

Considering voice typing or dictation is part of both operating system and Word, here are the possible ways to use in Word:

  • Dictate feature in Word for Windows
  • Voice typing feature in Windows OS
  • Dictate feature in Word for Mac
  • Dictation feature in macOS

1. Use Voice Typing in Word Windows Version (Dictate)

It is super easy to start using dictation in Word.

  • Open a blank Word document and go to “Home” tab.
  • Click on “Dictate” icon from the ribbon to open a toolbar menu.

Open Dictate in Word Windows Version

  • Click the microphone icon in the toolbar and start speaking. Word will automatically recognize your voice input and start converting to text in your document. However, make sure you have stable internet connection for this to work faster.

Dictation Working in Word Windows Version

  • For configuring the dictation, click on the gear icon in the toolbar. You have options to select the language, microphone device , adjust volume, enable auto-punctuation and filter sensitive phrases. If you make changes, make sure to click “Save” button to apply your settings.

Configure Dictation Settings in Word Windows

2. Use Windows Voice Typing in Word

As mentioned above, Windows has a separate feature called voice typing. This works similar as Word dictation and generate text output from voice or audio input. Earlier, you should setup external microphone and configure voice recognition for using Windows voice typing feature. Now, you can simply start using the feature by using a keyboard shortcut on any text input screen.

  • Open your Word document and press “Win + H” keys.
  • This will open a toolbar showing a microphone, settings and help icons.
  • Click the microphone icon and start using voice typing similar to dictation feature in Word.

Using Windows Voice Typing in Word

  • For configuring the voice typing, click on the gear icon and change your settings.

3. Use Voice Typing in Word for Mac (Dictate)

Word for Mac ( Microsoft 365 subscription ) also has a similar setup like Windows version.

  • When you are in Word document, go to “Home” tab and click on “Dictate” icon in the ribbon.

Dictate in Word for Mac

  • On the pop-up that appears, click on the microphone icon and start talking.
  • Word will convert your speech to text and start typing on the document.
  • Click on the gear icon to configure the dictate options. Here you can switch the language , select different microphone, set input volume level, enable auto-punctuation and enable avoiding sensitive content while text conversion process.

Configure Dictation Settings in Word for Mac

4. Using macOS Dictation Feature in Word

Mac comes with a “Dictation” feature similar to Windows voice typing. This is by default enabled and you can check and configure the settings if required.

  • Click on the Apple logo menu and select “System Preferences…” option.
  • Go to “Keyboard” section and then click “Dictation” tab.

Enable Dictation in macOS

  • Make sure “Dictation” is “On”, select the language and check the keyboard shortcut keys . By default, pressing function key twice will open dictation feature in Mac.
  • Launch Word app to open a blank document and press Fn key twice on your keyboard.
  • This will show the microphone and you cat start speaking.
  • Mac will convert your speech to text and type on the document.

Using System Dictation Function in macOS Word

Remember that when using dictation, Mac will send your voice inputs, contacts and location information to Apple for processing and converting to readable text.

Voice Typing Commands for Word

As we tested, voice typing and dictation features work very well with all the above options for converting your speech to text. However, the problem is that you should understand some basic commands for using these features.

  • For example, you need to say “full stop” or “period” to end a sentence and “next line” to start a new line when using “Dictate” in Word. Most of these command also work with voice typing feature in all Windows apps.
  • However, these commands are slightly different when using “Dictation” feature in macOS. For example, the command for creating a new line with macOS dictation feature is “new line” and using “next line” command will not work.

Below are the links to get complete list of voice typing commands from official Microsoft and Apple documentations.

  • Dictate commands for Word Windows
  • Dictate command for Word for Mac
  • Voice typing commands for Windows OS
  • Dictation commands for macOS

Final Words

We strongly recommend using the “Dictate” feature which comes as part of Word app. This function does not need internet connection and your voice input is not sent to Microsoft/Apple for processing. In case, if you are not comfortable using Word feature, then you can use the system wide “Voice typing” in Windows or “Dictation” in Mac. However, this needs a stable internet connection and your voice input is sent to Microsoft/Apple for processing. In either case, make sure to go through the voice typing/dictation commands and familiarize yourself before using the function.

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While many of us use both Siri and Alexa, the keyboard still reigns supreme when writing. Even if we usually speak faster than type, we think better with keys on our fingers.

However, when Google Doc's voice typing feature came out, many were curious if Word offered the same innovation. We checked it out: we opened Word, and there it was in the top right corner of the ribbon.

So to help you eke out the most out of Word, we'll share how to get started with Dictate , the most common English commands you should know, and the languages the speech-to-text feature supports.

How to Use Dictation on Microsoft Word

Microsoft Word is available in five different platforms—Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, and Web. Whatever platform you're using, you have to either log in or create a free Microsoft account to use the dictate feature.

If you're planning to use this feature on your computer, make sure you have a microphone installed on your computer. If you don't have one yet, you can check out our guide to the best microphones . Alternatively, you can also use your Android device as a mic.

Using Dictate on Windows, macOS, and Web

Once logged in, all you have to do is to press the Dictate button on the ribbon, and voila! You're good to go! You should see a small recording window with a Settings button, a Mic icon , and a question mark for Help . When Dictate starts, you should either see a "Listening" prompt or a red Mic icon.

Microsoft Word Dictate Recording Window

Using Dictate on iOS and Android

If you're using the Dictate feature on your iOS or Android device, the procedure is a bit different. Instead of looking for the dictate button on the ribbon, you'll spot it right on the screen at the upper right of the formatting menu.

MS Word dictate screenshot on iOS

As soon as you click the button, it will start recording your input immediately.

Using Dictate on iPad

On your iPad, the dictate feature is embedded directly in your on-screen keyboard. You'll find the microphone icon to the left of your spacebar. As soon as you press that, you'll get a spectrogram view of your voice recording.

MS Word dictate recording on iPadOS

Before you start speaking, allow the Microsoft Word app to use the microphone when you're using it for the first time!

Writing with Your Voice: Essential Commands

Using Microsoft Word's dictate feature is as simple as speaking into your mic. However, it cannot read intonation, punctuation, and intent (yet), so we have to say it out loud.

Here's a list of some commands that you can give while dictating.

Basic Commands

  • Next line:  enter
  • undo:  reverses the last action or command
  • delete:  removes the last word or punctuation
  • delete that:  removes the last spoken phrase
  • delete [word/phrase]:  removes the latest instance of [word/phrase]

Punctuations

  • period/full stop:  " . "
  • comma:  " , "
  • question mark:  " ? "
  • exclamation mark/point:  " ! "
  • apostrophe:  " 's "
  • colon:  " : "
  • semicolon:  " ; "
  • strikethrough
  • superscript

You can use the above commands on any word or phrase you've previously dictated. For example, if you say "the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog", then you can follow it up by saying "underline jumps" to get the same sentence with the word "jumps" underlined.

The following formatting commands are also available, although you cannot apply them to specific words or phrases.

  • decrease indent
  • alight [left/center/right]
  • clear all formatting

Making Lists

If you want to dictate a bulleted or numbered list, you can use the following commands:

  • start numbered list

Mathematics and Finance

If you want to do some heavy writing, Microsoft Word allows you to insert math and currency symbols using dictate.

  • plus sign:  " + "
  • minus sign:  " - "
  • multiplication sign:  " x "
  • division sign:  " ÷ "
  • equal sign:  " = "
  • percent sign:  " % "
  • number/pound sign:  " # "
  • plus or minus sign:  " ± "
  • less than sign/left angle bracket:  " < "
  • greater than sign/right angle bracket:  " > "

Other Symbols

Microsoft Word also allows you to use other signs and symbols for dictation. These make it easier for you to dictate email addresses, website URLs, and others.

  • asterisk:  " * "
  • forward slash:  " / "
  • backslash  - " \ "
  • vertical bar sign/pipe character:  " | "
  • underscore:  " _ "
  • em-dash:  " --"
  • en-dash:  " - "
  • at-sign:  " @ "
  • ampersand/and sign:  " & "

You can also have a little bit of fun with Word's emoji commands.

  • smiley face:  " :) "
  • frowny face:  " :( "
  • winky face:  " ;) "
  • heart emoji:  " <3 "

Dictation Commands

You can use these commands if you want to access the menu icons on the dictation window without using your mouse.

  • pause dictation
  • exit dictation

How to Change Word's Dictation Settings

Microsoft Word dictation settings menu

You can change Word's dictation settings by selecting the gear icon on the dictation window. Here, you can change the following options:

  • Auto punctuation : It allows Word to automatically place punctuation in your document if supported in your dictation language.
  • Profanity filter : Marks offensive words and phrases with **** instead of the spoken word.
  • Spoken language : This lets you choose the dictation language in the drop-down menu.

Supported Languages

Aside from English, Microsoft Word also supports the following languages for dictation:

Each of these languages has its own set of commands you can use to dictate in the app effectively. Visit Microsoft Support for the complete list.

Related:  Yes, Get Microsoft Word for Free: Here's How

Microsoft Word Dictation: More Than Just a Nifty Feature

Although the most common use of voice-typing is for taking notes when we're on the go, Microsoft Word's dictation tool is powerful enough for us to write complete papers. We can even use it to create a full-fledged document, with proper formatting and spacing.

Although, it's difficult to get used to the first time, it's a breeze to work with once you get the hang of it. Also, it's not just a nifty tool to improve your productivity, the dictate function is an excellent accessibility innovation for users with injuries or disabilities.

So whether you're suffering from repetitive stress injury or a gaming-related cramp, or have limited use of your hands, voice-typing is available to help you accomplish your writing tasks in Microsoft Word.

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Transcription

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Privacy Policy

We at Speechnotes, Speechlogger, TextHear, Speechkeys value your privacy, and that's why we do not store anything you say or type or in fact any other data about you - unless it is solely needed for the purpose of your operation. We don't share it with 3rd parties, other than Google / Microsoft for the speech-to-text engine.

Privacy - how are the recordings and results handled?

- transcription service.

Our transcription service is probably the most private and secure transcription service available.

  • HIPAA compliant.
  • No human in the loop. No passing your recording between PCs, emails, employees, etc.
  • Secure encrypted communications (https) with and between our servers.
  • Recordings are automatically deleted from our servers as soon as the transcription is done.
  • Our contract with Google / Microsoft (our speech engines providers) prohibits them from keeping any audio or results.
  • Transcription results are securely kept on our secure database. Only you have access to them - only if you sign in (or provide your secret credentials through the API)
  • You may choose to delete the transcription results - once you do - no copy remains on our servers.

- Dictation notepad & extension

For dictation, the recording & recognition - is delegated to and done by the browser (Chrome / Edge) or operating system (Android). So, we never even have access to the recorded audio, and Edge's / Chrome's / Android's (depending the one you use) privacy policy apply here.

The results of the dictation are saved locally on your machine - via the browser's / app's local storage. It never gets to our servers. So, as long as your device is private - your notes are private.

Payments method privacy

The whole payments process is delegated to PayPal / Stripe / Google Pay / Play Store / App Store and secured by these providers. We never receive any of your credit card information.

More generic notes regarding our site, cookies, analytics, ads, etc.

  • We may use Google Analytics on our site - which is a generic tool to track usage statistics.
  • We use cookies - which means we save data on your browser to send to our servers when needed. This is used for instance to sign you in, and then keep you signed in.
  • For the dictation tool - we use your browser's local storage to store your notes, so you can access them later.
  • Non premium dictation tool serves ads by Google. Users may opt out of personalized advertising by visiting Ads Settings . Alternatively, users can opt out of a third-party vendor's use of cookies for personalized advertising by visiting https://youradchoices.com/
  • In case you would like to upload files to Google Drive directly from Speechnotes - we'll ask for your permission to do so. We will use that permission for that purpose only - syncing your speech-notes to your Google Drive, per your request.

speech to text word 2021

The Zamzar Blog

Free Your Files

A smiling lady with headphones sitting at her laptop and with a microphone set up next to her

Transcribe audio to text with Zamzar’s speech-to-text software

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Who’s experienced the frustration of manual audio transcription? The time spent listening back to an audio recording and needing to pause or rewind while you hastily type out what you hear? And even if your typing speed is top notch, even the best transcriptionist can only type as fast as the audio recording itself, making converting audio to text a time-consuming process – and often an expensive one if you have to outsource the transcribing. 

Although tech companies have been working on automating speech recognition since the 1950s, it’s only in the last few years, and with the rapid advancement of AI, that this technology has become efficient and accurate enough to be useful in real-life settings. Now, audio-to-text transcription is available to the everyday person, as well as to businesses and organisations. Whether it’s simply to turn a voice memo into text, or to transcribe the audio contents of a lecture or business meeting, this speech-to-text technology can save time and money, leaving you free to focus on other things. 

Why would I need to convert audio to text?

Audio-to-text transcription software is becoming a popular tool in several industries, including education, law, healthcare and sales. The technology is much more efficient and affordable than traditional manual transcription services, and the text output can be generated quickly on demand. Speech-to-text tools are also being increasingly employed for personal use, removing the need for manual note-taking, and assisting with listening comprehension and studying. 

Here are some reasons you might want to automate audio-to-text transcription, plus a few examples of what our customers are using our audio-to-text converter for:

💻 To repurpose content for other channels: Content creation is often an important part of running a business, but can be very time-consuming. Being able to convert your podcast or webinar to a text form you can repurpose for your website, blog or social media channel can ensure you get the most out of the content you create. Uploading a text version alongside the audio can also be a useful tactic for SEO, as the typed content is then readable by search engines.

🎤 To get transcripts from interviews or user-testing videos: If you’re performing research, being able to automatically convert interviews to text transcripts can save a lot of time. No more manually transcribing long audio recordings! The text transcripts are much easier to analyse, edit and add notes to, and can be archived more efficiently.

The review says: 5 stars Perfect way to resolve problem of missing transcripts from oral history interviews. I was able to convert the sound file into a new editable document. This saved hours of re-transcribing the material! Kathryn Lerch

🦻 To improve accessibility to your content: By converting the audio to text, you can provide a transcript or subtitles to go alongside your audio file. People who are deaf or hearing impaired, those in a quiet environment (such as on a train) or a loud environment (such as a bar) can now access the content easily. This means you can reach a wider audience, as well as ensuring your content is inclusive.

🎓 To aid learning: If your content is informational or educational, providing a typed transcript can help those who are visual learners and neurodiverse students who may be able to focus better when they have written text alongside the audio (such as some students with ADHD). Having content in a digital, typed form also supports note-taking, highlighting, and underlining, making studying much easier.

2 customer reviews. Review 1: 5 stars I used this tool to convert an mp3 recording of a speaker to text so that | could pick and choose what points to highlight in my notes on that talk. It was surprisingly accurate and converted 95% of the text, faltering only where the colloquialisms and linguistic twists became too obtuse for it to work. Mark Tyler Review 2: 5 stars I use Zamzar to convert audio lectures to transcript text files. Zamzar does a good job in giving me a text version of the the audio lectures. Justin

🔍 To create a searchable form of the content: Converting your audio file to text provides you with a searchable form of the content for record-keeping or to make research quicker. It’s not easy to search for key information within an audio file; you’d need to listen to the whole file to find the parts you need. Turning the audio into text allows you to perform automated searches for keywords, so you can quickly locate the quote or piece of information needed. This is ideal for businesses who need to generate transcripts of meetings for archiving, and for legal firms who need to search large amounts of audio data for key evidence.

A review reading: 5 stars i was converting a teams recording to text .The accuracy level is amazing Cornelius

✏️ To take notes when you can’t use a keyboard or pen: If you’re out and about, recording a voice memo you can convert to text later can be much more convenient. Recording verbal notes is also useful for people in professions where their hands are occupied, such as surgeons, lab workers, or machinery operators, and for people who need to log information in time-constrained situations, such as healthcare professionals. The voice recordings can be quickly converted to text to be used as needed. 

A review reading: 5 stars ... am doing field work and need to record my impressions for review later ... The 3-minute audio file transcribed in seconds. The pauses were gone. The file took lots less than 3 minutes to read. The results were impressive. The text was coherent, reading a lot like it sounded. Good work ... Ryan Rudnicki

👂 To translate contents or aid listening comprehension: For language learners and non-native speakers, having a typed transcript of the audio can enhance comprehension. For those who speak a different language, a written version of the contents allows the listener to use an online translation service to translate the contents into their own language . Often, voice-to-text tools are even able to interpret poor-quality audio, so they can help with understanding what was said when listening back to the recording.

A review that reads: 5 stars I wanted to convert a poor audio from a video into text so I could better read and understand it. MP4 was converted to MP3 and then this site was used to convert into text. I didn't have much faith in the process but I was proven wrong and am very impressed. A few errors are so small I can easily correct them. Thank you so much for making my day. Billy Wild

📖 To consume the content in a different way: Even if the situation doesn’t dictate it, you may have a preference for how you consume content. Perhaps you want to convert your audiobook to text so you can read it on your e-reading device. Or maybe you want to convert a webinar to text so that you can scan the contents more quickly and just pick out the parts relevant to you. Converting audio to text with online transcription software provides you with more options and flexibility. 

Text says: 5 stars Converted an hour long sermon from mp3 to transcript. worked well Simon

📈 To perform analytics on the content: If you have large volumes of audio data, converting it to a text form allows you to automate data analysis. For example, you could convert your business call centre recordings to transcripts, and then perform sentiment analysis or other forms of data analysis that wouldn’t be possible with the original audio files. 

How do audio-to-text converters work? 

Audio-to-text converters automate the process of transcribing speech into a digital text format. You no longer need to listen to the text and manually type out what was said or employ an expensive transcriptionist to do it for you. Instead, you can upload your audio file to be automatically processed into typed text. The conversion tools use a technology called automatic speech recognition (ASR), and innovations in the AI space have led to vast improvements in the accuracy of transcriptions over the last few years. 

What is automatic speech recognition?

Also known as speech to text, automatic speech recognition (ASR) is a technology that can process audio recordings of human speech and translate them into a digital, typed format that can be read.

How does automatic speech recognition work? 

Different ASR solutions use different methods, but most use the following steps:

  • Speech input: This is the audio recording to be converted.
  • Feature extraction: This is where the audio is processed to remove background noise and extract the useful audio sections.
  • Decoding: Here acoustic models and language models are used to predict which sound is being said and to sequence these sounds into words, phrases and sentences based on context.
  • Text output: This is the converted text file of the audio contents.

Other steps may also be included, such as language identification if the solution can process audio that’s in different languages.  

As AI technology has advanced, ASR solutions have been able to incorporate AI and machine learning to improve the accuracy of transcriptions, making the results much more usable in real-life settings.

How to transcribe audio to text with Zamzar

1. Go to Zamzar’s audio-to-text conversion tool .

A screenshot of Zamzar's audio-to-text conversion tool

2. Add the audio files you want to convert. There are two different ways you can do this:

  • Using drag and drop: Drag your files from your desktop or Finder/File Explorer window and drop them onto the webpage.
  • Using the ‘Choose Files’ button: click the button, then select the files from your computer location, and click ‘Add’.

A screenshot of the Zamzar tool with the Finder window open to select files

3. Once the file has been converted, click the blue ‘Download’ button to download the converted TXT (plain text) file to your computer. (To convert to DOC, DOCX or PDF instead of TXT, use the links listed below in the section ‘What formats can I convert with audio to text?)

A screenshot of Zamzar's tool with the file ready to be downloaded

What formats can I convert with audio to text?

You can convert several audio formats to TXT, DOC, DOCX and PDF formats. Here’s a full list of all the audio-to-text conversions we currently offer:

To TXT format (plain text):

To DOC format (Word):

To DOCX format (Word):

  • AAC to DOCX
  • M4A to DOCX
  • MOV to DOCX
  • MP3 to DOCX
  • MP4 to DOCX
  • OGG to DOCX
  • WAV to DOCX
  • WMA to DOCX

To PDF format:

What languages are supported with Zamzar’s audio file to text converter? 

We support over 50 languages, including right-to-left languages like Arabic and Hebrew, and ideographic languages like Chinese and Japanese. We also support multilingual files. 

Top tips for audio-to-text transcription:

Although Zamzar’s audio-to-text transcription tool is able to convert even poorer-quality audio, taking the following steps will help ensure you get the best results: 

  • When recording your audio, minimise background noise to ensure the speech is as clear as possible
  • Ensure a good speaker volume
  • Avoid having music before the speech at the start of the audio file

What do other customers think of Zamzar’s audio-to-text converter?

Psst a sneak peek at what’s coming soon for audio transcription.

We’ll soon be adding more formats to our audio-to-text transcription service, so you’ll be able to convert your audio files to SRT and VTT (subtitle files), and TSV. Keep an eye on our blog and social media channels to be the first to know when they’re released!

To easily transcribe your audio into text, try the Zamzar audio-to-text converter today !

Happy converting!

[Cover photo by Videodeck.co ]

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Speech-To-Text - HiText 17+

Transcribe ai voice to text, roberto diaz badra, designed for ipad.

  • 2.5 • 2 Ratings
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Description.

Stop listening to your boring friends audios! Meet HiText – your ultimate voice to text companion! Whether you're a student capturing lectures, a journalist recording interviews, or a professional wanting to transcribe meetings, HiText flawlessly turns your spoken words into readable text, with unparalleled accuracy. Features: - Seamless Integration: Works perfectly with popular apps and platforms. Simply record or import audio, and watch it convert in real-time. - Superior Accuracy: Powered by advanced transcription algorithms, HiText understands context, nuances, and even multiple languages. - Easy Editing: Fine-tune transcriptions with our user-friendly editor. - Multi-language Support: From English to Spanish to Mandarin, HiText speaks your language. Why HiText? - Efficiency: Cut down the time and effort needed to manually type out or transcribe. - Convenience: Ideal for people on the go – no need to jot down notes. - Versatility: Perfect for content creators, students, professionals, and anyone who seeks high-quality transcriptions. SPECIAL: Download now and listen for FREE audios to up to 20 seconds! Developer’s Note: We're always striving to improve. If you have suggestions or feedback, please reach out. Together, we'll make HiText the best speech-to-text app out there! You can subscribe to a PRO account - Subscription automatically renews for the same price and duration period as the original package unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period - Payment will be charged to iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase - Subscriptions may be managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the user's Account Settings after purchase - Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when the user purchases a subscription to that publication, where applicable Privacy policy: https://www.themachinelearners.com/privacy-policy/ Terms of Use: https://www.themachinelearners.com/terms-and-conditions/

Version 1.0.14

Fixed bugs and improved performance.

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It doesn’t allow you to copy your translation text.

What is the point of this if you can’t copy and paste the text.

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The developer, Roberto Diaz Badra , indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .

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The following data may be collected but it is not linked to your identity:

Privacy practices may vary, for example, based on the features you use or your age. Learn More

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NPR fact-checked the Harris-Trump presidential debate. Here's what we found

Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and former President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speak during a presidential debate.

Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and former President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speak during a presidential debate. Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

Vice President Harris and former President Donald Trump faced off Tuesday in their first — and possibly only — debate of the 2024 campaign, taking questions on key issues like the border, the economy and abortion.

With the candidates virtually tied in the polls, and just 55 days until Election Day, Trump and Harris sought to define their visions for America in front of a national audience and deflect attacks from the other side.

NPR reporters fact-checked the candidates' claims in real time . Here's what they found:

NPR's White House Correspondent Discusses The Debate | Morning Edition | NPR

TRUMP: "I had no inflation, virtually no inflation. They had the highest inflation, perhaps in the history of our country, because I've never seen a worse period of time. People can't go out and buy cereal or bacon or eggs or anything else."

Inflation soared to a four-decade high of 9.1% in 2022, according to the consumer price index. While inflation has since fallen to 2.9% (as of July), prices — particularly food prices — are still higher than many Americans would like.

Other countries have also faced high inflation in the wake of the pandemic, as tangled supply chains struggled to keep pace with surging demand. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine also fueled inflation by driving up energy and food prices worldwide.

Government spending in the U.S. under both the Biden-Harris administration and Trump also may have contributed, putting more money in people’s pockets and enabling them to keep spending in the face of high prices.

While high prices are a source of frustration for many Americans, the average worker has more buying power today than she did before the pandemic. Since February 2020 (just before the pandemic took hold in the U.S.), consumer prices have risen 21.6% while average wages have risen 23%.

Many prices were depressed early in the pandemic, however, so the comparison is less flattering if you start the clock when President Biden and Vice President Harris took office. Since early 2021, consumer prices have risen 19.6%, while average wages have risen 16.9%. Wage gains have been outpacing price increases for over a year, so that gap should eventually close.

— NPR economics correspondent Scott Horsley

Taylor Swift winks arrives to attend the MTV Video Music Awards at UBS Arena in Elmont, New York, on September 11, 2024. (Photo by ANGELA WEISS / AFP) (Photo by ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images)

2024 Election

Taylor swift endorses kamala harris in instagram post after the debate.

HARRIS: "Donald Trump left us the worst unemployment since the Great Depression."

At the height of the Great Depression in 1933, the national unemployment rate was near 25%, according to the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library.

At the start of the COVID pandemic, the unemployment rate peaked at 14.8% in April 2020, a level not seen since 1948, according to the Congressional Research Service.

But by the time Trump left office, unemployment had fallen to a lower, but still elevated, level. The January 2021 unemployment rate was 6.3%.

— NPR producer Lexie Schapitl

Immigration

TRUMP: "You see what's happening with towns throughout the United States. You look at Springfield, Ohio, you look at Aurora in Colorado. They are taking over the towns. They're taking over buildings. They're going in violently. These are the people that she and Biden let into our country, and they're destroying our country. They're dangerous. They're at the highest level of criminality, and we have to get them out."

Trump attacked Harris and Biden's records on immigration, arguing that they're failing to stem people from other countries from entering the U.S. and causing violence.

In the last two years, more than 40,000 Venezuelan immigrants have arrived in the Denver metro area. And it is true that many now live in Aurora.

A few weeks ago, a video of gang members in an Aurora, Colo., apartment building had right-wing media declaring the city's takeover by Venezuelan gangs. NPR looked into these claims .

A group of Indian and Haitian immigrants arrive at a bus stop in Plattsburgh, N.Y. on a Saturday afternoon in August. The migrants were received by Indian drivers who take them to New York City for a fee.

Indian migrants drive surge in northern U.S. border crossings

Shortly after the video appeared, Colorado's Republican Party sent a fundraising letter claiming the state is under violent attack, and Venezuelan gangs have taken over Aurora.

It's also true Aurora police have recently arrested 10 members of a Venezuelan gang called Tren de Aragua. But Aurora's interim police chief, Heather Morris, says there's no evidence of a gang takeover of apartment buildings in her city.

What's more, violent crime — including murder, robbery and rape — is way down nationwide, according to the most recent data from the FBI . Notably, analysts predict violent crime rates this year will fall back down to where they were before they surged during the pandemic and may even approach a 50-year low.

Trump also claims that migrants are driving up crime rates in the U.S. That is not true. Researchers from Stanford University found that since the 1960s, immigrants have been 60% less likely to be incarcerated than people born in the U.S. The Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, found undocumented immigrants in Texas were 37% less likely to be convicted of a crime.

— NPR immigration correspondent Jasmine Garsd and criminal justice reporter Meg Anderson

TRUMP: "In Springfield, they're eating the dogs. The people that came in, they're eating the cats. They're eating the pets of the people that live there."

This remark refers to a debunked, dehumanizing claim that Haitian migrants living in Springfield, Ohio, are abducting pets and eating them .

This photo shows Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, the Republican vice presidential nominee, speaking to reporters in front of the border wall with Mexico on Sept. 6 in San Diego. Wearing jeans and a white shirt, he's standing against a blue sky with white clouds.

Untangling Disinformation

Jd vance spreads debunked claims about haitian immigrants eating pets.

The claim, which local police say is baseless, first circulated among far-right activists, local Republicans and neo-Nazis before being picked up by congressional leaders, vice presidential candidate JD Vance and others. A well-known advocate for the Haitian community says she received a wave of racist harassment after Vance shared the theory on social media.

The Springfield News-Sun reported that local police said that incidents of pets being stolen or eaten were "not something that's on our radar right now." The paper said the unsubstantiated claim seems to have started with a post in a Springfield Facebook group that was widely shared across social media.

The claim is the latest example of Trump leaning into anti-immigrant rhetoric. Since entering the political arena in 2015, Trump accused immigrants of being criminals, rapists, or "poisoning the blood of our nation."

— NPR immigration correspondent Jasmine Garsd

TRUMP: "A lot of these illegal immigrants coming in, [Democrats] are trying to get them to vote."

It is illegal for noncitizens to vote in federal elections, and there is no credible evidence that it has happened in significant numbers, or that there is an effort underway to illegally register undocumented immigrants to vote this election.

Voter registration forms require voters to sign an oath — under penalty of perjury — that they are U.S. citizens. If a noncitizen lies about their citizenship on a registration form and votes, they have created a paper trail of a crime that is punishable with jail time and deportation.

“The deterrent is incredibly strong,” David Becker, executive director of the Center for Election Innovation and Research, told NPR.

Yasmelin Velazquez, 35, from Venezuela sits with her sons Jordan Velazquez, 3, (L) and Jeremias Velazquez, 2, (R) while selling souvenirs in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua state, Mexico on Saturday, June 29, 2024. Velazquez is part of a growing number of migrants staying in Juárez and working while trying to get an appointment via the CBP One application.

Illegal crossings hit Biden-era low as migrants wait longer for entry

Election officials routinely verify information on voter registration forms, which ask registrants for either a driver’s license number or the last four digits of Social Security numbers.

In 2016, the Brennan Center for Justice surveyed local election officials in 42 jurisdictions with high immigrant populations and found 30 cases of suspected noncitizens voting out of 23.5 million votes cast, or 0.0001%.

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger launched an audit in 2022 that found fewer than 1,700 suspected noncitizens had attempted to register to vote over the past 25 years. None were able to vote.

— NPR disinformation reporter Jude Joffe-Block

TRUMP: "[Harris] was the border czar. Remember that she was the border czar."

Republicans have taken to calling Harris the "border czar" as a way to blame her for increased migration to the U.S. and what they see as border security policy failures of the Biden administration.

There is no actual "border czar" position. In 2021, President Biden tasked Harris with addressing the root causes of migration from Central America.

Then-Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., joins a 2018 U.S. Capitol protest against threats by then-President Donald Trump against Central American asylum-seekers to separate children from their parents along the southwest border to deter migrants from crossing into the United States.

As Republicans attack Harris on immigration, here’s what her California record reveals

The "root causes strategy ... identifies, prioritizes, and coordinates actions to improve security, governance, human rights, and economic conditions in the region," the White House said in a statement. "It integrates various U.S. government tools, including diplomacy, foreign assistance, public diplomacy, and sanctions."

While Harris has been scrutinized on the right, immigration advocates have also criticized Harris, including for comments in 2021 where she warned prospective migrants, "Do not come."

TRUMP: "You could do abortions in the seventh month, the eighth month, the ninth month, and probably after birth."

As ABC News anchor Linsey Davis mentioned during her real-time fact check, there is no state where it is legal to kill a baby after birth (Trump called it "execution"). A report from KFF earlier this year also noted that abortions “after birth” are illegal in every state.

According to the Pew Research Center, the overwhelming majority of abortions — 93% — take place during the first trimester. Pew says 1% take place after 21 weeks. Most of those take place before 24 weeks, the approximate timeline for fetal viability, according to a report by KFF Health News.

Donald Trump listens during the presidential debate with Kamala Harris.

Trump repeats the false claim that Democrats support abortion 'after birth' in debate

A separate analysis from KFF earlier this year noted that later abortions are expensive to obtain and offered by relatively few providers, and often occur because of medical complications or because patients face barriers earlier in their pregnancies.

“Nowhere in America is a woman carrying a pregnancy to term and asking for an abortion. That isn’t happening; it’s insulting to the women of America,” Harris said.

Harris also invoked religion in her response, arguing that “one does not have to abandon their faith” to agree that the government should not control reproductive health decisions.

As Davis also noted, Trump has offered mixed messages about abortion over the course of the campaign. He has bragged about his instrumental role in overturning Roe v. Wade , while appearing to backpedal on an issue that polling makes clear is a liability for Republicans.

— NPR political correspondent Sarah McCammon

Afghanistan

TRUMP: The U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan "was one of the most incompetently handled situations anybody has ever seen."

Trump and Republicans in Congress say President Biden is to blame for the fall of Kabul to the Taliban three years ago, and the chaotic rush at the airport where 13 U.S. troops died in a suicide bomb attack that killed nearly 200 Afghan civilians trying to flee. Of late, Republicans have been emphasizing Harris’ role . But the Afghanistan war spanned four U.S. presidencies , and it's important to note that it was the Trump administration that signed a peace deal that was basically a quick exit plan.

Trump regularly claims there were no casualties in Afghanistan for 18 months under his administration, and it’s not true, according to Pentagon records.

— NPR veterans correspondent Quil Lawrence

Military policy

HARRIS: “There is not one member of the military who is in active duty in a combat zone in any war zone around the world for the first time this century.”

This is a common administration talking point, and it's technically true. But thousands of troops in Iraq and on the Syrian border are still in very dangerous terrain. U.S. troops died in Jordan in January on a base that keeps watch over the war with ISIS in Syria.

HARRIS: "I will not ban fracking. I have not banned fracking as vice president United States, and in fact, I was the tie-breaking vote on the inflation Reduction Act which opened new leases for fracking."

When she first ran for president in 2019, Harris had said she was firmly in favor of banning fracking — a stance she later abandoned when she joined President Biden’s campaign as his running mate.

In an interview with CNN last month, Harris attempted to explain why her position has changed from being against fracking to being in favor of it.

“What I have seen is that we can grow, and we can increase a clean energy economy without banning fracking,” Harris told CNN’s Dana Bash.

A shale gas well drilling site is pictured in 2020 in St. Mary's, Pa., a key battleground state where the fracking industry has brought in jobs.

Harris says she won't ban fracking. What to know about the controversial topic

Under the Biden-Harris administration, the U.S. produced a record amount of oil last year — averaging 12.9 million barrels per day. That eclipsed the previous record of 12.3 million barrels per day, set under Trump in 2019. 2023 was also a record year for domestic production of natural gas . Much of the domestic boom in oil and gas production is the result of hydraulic fracturing or “fracking” techniques .

In addition to record oil and gas production, the Biden-Harris administration has also coincided with rapid growth of solar and wind power . Meanwhile, coal has declined as a source of electricity.

Health care

TRUMP: "I had a choice to make: Do I save [the Affordable Care Act] and make it as good as it can be, or do I let it rot? And I saved it."

During his presidency, Trump undermined the Affordable Care Act in many ways — for instance, by slashing funding for advertising and free "navigators" who help people sign up for a health insurance plan on HealthCare.gov. And rather than deciding to "save" the ACA, he tried hard to get Congress to repeal it, and failed. When pushed Tuesday on what health policy he would put in its place, he said he has "concepts of a plan."

North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services secretary Kody Kinsley discusses the impact of Medicaid expansion on prescriptions during a news conference at the North Carolina Executive Mansion in Raleigh, N.C., on Friday, July 12, 2024. When the state expanded access to Medicaid in December, more than 500,000 residents gained access to health coverage.

Shots - Health News

Amid medicaid's 'unwinding,' many states work to expand health care access.

The Biden administration has reversed course from Trump's management of the Affordable Care Act. Increased subsidies have made premiums more affordable in the marketplaces, and enrollment has surged. The uninsurance rate has dropped to its lowest point ever during the Biden administration.

The Affordable Care Act was passed in 2010 and is entrenched in the health care system. Republicans successfully ran against Obamacare for about a decade, but it has faded as a campaign issue this year.

— NPR health policy correspondent Selena Simmons-Duffin

speech to text word 2021

Use the Speak text-to-speech feature to read text aloud

Speak is a built-in feature of Word, Outlook, PowerPoint, and OneNote. You can use Speak to have text read aloud in the language of your version of Office.

Text-to-speech (TTS) is the ability of your computer to play back written text as spoken words. Depending upon your configuration and installed TTS engines, you can hear most text that appears on your screen in Word, Outlook, PowerPoint, and OneNote. For example, if you're using the English version of Office, the English TTS engine is automatically installed. To use text-to-speech in different languages, see Using the Speak feature with Multilingual TTS .

To learn how to configure Excel for text-to-speech, see Converting text to speech in Excel .

Add Speak to the Quick Access Toolbar

You can add the Speak command to your Quick Access Toolbar by doing the following in Word, Outlook, PowerPoint, and OneNote:

Next to the Quick Access Toolbar, click Customize Quick Access Toolbar .

Quick Access Toolbar Speak command

Click More Commands .

In the Choose commands from list, select All Commands .

Scroll down to the Speak command, select it, and then click Add .

Use Speak to read text aloud

After you have added the Speak command to your Quick Access Toolbar, you can hear single words or blocks of text read aloud by selecting the text you want to hear and then clicking the Speak icon on the Quick Access Toolbar.

Listen to your Word documents with Read Aloud

Listen to your Outlook email messages with Read Aloud

Converting text to speech in Excel

Dictate text using Speech Recognition

Learning Tools in Word

Hear text read aloud with Narrator

Using the Save as Daisy add-in for Word

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  26. Use the Speak text-to-speech feature to read text aloud

    You can add the Speak command to your Quick Access Toolbar by doing the following in Word, Outlook, PowerPoint, and OneNote: Next to the Quick Access Toolbar, click Customize Quick Access Toolbar. Click More Commands. In the Choose commands from list, select All Commands. Scroll down to the Speak command, select it, and then click Add.