Windows 10 Quick Reference Card Start Menu Keyboard shortcuts Basic Commands Start Menu Copy a Folder/File Ctrl + C Cut a Folder/File Ctrl + X Paste a Folder/File Ctrl + V Cortana (speech) + C Cortana (text) + S Actions Center + A Task View + Tab Close App Alt + F4 Lock computer + L Print Ctrl + P File Explorer + E. Windows Speech Recognition lets you control your PC with your voice alone, without needing a keyboard or mouse. There's a special wizard to help you get started. You need to plug in your microphone, and then configure Windows Speech Recognition. Speech Recognition is a nice addition to the dictation feature of Windows 10.
Microsoft has quietly improved the speech recognition features in Windows 10 and in the Office programs. They’re still not great but you might want to give them a try if you haven’t talked to your computer in a while.
One fundamental truth has not changed: If you are serious about dictating on a computer, there is no alternative to the Dragon Naturally Speaking products. The current version, Dragon Professional Individual 15, is top notch. (The previous version, Dragon 13, is still available, but it’s not as effective and seems to have some issues with Windows 10.)
Microsoft first built speech recognition into Windows more than 10 years ago, when Vista was released. It has languished ever since, appearing virtually unchanged in all the versions of Windows released since then. You can still find it in Windows 10 If you do a search for “windows speech recognition.” It’s clumsy to set up and not very accurate. There’s a reason you didn’t know it was there.
Last year Microsoft added a second speech recognition engine to Windows 10. There are no settings for it and it is used only for text entry, not for controlling programs or doing anything special. If your computer has a microphone . . .
• Hang on. Let’s not assume anything. You know you need a microphone to dictate to your computer, right? If you have a laptop, it has a microphone built into it. If you have a desktop computer, you’re not ready to dictate until you get a headset with a microphone. They’re cheap. Logitech makes some good ones.
Where were we?
. . . If your Windows 10 computer has a microphone, hold down the Windows key and hit H. (You’ll have to memorize that keyboard shortcut – just remember it’s Windows key + H because “dictate” does not have an H in it.)
(That doesn’t really work, does it?)
(H?)
When you hit Windows key + H, a bar will appear across the top of the screen and the computer will be listening. You can start dictating.
Use the Windows key + H key to toggle dictation off and on. The microphone also turns off automatically if you start typing, or after a delay of a few seconds.
![Windows Windows](http://www.techaudible.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Windows-Speech-Recognition-Tool.png)
You can dictate anywhere that text can be typed – Word, Outlook emails, or any other program that accepts typing.
And the results are . . . well, they’re only fair, to be honest. I’ve been experimenting with different microphones on different computers. I don’t have any way to judge accuracy by percentages. I can only tell you subjectively that I have to fix more errors than I wish was necessary. When I’m dictating, I speak slowly without an accent in a quiet environment. Your experience might be far worse if you talk quickly or talk to your laptop in Starbucks.
With that in mind – try it! What do you have to lose? Some people are so comfortable dictating that this will be helpful even if it’s not perfect. It’s a big step forward from the previous Windows speech recognition.
Microsoft has basic instructions and a long list of the special commands that you can use with Windows 10 dictation – punctuation, commands to delete and select text, and a few more. Right now it only works if you use a US English keyboard; it may follow Cortana as it rolls out globally.
Office Dictate
If you have the latest and greatest Office programs, linked to an Office 365 subscription, then a new button may have appeared in the toolbars for Outlook, Word, Powerpoint, and OneNote. You can use it to dictate with a single click. Mary Jo Foley was told that the new dictation button is an outgrowth of “Dictate,” a project rolled out last year from Microsoft’s research labs.
I didn’t do anything to activate that button. It just appeared one day. If you don’t have a “Dictate” button, I don’t know what to tell you.
The Dictate button works similarly to the built-in Windows dictation that I described above. There is no way to tell whether they are identical, similar, or completely different under the hood. I did some experimenting, going back and forth, and did not see any significant differences – both were mostly accurate, both made mistakes, neither one seemed much better than the other.
The first time you click the Dictate button, you may see this window about “Intelligent Services.”
“To provide these intelligent services, Microsoft needs to be able to collect your search terms and document content.”
If I understand correctly, when you turn on dictation with “intelligent services,” it sends your dictation online to Microsoft, where it can be analyzed by powerful cloud servers. It’s the same AI that Microsoft uses for commands addressed to Cortana. In theory, you’ll get far better results than if you depend on your local computer to do the best it can. But there’s a privacy aspect to it: you’re sending your spoken words to Microsoft and trusting them to treat them nicely and keep them secure and not sell them to advertisers. It’s roughly the same bargain that you make with Google when you talk to your Android phone or use Google Maps or Google Photos. Personally, I trust Microsoft, Google and Apple to be respectful of my privacy, but I live a simple and uninteresting life and you might feel differently.
Dictation is only one of a number of features that Microsoft is adding to the Office programs that use cloud services to do useful things. With your consent, you can highlight phrases in a Word document, for example, and get immediate translations to or from 60 different languages, look up definitions and Wikipedia articles, and get editing tips, among other things. Microsoft has an article here about the latest “Intelligent Services” for Office 365.
Google Docs
![Windows speech recognition 10 Windows speech recognition 10](/uploads/1/2/5/2/125294296/124139146.jpg)
Google’s voice recognition has improved by leaps and bounds. Dictating text messages and searches on an Android phone has become second nature because it’s so accurate.
There is only one way to use Google’s server to handle voice recognition on a Windows computer. If you use Chrome, you can dictate in Google Docs. Your words will be transmitted to Google and the text will be sent back to your document.
To start, open a document in Google Docs with Chrome, then click Tools / Voice Typing. A microphone icon will appear; you can click on it to turn dictation on or off.
I did some experimenting with it and found that the accuracy didn’t seem to be any better than the Microsoft voice recognition. I was expecting a noticeable difference. Huh. Maybe more testing would reveal some differences. Your mileage may vary.
Go do some talking. In the next article, I’ll have something for you to listen to.
On Windows 10, Speech Recognition is an easy-to-use experience that allows you to control your computer entirely with voice commands.
Anyone can set up and use this feature to navigate, launch applications, dictate text, and perform a slew of other tasks. However, Speech Recognition was primarily designed to help people with disabilities who can't use a mouse or keyboard.
In this Windows 10 guide, we walk you through the steps to configure and start using Speech Recognition to control your computer only with voice.
How to configure Speech Recognition on Windows 10
To set up Speech Recognition on your device, use these steps:
- Open Control Panel.
- Click on Ease of Access.
- Click on Speech Recognition.
- Click the Start Speech Recognition link.
- In the 'Set up Speech Recognition' page, click Next.
- Select the type of microphone you'll be using.Note: Desktop microphones are not ideal, and Microsoft recommends headset microphones or microphone arrays.
- Click Next.
- Click Next again.
- Read the text aloud to ensure the feature can hear you.
- Click Next.
- Click Next again.
- Speech Recognition can access your documents and emails to improve its accuracy based on the words you use. Select the Enable document review option, or select Disable document review if you have privacy concerns.
- Click Next.
- Pick an activation mode:
- Use manual activation mode -- Speech Recognition turns off the 'Stop Listening' command. To turn it back on, you'll need to click the microphone button or use the Ctrl + Windows key shortcut.
- Use voice activation mode -- Speech Recognition goes into sleep mode when not in use, and you'll need to invoke the 'Start Listening' voice command to turn it back on.
- Click Next.
- If you're not familiar with the commands, click the View Reference Sheet button to learn more about the voice commands you can use.
- Click Next.
- Select whether you want this feature to start automatically at startup.
- Click Next.
- Click the Start tutorial button to access the Microsoft video tutorial about this feature, or click the Skip tutorial button to complete the setup.
Once you complete these steps, you can start using the feature with voice commands, and the controls will appear at the top of the screen.
Quick Tip: You can drag and dock the Speech Recognition interface anywhere on the screen.
How to train Speech Recognition to improve accuracy
After the initial setup, we recommend training Speech Recognition to improve its accuracy and to prevent the 'What was that?' message as much as possible.
- Open Control Panel.
- Click on Ease of Access.
- Click on Speech Recognition.
- Click the Train your computer to better understand you link.
- Click Next to continue with the training as directed by the application.
After completing the training, Speech Recognition should have a better understanding of your voice to provide an improved experience.
How to change Speech Recognition settings
If you need to change the Speech Recognition settings, use these steps:
- Open Control Panel.
- Click on Ease of Access.
- Click on Speech Recognition.
- Click the Advanced speech options link in the left pane.
Inside 'Speech Properties,' in the Speech Recognition tab, you can customize various aspects of the experience, including:
- Language.
- Recognition profiles.
- User settings.
- Microphone.
In the Text to Speech tab, you can control voice settings, including:
- Voice selection.
- Voice speed.
Additionally, you can always right-click the experience interface to open a context menu to access all the different features and settings you can use with Speech Recognition.
How to use Speech Recognition on Windows 10
While there is a small learning curve, Speech Recognition uses clear and easy-to-remember commands. For example, using the 'Start' command opens the Start menu, while saying 'Show Desktop' will minimize everything on the screen.
If Speech Recognition is having difficulties understanding your voice, you can always use the Show numbers command as everything on the screen has a number. Then say the number and speak OK to execute the command.
Here are some common tasks that will get you started with Speech Recognition:
Starting Speech Recognition
To launch the experience, just open the Start menu, search for Windows Speech Recognition, and select the top result.
Turning on and off
To start using the feature, click the microphone button or say Start listening depending on your configuration.
In the same way, you can turn it off by saying Stop listening or clicking the microphone button.
Using commands
Some of the most frequent commands you'll use include:
- Open -- Launches an app when saying 'Open' followed by the name of the app. For example, 'Open Mail,' or 'Open Firefox.'
- Switch to -- Jumps to another running app when saying 'Switch to' followed by the name of the app. For example, 'Switch to Microsoft Edge.'
- Control window in focus -- You can use the commands 'Minimize,' 'Maximize,' and 'Restore' to control an active window.
- Scroll -- Allows you to scroll in a page. Simply use the command 'Scroll down' or 'Scroll up,' 'Scroll left' or 'Scroll right.' It's also possible to specify long scrolls. For example, you can try: 'Scroll down two pages.'
- Close app -- Terminates an application by saying 'Close' followed by the name of the running application. For example, 'Close Word.'
- Clicks -- Inside an application, you can use the 'Click' command followed by the name of the element to perform a click. For example, in Word, you can say 'Click Layout,' and Speech Recognition will open the Layout tab. In the same way, you can use 'Double-click' or 'Right-click' commands to perform those actions.
- Press -- This command lets you execute shortcuts. For example, you can say 'Press Windows A' to open Action Center.
Using dictation
Speech Recognition also includes the ability to convert voice into text using the dictation functionality, and it works automatically.
If you need to dictate text, open the application (making sure the feature is in listening mode) and start dictating. However, remember that you'll have to say each punctuation mark and special character.
For example, if you want to insert the 'Good morning, where do you like to go today?' sentence, you'll need to speak, 'Open quote good morning comma where do you like to go today question mark close quote.'
In the case that you need to correct some text that wasn't recognized accurately, use the 'Correct' command followed by the text you want to change. For example, if you meant to write 'suite' and the feature recognized it as 'suit,' you can say 'Correct suit,' select the suggestion using the correction panel or say 'Spell it' to speak the correct text, and then say 'OK'.
Wrapping things up
Although Speech Recognition doesn't offer a conversational experience like a personal assistant, it's still a powerful tool for anyone who needs to control their device entirely using only voice.
Cortana also provides the ability to control a device with voice, but it's limited to a specific set of input commands, and it's not possible to control everything that appears on the screen.
However, that doesn't mean that you can't get the best of both worlds. Speech Recognition runs independently of Cortana, which means that you can use the Microsoft's digital assistant for certain tasks and Speech Recognition to navigate and execute other commands.
It's worth noting that this speech recognition isn't available in every language. Supported languages include English (U.S. and UK), French, German, Japanese, Mandarin (Chinese Simplified and Chinese Traditional), and Spanish.
While this guide is focused on Windows 10, Speech Recognition has been around for a long time, so you can refer to it even if you're using Windows 8.1 or Windows 7.
More Windows 10 resources
For more helpful articles, coverage, and answers to common questions about Windows 10, visit the following resources:
Buyer's guideCheck out our choices for the best Windows laptops out there
The Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 (7390) is our pick for the best overall Windows laptop you can buy, but there are a ton of other great options if you need something different.