When Dictate starts, you should either see a 'Listening' prompt or a red Mic icon.

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. Alternatively, you can also use your Android device as a mic.

If you don't have one yet, you can check out our guide to the best microphones. If you're planning to use this feature on your computer, make sure you have a microphone installed on your computer. Whatever platform you're using, you have to either log in or create a free Microsoft account to use the dictate feature. Microsoft Word is available in five different platforms-Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, and Web. Users can speak in one language through Dictation and the program can type in another language for example, speak English and type in Spanishĭictate is available for download as an add-in for Microsoft Office on Windows.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.Punctuation can be added in manually or through Dictation.

29 languages are available for speech-to-text.Stop Dictation - turns off the Dictation tool.Delete - removes the last line you dictated.New Line - drops the cursor down to a new line.Users can manipulate the behavior of the cursor by using keyword commands such as the following:.Besides being built directly into Office, Dictate also has some nice tricks up its sleeve: Since Dictate is built directly into the Office apps, there is no worry of compatibility or lag. While Dictate isn’t the only application to venture into speech-to-text territory (think Nuance ) for Microsoft Office, it is the first to integrate Cortana into the mix. Additionally while using the speech-to-text feature, you do not need to necessarily be right next to your computer as your “type ” simply speaking aloud and clearly will allow Cortana to put your words to screen almost as fast as you can speak them with Cortana’s highly accurate speech recognition system. By speaking directly to your document, you can increase your productivity and give your poor fingers a rest. There is compelling evidence that we all speak faster than we type in general. The new Dictation tab will allow users to utilize Cortana’s speech recognition system in conjunction with Microsoft Translator to provide a state-of-the-art experience for Office. This new tool will be available as an add-in for Microsoft Office for Word, PowerPoint, and Outlook. Microsoft Garage has developed Dictate, its own speech-to-text tool that integrates directly with apps in Microsoft Office.ĭictate is the newest project to come out of Microsoft Garage, the Redmond giant’s experimental R&D department.

Microsoft word for mac dictation