Microsoft Word Dictation: How to Dictate in Word (2026)

Microsoft Word has a dictation tool built in, and if you pay for Microsoft 365 you already own it. It lives on the Home tab, it handles punctuation and formatting by voice, it works in Outlook and PowerPoint too, and it can transcribe a recorded conversation with the speakers separated. This guide covers how to use Microsoft Word dictation from the first click: turning it on, the keyboard shortcuts on Windows and Mac, the voice commands, the settings worth changing, what to do when the Dictate button is missing or cannot hear you, and where it stops being the right tool.

The short answer: open a new or existing document, go to Home, then Dictate, while signed in to Microsoft 365 on a device with a microphone. Wait for the Dictate button to turn on, then speak; your words appear on the page. Say "period," "comma," or "new line" for punctuation, and say "stop dictation" or click the button again to finish. On Windows, Alt + ` (the backtick key) toggles the microphone; on a Mac it is Option + F1.

The steps below follow Microsoft Support's own articles, Dictate your documents in Word, Dictate in Microsoft 365, and Dictate your emails in Outlook, as they read at the time of writing.

What you need before you start

• A Microsoft 365 subscription. Microsoft's note under the steps is blunt: "The dictation feature is only available to Microsoft 365 subscribers." Its Outlook Mobile page adds that Dictate "is not available in Office 2016 or 2019 for Windows without Microsoft 365." If you bought Office outright, this is the most likely reason the button is not there.
• An internet connection. Microsoft describes dictation as speech-to-text "with a microphone and reliable internet connection." Your speech is sent to Microsoft's servers and the text comes back, so it does not work offline.
• A microphone the app can use. The built-in mic on a laptop is fine in a quiet room. On a desktop PC without one, plug in a headset or USB microphone first.
• To be signed in. Every version of Microsoft's instructions says "while signed into Microsoft 365." A document open in a signed-out copy of Word shows no Dictate button.

Dictate is the same feature across the desktop versions of Word, Outlook, and PowerPoint in Microsoft 365; Microsoft notes that "features in the web or mobile apps may differ," and we cover those differences below.

How to dictate in Word on Windows

1. Open a new or existing document.
2. On the Home tab, click Dictate (the microphone icon on the right of the ribbon). Microsoft's instruction is to do this "while signed into Microsoft 365 on a mic-enabled device."
3. Wait for the Dictate button to turn on and start listening. A small floating toolbar appears with a microphone and a gear.
4. Start speaking. Text appears on the screen as you talk.
5. To pause, click the microphone on the toolbar, or say "pause dictation." To finish, say "stop dictation" or click Dictate again.

The Windows shortcut. Microsoft's tip reads: "To resume dictation, use the keyboard shortcut ALT+` or press the Mic icon in the ribbon." The ` key sits to the left of 1 on a US keyboard. Press Alt + ` to start listening, and press it again to pause, so you can dictate a sentence, type the next one, and go back to talking without touching the mouse.

How to dictate in Word on a Mac

1. Open a new or existing document.
2. Go to Home, then Dictate, while signed in to Microsoft 365 on a Mac with a microphone. Microsoft's Mac tip: "You can also start dictation with the keyboard shortcut: ⌥ (Option) + F1."
3. Wait for the Dictate button to turn on and start listening.
4. Start speaking to see text appear on the screen.

If Option + F1 opens something else on your Mac, check whether the F keys are set to work as standard function keys in System Settings, under Keyboard. Note that this is a different shortcut from the Fn-key dictation built into macOS itself; that one types into any app and is covered in our guide to how to use dictation on a Mac. Word's Dictate only works inside Word.

Word for the web, iPhone, and Android

Microsoft's dictation hub lists Word for the web, Word for iPhone, and Word for Android phones as dictation surfaces, with the caveat that the steps may differ from desktop. On the web, open the document in a current browser and look for Dictate on the Home tab; the first time, the browser asks for permission to use your microphone. On a phone, the Word app puts the microphone in its own toolbar. If you do not see it, use the dictation key on your phone's keyboard instead: the mic on Gboard or Samsung Keyboard on Android, or the dictation key on the iPhone keyboard. Both type into Word, just without Word's own commands.

Microsoft Word dictation settings

The gear on the Dictate toolbar opens a short settings panel. Microsoft describes the same options for its Outlook settings page, and they behave the same way in Word:

• Spoken language. "View and change languages in the drop-down." By default, Microsoft says, "Dictation is set to your document language in Microsoft 365," so if your document is marked as the wrong language, Dictate listens for the wrong language. Fix it here or under Review, then Language.
• Microphone. Pick the device Word should listen to. If you plugged in a headset after opening Word, select it here.
• Auto punctuation. "Automatically insert punctuation while dictating." When it is on, you speak normally and Word places commas and periods from your pauses; when it is off, you say them. Microsoft notes it is available only for some languages.
• Filter sensitive phrases. Masks potentially sensitive phrases with asterisks. Turn it off if it is starring out words you actually meant.

Word dictation languages

Microsoft publishes two lists. The fully supported dictation languages are Chinese (China), English (Australia, Canada, India, United Kingdom, and United States), French (Canada and France), German, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese (Brazil), and Spanish (Spain and Mexico). A second list of preview languages (including Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese (Portugal), Russian, Swedish, Thai, and Chinese (Taiwan)) comes with Microsoft's footnote that "Preview Languages may have lower accuracy or limited punctuation support." The voice commands below are the English set; Microsoft publishes separate command tables for each language.

Word dictation voice commands

Microsoft's command list for English is long. These are the ones you will actually use, grouped the way Microsoft groups them. Say them clearly, with a short pause on either side.

Punctuation

Say	Word types
"Period" or "full stop"	.
"Comma"	,
"Question mark"	?
"Exclamation mark" or "exclamation point"	!
"New line"	a line break
"Colon," "semicolon"	: ;
"Open quotes" ... "close quotes"	" "
"Hyphen," "ellipsis"	- ...
"Open parentheses" ... "close parentheses"	( )

Symbols, currency, and math work the same way: "asterisk," "at sign," "ampersand," "percent sign," "dollar sign," "euro sign," "plus sign," "equal sign." You can even say "smiley face" for :) if that is your style.

Editing

• "Delete that" or "scratch that" removes what you just said.
• "Delete [word or phrase]" removes a specific word, and "delete last three words" (any number from 1 to 100) removes a span. "Delete from [x] to [y]" removes everything between two words.
• "Backspace" removes one character; "backspace 5" removes five.
• "Undo" reverses the last change.
• "Insert space" adds a space.

Selecting

• "Select [word or phrase]"
• "Select word," "select sentence," "select paragraph," or "select that"
• "Select last two sentences" (any number), or "select from [x] to [y]"

Formatting

• "Bold that," "italicize that," "underline that," "strikethrough that," or "bold [word or phrase]"
• "Capitalize that," "uppercase that," "lowercase that"
• "Remove bold," "remove underline," "remove highlight," or "clear formatting"
• "Align left," "align center," "align right"
• "Increase indent," "decrease indent"
• "Subscript that," "superscript that"

Lists and comments

• "Create bullet list" or "create numbered list" starts a list; "next item" moves to the next bullet; "exit list" ends it.
• "Add comment" opens a comment box, and "add comment [content]" fills it in.

Controlling dictation

• "Pause dictation"
• "Stop dictation" or "exit dictation"
• "Show help" or "show commands" opens the full command list.

Word dictation not working? Fixes to try

Microsoft's own troubleshooting list is short and, in our experience, covers most cases. Work through it in order.

The Dictate button is missing. Microsoft's answer: "Make sure you're signed in with an active Microsoft 365 subscription." Dictate is not in Office 2016 or 2019 for Windows without a subscription. Open File, then Account, and check what Word says about your product and whether you are signed in. If you are on a work or school account, your administrator can also turn the feature off.

The Dictate button is there but dimmed. The document is probably not editable yet. A file opened from an email or a download sits in Protected View, which disables the whole ribbon until you click Enable Editing. A document marked read-only has the same effect.

"We don't have access to your microphone." Microsoft's fix is to "make sure no other application or web page is using the microphone and try again." A video call that still has the mic open is the usual culprit. On Windows 11, also open Settings, then Privacy & security, then Microphone, and check that desktop apps can use it. On a Mac, open System Settings, then Privacy & Security, then Microphone, and make sure Word is switched on.

"There is a problem with your microphone" or "We can't detect your microphone." Microsoft's steps: make sure the microphone is plugged in, and test it to make sure it is working. In Word, open the gear on the Dictate toolbar and check that the right microphone is selected.

"Dictation can't hear you," or nothing appears. Microsoft lists four things to check: the microphone is not muted, its input level is high enough, you are somewhere quieter, and, if you are on a built-in mic, a headset or external mic helps. Watch the input meter in your system sound settings while you talk; if it barely moves, raise the level.

Words are wrong or missing. Microsoft's advice is to get on a fast and reliable internet connection, cut background noise, speak more deliberately, and consider a better microphone. Also check the spoken language in the gear menu: Dictate set to a different variant of English will still work, with more mistakes, and Dictate set to the wrong language entirely will produce nonsense.

The shortcut does nothing. On Windows, make sure the document, not the ribbon or a dialog, has focus, then press Alt + `. On a Mac, check that Option + F1 is not captured by the system (the F keys may be acting as brightness and media keys).

Dictate in Outlook

The same feature drafts email. Microsoft's steps for the new Outlook on Windows: start a new email or a reply, click into the body of the message, go to the Message tab, and select Dictate. Wait for the button to turn on, then speak. The same Alt + ` tip applies ("To resume dictation, use the keyboard shortcut ALT+` or press the Mic icon in the ribbon"), and on Outlook for Mac it is Option + F1. Classic Outlook and Outlook on the web follow the same path through the Message tab.

Two things to know. Outlook's English command set covers punctuation, symbols, currency, math, and emoji, but not the editing and formatting commands Word has, so "bold that" will not work in an email. And on the phone, Microsoft's Outlook Mobile page carries a notice that the Dictate feature "will be retired from Outlook Mobile starting in September 2024"; use your phone keyboard's microphone there instead. Aqua has a separate page on dictating in Outlook.

Transcribe: the other half of the Dictate button

The Dictate button has a dropdown, and under it sits Transcribe, which does something different. Microsoft's description: "The transcribe feature converts speech to a text transcript with each speaker individually separated." You can record directly in Word (Home, then Dictate, then Transcribe, then Start recording) or upload an existing file in .wav, .mp4, .m4a, or .mp3 format. The transcript appears in a side pane with timestamps and "Speaker 1," "Speaker 2" labels, and you add all of it, or chosen sections, to the document.

The limits, per Microsoft: it is available in Word for Microsoft 365 on Windows and in Word for the web (using Edge or Chrome), subscribers can transcribe up to 300 minutes of uploaded audio per month, it needs an internet connection, and the recordings are saved to a Transcribed Files folder in OneDrive. Unlike Dictate, nothing appears on the page while you record. If what you want is meeting notes rather than live typing, this is the tool.

Where Word's Dictate falls short

For something included with a subscription most offices already pay for, Dictate is capable. Its limits come from where it lives and how it listens:

• It only works inside Microsoft 365 apps. Word, Outlook, PowerPoint, OneNote. Switch to a browser, Teams chat, Slack, a CRM, or an AI chat window and you are back to typing.
• It needs the subscription. No Microsoft 365, no Dictate, and the free Word for the web is a different experience from the desktop app.
• Formatting is spoken. Commands like "bold that" and "new line" work, but you have to learn and say them, and in Outlook most of them are not available.
• Fifteen fully supported languages. The rest are preview, with Microsoft's own warning about accuracy and punctuation.
• No custom vocabulary. Microsoft's documentation describes no way to teach Dictate your clients' names, product names, or the terms of your field, so the same words come out wrong each time and you fix them by hand.
• One app at a time, one mode at a time. Dictate is a toolbar you open in a document. It is fine for dictating a long memo and awkward for the sentence-here, sentence-there way most writing actually happens.

None of this makes it a bad tool. If you write mostly in Word and Outlook, in one of the supported languages, it may be all you need.

A system-wide alternative: Aqua Voice

Aqua Voice takes a different approach: instead of living inside one app, it works across your whole computer. You hold a key (Fn on a Mac by default, a key you choose on Windows), speak, and release, and the text lands wherever your cursor is. That includes Word on Mac and Windows, and also Outlook, Teams, the browser tab next to it, and every other place you type. See how Aqua works in Word.

What that changes in practice:

• No subscription to Microsoft 365 required. Aqua types into any copy of Word, including Office 2019 and the free web version.
• Punctuation and formatting from how you speak. Aqua adds commas, periods, and paragraph breaks from your phrasing, so you talk normally instead of saying "comma" and "new line."
• Your words, spelled right. A custom dictionary holds names, jargon, and product terms, and they come out correctly every time, in every app.
• Fix it by voice. With Edit Mode, select text, hold the same key, and say the change: "make this shorter," "fix the grammar," "turn this into a list."
• Accuracy you can check. Aqua runs on Avalon, its own speech model, which debuted as the #1 proprietary model on the OpenASR leaderboard in October 2025 (it sits at #6 overall today). On Aqua's own AISpeak benchmark, a self-reported figure, Avalon scores 97.3%. Developers can use the same model through the Avalon API.
• Fast. Text starts appearing in under 50ms, final text lands in about 450ms, and you can dictate at up to 230 words per minute.
• 49 languages, all with the same punctuation handling, where Word fully supports 15.

The honest limits: like Dictate, Aqua transcribes in the cloud and needs an internet connection; and it is a separate app to install and allow microphone access for, where Dictate is already in Word. Aqua runs on Mac, Windows, iPhone, and Android. Aqua has a SOC 2 Type II audit report and is ISO 27001 certified, and GDPR and HIPAA compliant. The free plan includes 1,000 words with no card required, and Pro is $8/mo billed annually; see pricing.

For a wider look at your options, see our roundup of the best dictation software. If you dictate in Google Docs as well, our guide to Google Docs voice typing covers its built-in tool, and Windows users can read how to use voice to text on Windows 11 for the Win + H tool that types into any app.

FAQ

How do I turn on dictation in Microsoft Word?

Open a document, go to the Home tab, and click Dictate while signed in to Microsoft 365 on a device with a microphone. Wait for the button to turn on, then speak. On Windows, Alt + ` toggles the microphone; on a Mac, Option + F1 starts dictation.

Why is there no Dictate button in my Word?

Most often because you are not signed in or do not have a Microsoft 365 subscription. Microsoft says Dictate is only available to Microsoft 365 subscribers and is not in Office 2016 or 2019 for Windows without one. Check File, then Account. If the button is there but dimmed, click Enable Editing first.

Is Microsoft Word dictation free?

It is included with a Microsoft 365 subscription at no extra cost, but it is not in one-time-purchase Office 2016 or 2019 for Windows. If you do not have a subscription, a system-wide dictation app such as Aqua Voice types into any version of Word.

Does Word dictation add punctuation automatically?

It can. Turn on Auto punctuation in the gear menu on the Dictate toolbar, and Word inserts punctuation as you speak, in the languages where Microsoft supports it. With it off, you say "period," "comma," and "new line" yourself.