How to Use Voice to Text on a Samsung Galaxy Phone

Every Samsung Galaxy phone can type what you say. The microphone lives on the Samsung Keyboard, and behind it sit two different speech engines: Samsung's own voice input and Google's voice typing. Which one you are using, where the mic is, and whether it works offline all depend on a few settings under One UI, and this guide walks through each of them. The steps come from Samsung's own support page for Galaxy keyboard settings as it reads today, which notes that screens can vary by carrier, software version, and model, and that they apply to the default Samsung Keyboard. If you have swapped in Gboard, there is a section for that too.

The short answer: tap into any text field, then tap the Microphone on the Samsung Keyboard toolbar (on recent phones it sits at the bottom left of the keyboard) and talk while the icon is active. To pick the engine, open Settings, tap General management, then Samsung Keyboard settings, then Voice input, and choose Samsung voice input or Google Voice Typing. The same screen installs offline language packs.

What "voice to text" means on a Samsung phone

Samsung's support page puts it plainly: there are two built-in voice-to-text options on a Galaxy phone or tablet, Samsung voice input and Google Voice Typing, and Samsung voice input is only available when you are using the Samsung Keyboard. Both put words into whatever app you are typing in: Messages, Gmail, WhatsApp, Chrome, Samsung Notes, a ChatGPT or Claude chat. They differ in who processes the speech and in a few features, which the next sections cover.

Two things this guide is not about. Bixby is Samsung's voice assistant; it can act on commands, but the keyboard microphone is what turns your speech into text in a text field, and that is what people searching for "Samsung voice to text" usually want. And if you have installed Gboard, Google's keyboard, your mic is Gboard's and the Samsung settings below do not apply; skip to the Gboard section, or read the full guide to talk to text on Android with Gboard.

How to turn on voice to text on a Samsung phone

On a new Galaxy the mic is usually already on the keyboard. If it is missing, or you want to choose which engine does the listening, follow Samsung's steps in order.

1. Check the keyboard list

Open Settings, tap General management, then Keyboard list and default. This screen shows every keyboard and voice service on the phone. Tap the switch next to Google Voice Typing if you want Google's engine available. The same screen has a switch for Keyboard button on navigation bar; Samsung lists it alongside the voice settings without explaining it, and Galaxy owners on its community forum use it as a second way to reach the keyboard and its input options when the mic seems to disappear, so it is worth turning on.

2. Choose the voice input engine

From the same Keyboard list and default screen, tap Samsung Keyboard, then swipe to and tap Voice input, and select the one you want: Samsung voice input or Google Voice Typing. You can also reach this screen from Settings, then General management, then Samsung Keyboard settings, then Voice input, or by tapping the Settings gear on the keyboard toolbar.

3. Set the voice input language

Still on the Voice input screen, change the Voice input language if it does not match how you speak. Samsung's page does not publish a list of supported languages for either engine, so if yours is missing from this picker, that is the moment to try the other engine (one Galaxy owner on Samsung's community forum switched to Google's engine for exactly that reason).

4. Agree to the terms and permissions the first time

Samsung notes that the first time you use Samsung voice input you may need to agree to its terms or allow some permissions. Accept the microphone permission or nothing will be transcribed.

How to use voice to text on a Samsung Keyboard

Once the engine is chosen, dictating is two taps:

1. Tap into a text field so the Samsung Keyboard appears. The toolbar above the keys shows Emojis, Stickers, GIFs, Voice input, and Settings; tap Expand toolbar (the three dots) if you do not see the mic.
2. Tap the Microphone icon. Samsung's instructions place it on the keyboard's toolbar, and its screenshot shows it at the bottom left of the keyboard on current One UI versions, so check both spots.
3. Talk while the microphone icon is active. Samsung's phrasing is that your voice "will be translated into words" as you speak.
4. When you are done, tap the microphone again to stop listening and go back to typing.

Punctuation

How punctuation works depends on the engine. With Google Voice Typing, Google's own documentation says you speak it: "period," "comma," "question mark," "exclamation point," "new line," and "new paragraph" all become the matching mark. Samsung's page does not publish a list of spoken commands for Samsung voice input, so try saying "period" and "comma" and see what lands; if the engine writes the word instead of the mark, switch to Google's engine for that session.

Fix a wrong word

Neither engine has a documented "replace this word by voice" trick on the Samsung Keyboard, so the practical fix is to tap into the word and retype it, or use the keyboard's predictive text bar to swap it. (Gboard does have a touch-and-hold-the-word trick, covered below.)

Samsung voice input vs Google Voice Typing: which to pick

Samsung's support page tells you how to switch between them, not which is better, so here is what each one documents:

• Samsung voice input only works inside the Samsung Keyboard, and it is the engine whose offline language packs Samsung documents (next section). If you want dictation to keep working with no signal, this is the one to set up.
• Google Voice Typing is the same Google engine that powers Gboard's mic, with Google's documented spoken punctuation. On Samsung's community forum, Galaxy owners report that choosing Google's engine can replace the toolbar mic with a keyboard-switch key on some phones, which a Samsung moderator described as a limitation of the integration rather than a bug to fix. If that happens to you, the Keyboard button on navigation bar switch from step 1 gives you another way in.

Try each for a day in Messages. Accuracy on names and jargon is the thing to watch, because neither engine lets you teach it your vocabulary in advance.

Use voice to text offline on a Samsung phone

This is the Samsung Keyboard's clearest advantage over most Android setups: Samsung documents offline language packs for its own engine.

1. Open Settings, tap General management, then Samsung Keyboard settings.
2. Swipe to and tap Voice input, then tap Samsung voice input.
3. In the Offline voice input section, tap the switch next to the language you want.
4. To add a language, tap Install offline language pack, then tap the Download icon next to the language. It appears in the Installed section at the top of the screen.
5. Tap Back, then tap the switch next to the newly downloaded language to enable it.

After that, dictation in that language works without a connection. Keep the pack updated, and note that offline availability is per language; a language that is not offered as a pack still needs data or Wi-Fi.

Switching to Gboard on a Galaxy phone

Many Galaxy owners prefer Google's keyboard, and its voice typing is the one covered in most Android guides. Samsung's page confirms you can download keyboards from the Play Store and Galaxy Store, then make one the default:

1. Install Gboard from Google Play.
2. Open Settings, tap General management, then Keyboard list and default, then Default keyboard, and select Gboard.
3. In any text field, tap the Microphone at the top of the Gboard keyboard. When you see "Speak now," talk. Say "period," "comma," or "new paragraph" for punctuation, and tap the mic again to pause.
4. To fix a misheard word, touch and hold it, tap the mic, and say the replacement.

If the mic is missing on Gboard, tap the gear at the top of the keyboard, tap Voice typing, and turn it on, then give Gboard microphone permission. The full walkthrough, including the Pixel-only extras and every fix, is in our talk to text on Android guide. You can switch back to Samsung Keyboard from the same Default keyboard screen, or by touching and holding the keyboard button on the navigation bar.

Samsung voice to text not working? Fixes to try

Working through Samsung's settings in order clears most of the reports on its community forum:

1. The mic is not on the keyboard. Check the bottom-left corner of the keyboard first, where Samsung's current screenshots show it. Then tap Expand toolbar (the three dots) to look for Voice input. If the toolbar itself is gone, open Settings, search for and select Samsung Keyboard, and turn on Keyboard toolbar.
2. The mic is there but nothing is typed. Give the keyboard microphone access: open Settings, tap Apps, find Samsung Keyboard, tap Permissions, then Microphone, and allow it. If you chose Samsung voice input, make sure you accepted its terms the first time it asked.
3. The wrong engine is selected, or none is. Go to Settings, General management, Samsung Keyboard settings, Voice input, and pick an engine. If Google Voice Typing is missing from that list, turn its switch on under Keyboard list and default first.
4. It types the wrong language. Change the Voice input language on the same screen, and under Languages and types, Manage input languages, make sure the keyboard language matches.
5. It stops the moment you lose signal. Install an offline language pack for Samsung voice input (section above).
6. It worked before an update and now does not. Open Settings, search for Samsung Keyboard, scroll to the bottom, tap Reset to default settings, and start with Clear cache. If that does not help, Reset keyboard settings puts the keyboard back to defaults; you will lose personalizations, so do it last.
7. A different keyboard is showing. Open Settings, General management, Keyboard list and default, Default keyboard, and pick Samsung Keyboard (or Gboard, if that is the one you want).

Where Samsung Keyboard voice input falls short

The built-in options are free, already installed, and fine for texts and quick replies, which is why they are the right place to start. Their limits are the ones every keyboard mic shares:

• Nothing you can teach them in advance. There is no list of names, products, or terms you can hand either engine so a word is spelled right the first time. Learned words on the Samsung Keyboard come from your typing, not your dictation.
• The text is final. A misheard sentence means retyping on glass, one word at a time.
• Punctuation depends on the engine. With Google's engine you say every comma; Samsung does not document what its own engine does, so you find out by trying.
• Features are tied to one keyboard. Samsung voice input exists only inside the Samsung Keyboard, and Gboard's voice typing only inside Gboard. Switch keyboards and you switch dictation.
• No way to rewrite by voice. Neither engine takes an instruction like "make this shorter" or "turn this into a list."

For a sentence here and there, none of this matters. If you write real messages, notes, and documents on your phone, these are exactly the gaps a dedicated app fills.

Aqua Voice for Android: a button above the Samsung Keyboard

Aqua Voice for Android is not a keyboard, so Samsung Keyboard (or Gboard) stays exactly as you set it up above. Tap into a text box in any app and the Aqua button appears above the keyboard. Tap it, talk, and tap the checkmark; or hold it, talk, and let go. Clean, punctuated text lands at the cursor, with filler words removed, in whichever app you are in. Drag the button to either screen edge, drag it down to hide it for ten minutes, and shake the phone to bring it back. It never appears in password fields.

What changes compared with the keyboard mic:

• Edit by voice. Select text, tap Edit above the Aqua button, and say the change: "make this a list," "make it shorter," "change Thursday to Friday." Aqua rewrites the selection in place. It is the same idea as Edit Mode on the desktop, built for your thumb.
• A dictionary you fill in advance. Your custom dictionary, replacements, and custom instructions sync between Android, iPhone, Mac, and Windows on the same account, so the names and terms you taught Aqua on your laptop are spelled right on your Galaxy.
• 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%. In 9to5Mac's head-to-head on the same passage, Apple's built-in dictation made 17 errors and Aqua made 1; that test ran on Macs, so read it as evidence about the model rather than the Android app.
• Punctuation from how you speak, with either keyboard, on any supported phone.
• Dozens of languages, with an Auto-detect option; the language picker in the app has the current list.

The honest limits, in the same spirit as the Samsung section: Aqua transcribes on its servers, so it needs an internet connection and has no offline pack; it runs on phones and tablets with Android 10 or later, and not on Android Go devices, which do not allow the floating button; and setup asks for four permissions (microphone, display over other apps, accessibility so Aqua can type into other apps, and background use), each explained on screen before you grant it. Turn on Privacy Mode and your transcription data is not stored or used to improve the product. Aqua has a SOC 2 Type II audit report and is ISO 27001 certified, and GDPR and HIPAA compliant.

Starter includes 1,000 free words with no card required. Pro is $8/mo billed annually, or $10 month-to-month, at web prices; paid plans are also available in the app through Google Play, where billing may differ. One subscription covers Android, iPhone, Mac, and Windows. Get it on Google Play, read the launch post for a walkthrough, and the guide covers everything else.

If you are weighing other apps, our roundup of the best speech to text apps for Android grades the paid options on one reason each. And if you also dictate on a computer, the guides to voice to text on Windows 11 and dictation on Mac cover the built-in tools there.

FAQ

How do I turn on voice to text on my Samsung phone?

Open Settings, tap General management, then Samsung Keyboard settings, then Voice input, and choose Samsung voice input or Google Voice Typing. Then tap into any text field and tap the Microphone on the Samsung Keyboard toolbar (bottom left of the keyboard on current phones) and talk while the icon is active.

Why is voice to text not working on my Samsung?

The usual causes are a hidden keyboard toolbar (turn on Keyboard toolbar in Samsung Keyboard settings), no microphone permission for Samsung Keyboard, no engine selected under Voice input, or Google Voice Typing switched off under Keyboard list and default. If it broke after an update, use Reset to default settings in Samsung Keyboard settings and start with Clear cache.

Does Samsung voice to text work offline?

Yes, with Samsung voice input. In Samsung Keyboard settings, open Voice input, tap Samsung voice input, and in the Offline voice input section install a language pack and turn on its switch. Google Voice Typing on the Samsung Keyboard is not documented as working offline, and cloud dictation apps such as Aqua Voice need a connection.

Can I use Gboard voice typing on a Samsung phone?

Yes. Install Gboard from Google Play, then open Settings, General management, Keyboard list and default, Default keyboard, and choose Gboard. Its microphone sits at the top of the keyboard, and it supports spoken punctuation and a touch-and-hold trick to replace a misheard word. Aqua Voice works above either keyboard, so you can keep Samsung Keyboard and still dictate and edit by voice.