How to Use Dictation in Windows 10

Microphone Dictation Speech Icon

Windows 10 version 1803 "April 2018 Update", also known by its code name "Redstone 4",  supports dictation on Desktop. Place your cursor in any text field either in Windows 10 or in an app, and the improved Dictation feature will capture your voice input quickly and accurately.

To start dictating, select a text field and press the Win + H to open the dictation toolbar. It looks as follows:

Tip:  If you’re using a tablet or a touchscreen, tap the microphone button on the touch keyboard to start dictating. For reference, see How to Use Dictation with Touch Keyboard in Windows 10.

You need to use dictation commands to tell your PC what to do. The next table covers the commands you can use.

To do this Say
Clear a selection Clear selection; unselect that
Delete the most recent dictation result or currently selected text Delete that; strike that
Delete a unit of text, such as the current word Delete word
Move the cursor to the first character after a specified word or phrase Go after that; move after word; go to the end of paragraph; move to the end of that
Move the cursor to the end of a unit of text Go after word; move after word; go to the end of that; move to the end of paragraph
Move the cursor backward by a unit of text Move back to the previous word; go up to the previous paragraph
Move the cursor to the first character before a specified word or phrase Go to the start of the word
Move the cursor to the start of a text unit Go before that; move to the start of that
Move the cursor forward to the next unit of text Move forward to the next word; go down to thenext paragraph
Moves the cursor to the end of a text unit Move to the end of the word; go to the end of the paragraph
Enter one of the following keys: Tab, Enter, End, Home, Page up, Page down, Backspace, Delete Tap Enter; press Backspace
Select a specific word or phrase Select word
Select the most recent dictation result Select that
Select a unit of text Select the next three words; select the previous two paragraphs
Turn spelling mode on and off Start spelling; stop spelling

You can also use a number of voice commands to edit your input or to insert punctuation. The commands are as follows (you must say them out loud):

o insert this Say
@ at symbol; at sign
# Pound symbol; pound sign; number symbol; number sign; hash symbol; hash sign; hashtag symbol; hashtag sign; sharp symbol; sharp sign
$ Dollar symbol; dollar sign; dollars symbol; dollars sign
% Percent symbol; percent sign
^ Caret
& And symbol; and sign; ampersand symbol; ampersand sign
* Asterisk; times; star
( Open paren; left paren; open parenthesis; left paren
) Close paren; right paren; close parenthesis; right parenthesis
_ Underscore
- Hyphen; dash; minus sign
~ Tilde
\ Backslash; whack
/ Forward slash; divided by
, Comma
. Period; dot; decimal; point
; Semicolon
' Apostrophe; open single quote; begin single quote; close single quote; close single quote; end single quote
= Equal symbol; equal sign; equals symbol; equal sign
(space) Space
| Pipe
: Colon
? Question mark; question symbol
[ Open bracket; open square bracket; left bracket; left square bracket
] Close bracket; close square bracket; right bracket; right square bracket
{ Open curly brace; open curly bracket; left curly brace; left curly bracket
} Close curly brace; close curly bracket; right curly brace; right curly bracket
+ Plus symbol; plus sign
< Open angle bracket; open less than; left angle bracket; left less than
> Close angle bracket; close greater than; right angle bracket; right greater than
" Open quotes; begin quotes; close quotes; end quotes; open double quotes; begin double quotes; close double quotes; end double quotes

See the following video:

That's it.
Source: Microsoft

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Author: Sergey Tkachenko

Sergey Tkachenko is a software developer who started Winaero back in 2011. On this blog, Sergey is writing about everything connected to Microsoft, Windows and popular software. Follow him on Telegram, Twitter, and YouTube.

3 thoughts on “How to Use Dictation in Windows 10”

  1. This feature is actually really cool. But when I say something like “shit”, there comes something like this out: “s***”. How do I turn that off?

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