What Is Voice Typing and Why Should You Use It?

Microsoft updated the Windows 10 dictation tool and renamed it “Voice Typing” in Windows 11. Thanks to Azure Speech services, the feature is now seamless and much more accurate. The following are its key advantages.

An average person can type around 40 words per minute, but we can speak around 130 words per minute, making voice typing a huge time saver.Voice Typing can minimize hand muscle stress if your typing sessions last for many hours daily.Voice Typing can help you achieve better accuracy, as your documents will not have spelling errors if you pronounce words correctly.There is no restriction on where you can use Voice Typing in Windows. You can deploy the tool wherever you have a text box/window on your PC’s screen or inside a website/app.

How to Activate Voice Typing in Windows

Follow these steps to activate Voice Typing on your PC.

How to Change Voice Typing Language

By default, Windows allows you to start dictating in English. However, you can easily switch to another language. Voice Typing supports up to 46 languages, including French, Spanish, Romanian, and Bulgarian.

How to Fix Voice Typing Not Working

Use the troubleshooting methods below if Voice Typing fails to start or is misbehaving in any way.

1. Make Sure You’re Using the Correct Language

If you’ve selected an incorrect language, Voice Typing will not be able to identify your words. Therefore, you must select the correct language using the steps below.

2. Check Whether Your Microphone Is Enabled

Voice Typing will not work if your Microphone is disabled, so you’ll need to turn it on.

3. Troubleshoot Built-in Recording

Windows 11 has built-in troubleshooters for almost all hardware and software issues. Running its dedicated Recording troubleshooter can find and fix any issues preventing the Voice Typing feature from working. Even if it doesn’t fix the problem right away, the troubleshooter offers more details about the problem, which could lead to a solution.

4. Update Microphone Driver

A faulty microphone driver could cause Voice Typing to stop working. Therefore, you should check whether your microphone driver needs to be updated.

5. Update Your PC

A bug could cause an issue with Voice Typing. Updating your PC may fix the issue. Image credit: Andrea Piacquadio via Pexels. All screenshots by Sandeep Babu.