speech to text microsoft word 2016

How to Enable Dictate in Word 2016: A Step-by-Step Guide for Users

How to Enable Dictate in Word 2016

Enabling the dictate feature in Word 2016 involves a few simple steps. First, you’ll need to verify that you have Office 365 or a version that supports the dictate feature. Then, you simply add the dictate button to the toolbar and begin using it. By following these steps, you can start dictating text into your Word documents with ease.

Step by Step: How to Enable Dictate in Word 2016

These steps will guide you through enabling and using the dictate function in Word 2016, making the process straightforward and efficient.

Step 1: Check Your Office Version

First, verify that your Office 2016 is part of Office 365, as the dictate feature is only available for Office 365 subscribers.

To do this, open any Office application and go to "File" > "Account" to see your subscription details. If you’re not subscribed to Office 365, you might need to consider upgrading.

Step 2: Update Your Software

Next, ensure your Office 2016 is updated to the latest version.

Go to "File" > "Account" again, and click on "Update Options" > "Update Now." This will check for and install any updates, ensuring you have the latest features and security patches.

Step 3: Open Word 2016

Now, open Microsoft Word 2016.

Simply click on the Word icon in your start menu or search bar to launch the application.

Step 4: Add the Dictate Button to the Toolbar

Access the toolbar customization options to add the dictate button.

Navigate to the "Quick Access Toolbar" at the top of the Word window. Click on the small down arrow and select "More Commands."

Step 5: Choose Dictate from the List

Find and add the dictate button.

In the "Choose commands from" dropdown menu, select "All Commands." Scroll down until you find "Dictate," then click "Add" to move it to the toolbar.

Step 6: Start Dictating

Begin using the dictate feature.

Click on the newly added dictate button on your toolbar. A microphone icon will appear, indicating that you can start speaking into your document.

After completing these steps, you’ll find the dictate feature ready to use in your Word 2016. You can start speaking, and Word will transcribe your speech into text, making document creation faster and easier.

Tips for Using Dictate in Word 2016

Ensure a quiet environment to improve the accuracy of speech-to-text.
Speak clearly and at a moderate pace for best results.
Use punctuation commands like "comma" and "period" to improve text formatting.
Review and edit the transcribed text to ensure accuracy.
Keep your microphone at a consistent distance from your mouth.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why can’t i find the dictate button in word 2016.

The dictate feature is only available for Office 365 subscribers. Make sure your Office 2016 is part of Office 365 and updated to the latest version.

How do I update Word 2016?

Go to "File" > "Account" > "Update Options" > "Update Now" to check for and install any updates.

Can I use dictate in other Office applications?

Yes, the dictate feature is available in other Office applications like Outlook and PowerPoint, as long as you’re an Office 365 subscriber.

What commands can I use to improve my dictation?

You can use commands like "new line," "comma," "period," and "exclamation point" to control punctuation and formatting.

How do I stop dictation?

Click on the microphone icon again to stop the dictation, or simply stop speaking for a few seconds, and it will pause automatically.

Check Your Office Version.
Update Your Software.
Open Word 2016.
Add the Dictate Button to the Toolbar.
Choose Dictate from the List.
Start Dictating.

Enabling the dictate feature in Word 2016 can significantly streamline your document creation process. Whether you’re drafting a report, writing an essay, or just jotting down some notes, speaking your words can save you time and effort. Remember to check your Office 365 subscription and keep your software updated to access this handy feature.

For those who frequently work with Word documents, mastering the dictate tool can be a game-changer. Not only does it enhance productivity, but it also allows for a more natural flow of ideas from mind to document. If you haven’t tried it yet, give it a go and see how much more efficient you can be. And as always, keep exploring other features in Word 2016 to make the most out of your Office experience.

Kermit Matthews is a freelance writer based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with more than a decade of experience writing technology guides. He has a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Computer Science and has spent much of his professional career in IT management.

He specializes in writing content about iPhones, Android devices, Microsoft Office, and many other popular applications and devices.

Read his full bio here .

How to use speech to text in Microsoft Word

Speech to text in Microsoft Word is a hidden gem that is powerful and easy to use. We show you how to do it in five quick and simple steps

Master the skill of speech to text in Microsoft Word and you'll be dictating documents with ease before you know it. Developed and refined over many years, Microsoft's speech recognition and voice typing technology is an efficient way to get your thoughts out, create drafts and make notes.

Just like the best speech to text apps that make life easier for us when we're using our phones, Microsoft's offering is ideal for those of us who spend a lot of time using Word and don't want to wear out our fingers or the keyboard with all that typing. While speech to text in Microsoft Word used to be prone to errors which you'd then have to go back and correct, the technology has come a long way in recent years and is now amongst the best text-to-speech software .

Regardless of whether you have the best computer or the best Windows laptop , speech to text in Microsoft Word is easy to access and a breeze to use. From connecting your microphone to inserting punctuation, you'll find everything you need to know right here in this guide. Let's take a look...

How to use speech to text in Microsoft Word: Preparation

The most important thing to check is whether you have a valid Microsoft 365 subscription, as voice typing is only available to paying customers. If you’re reading this article, it’s likely your business already has a Microsoft 365 enterprise subscription. If you don’t, however, find out more about Microsoft 365 for business via this link .

The second thing you’ll need before you start voice typing is a stable internet connection. This is because Microsoft Word’s dictation software processes your speech on external servers. These huge servers and lighting-fast processors use vast amounts of speech data to transcribe your text. In fact, they make use of advanced neural networks and deep learning technology, which enables the software to learn about human speech and continuously improve its accuracy.

These two technologies are the key reason why voice typing technology has improved so much in recent years, and why you should be happy that Microsoft dictation software requires an internet connection.

An image of how voice to text software works

Once you’ve got a valid Microsoft 365 subscription and an internet connection, you’re ready to go!

Are you a pro? Subscribe to our newsletter

Sign up to the TechRadar Pro newsletter to get all the top news, opinion, features and guidance your business needs to succeed!

Step 1: Open Microsoft Word

Simple but crucial. Open the Microsoft Word application on your device and create a new, blank document. We named our test document “How to use speech to text in Microsoft Word - Test” and saved it to the desktop so we could easily find it later.

Step 2: Click on the Dictate button

Once you’ve created a blank document, you’ll see a Dictate button and drop-down menu on the top right-hand corner of the Home menu. It has a microphone symbol above it. From here, open the drop-down menu and double-check that the language is set to English.

One of the best parts of Microsoft Word’s speech to text software is its support for multiple languages. At the time of writing, nine languages were supported, with several others listed as preview languages. Preview languages have lower accuracy and limited punctuation support.

Supported languages and preview languages screen

Step 3: Allow Microsoft Word access to the Microphone

If you haven’t used Microsoft Word’s speech to text software before, you’ll need to grant the application access to your microphone. This can be done at the click of a button when prompted.

It’s worth considering using an external microphone for your dictation, particularly if you plan on regularly using voice to text software within your organization. While built-in microphones will suffice for most general purposes, an external microphone can improve accuracy due to higher quality components and optimized placement of the microphone itself.

Step 4: Begin voice typing

Now we get to the fun stuff. After completing all of the above steps, click once again on the dictate button. The blue symbol will change to white, and a red recording symbol will appear. This means Microsoft Word has begun listening for your voice. If you have your sound turned up, a chime will also indicate that transcription has started.

Using voice typing is as simple as saying aloud the words you would like Microsoft to transcribe. It might seem a little strange at first, but you’ll soon develop a bit of flow, and everyone finds their strategies and style for getting the most out of the software.

These four steps alone will allow you to begin transcribing your voice to text. However, if you want to elevate your speech to text software skills, our fifth step is for you.

Step 5: Incorporate punctuation commands

Microsoft Word’s speech to text software goes well beyond simply converting spoken words to text. With the introduction and improvement of artificial neural networks, Microsoft’s voice typing technology listens not only to single words but to the phrase as a whole. This has enabled the company to introduce an extensive list of voice commands that allow you to insert punctuation marks and other formatting effects while speaking.

We can’t mention all of the punctuation commands here, but we’ll name some of the most useful. Saying the command “period” will insert a period, while the command “comma” will insert, unsurprisingly, a comma. The same rule applies for exclamation marks, colons, and quotations. If you’d like to finish a paragraph and leave a line break, you can say the command “new line.”

These tools are easy to use. In our testing, the software was consistently accurate in discerning words versus punctuation commands.

Phrase and output screen in Microsoft Word

Microsoft’s speech to text software is powerful. Having tested most of the major platforms, we can say that Microsoft offers arguably the best product when balancing cost versus performance. This is because the software is built directly into Microsoft 365, which many businesses already use. If this applies to your business, you can begin using Microsoft’s voice typing technology straight away, with no additional costs.

We hope this article has taught you how to use speech to text software in Microsoft Word, and that you’ll now be able to apply these skills within your organization.

Brevo review 2024

15 essential productivity apps that every Mac user should try

Open source machine learning systems are highly vulnerable to security threats

Word Top Contributors:

Stefan Blom - Charles Kenyon - Suzanne S. Barnhill - Jim_ Gordon - Bob Jones AKA: CyberTaz ✅

Search the community and support articles
Microsoft 365 and Office
Search Community member

Ask a new question

How do you get speech recognition in Microsoft word 2016?

Report abuse

Reported content has been submitted

Control Panel - Speech Recognition. Run the Setup microphone utility. Then do the Tutorial. For best accuracy run Train your computer to better understand you. You should always start WSR, Windows Speech Recognition, before starting a program you wish to dictate into. You can click Advanced speech options in the upper left of the Speech Recognition window and then set WSR to Run Speech Recognition at startup.

16 people found this reply helpful

Was this reply helpful? Yes No

Sorry this didn't help.

Great! Thanks for your feedback.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback, it helps us improve the site.

Thanks for your feedback.

Hello Forrest,

Welcome to Microsoft Community.

Speech recognition features are not available in individual Microsoft Office applications. However, you may setup the Windows Speech Recognition feature for speech to text feature to be setup for Office applications.

You may follow the steps in the following Microsoft Article to setup Speech Recognition on Windows 8:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/using-speech-recognition

Note: The steps mentioned in the above article are for Windows 8.1 and Windows 8.1 RT however the same steps work for Windows 8 as well.

Hope the above information helps.

5 people found this reply helpful

Replies (4) 

Question info.

Norsk Bokmål
Ελληνικά
Русский
עברית
العربية
ไทย
한국어
中文(简体)
中文(繁體)
日本語

IMAGES

Microsoft Word Speech to Text: AI Helps You Write Faster
Enable Text to speech[Speak] Option in Microsoft Word 2016 [Tutorial]
چگونگی استفاده از تبدیل گفتار به نوشتار در word + ویدئو آموزشی
Enabling and Using Text to Speech in Word 2016 for PC
Best Speech to text
Logeshwaran.org: How to Enable text to Speech (Voice) speak in Microsoft Office 2016 or any

COMMENTS

Dictate your documents in Word - Microsoft Support
Applies To Word for Microsoft 365 Word for Microsoft 365 for Mac Word for the web Word 2024 Word 2024 for Mac Word 2021 Word 2021 for Mac Word 2019 Word 2016 Dictation lets you use speech-to-text to author content in Microsoft 365 with a microphone and reliable internet connection.
How to Enable Dictate in Word 2016: A Step-by-Step Guide for ...
Jul 19, 2024 · Step 3: Open Word 2016. Now, open Microsoft Word 2016. Simply click on the Word icon in your start menu or search bar to launch the application. Step 4: Add the Dictate Button to the Toolbar. Access the toolbar customization options to add the dictate button. Navigate to the "Quick Access Toolbar" at the top of the Word window.
Dictate text using Speech Recognition - Microsoft Support
To learn more about voice access, go to Use voice access to control your PC & author text with your voice. Speech-to-text can be used with other input modalities to type using your voice. Additionally, your operating system may have built-in solutions for additional voice input and control with speech recognition.
How to Enable & Use SPEECH-TO-TEXT (Dictate) in WORD
Oct 10, 2022 · Want to use your voice to type in Microsoft Word rather than your keyboard? Using dictation, or commonly known as "speech-to-text", is a simple feature offe...
How to use speech to text in Microsoft Word | TechRadar
Aug 15, 2023 · [DÚ[¢z);o['í!%ª—b÷¶•Þ ˜% ô¬Ôö¨ªeB¼½j@üòÛ ýóß¿$08&þÿ?0426153·°´²¶±µ³wptrvqus÷ðôòæÝ‡O_¾ýøõçßóþRûÿÏÏ—JN ...
How do you get speech recognition in Microsoft word 2016?
Feb 10, 2016 · Welcome to Microsoft Community. Speech recognition features are not available in individual Microsoft Office applications. However, you may setup the Windows Speech Recognition feature for speech to text feature to be setup for Office applications. You may follow the steps in the following Microsoft Article to setup Speech Recognition on Windows 8: