How to dictate a document in Word

Whether out of necessity or convenience, you can give your keyboard a break and dictate a document in Microsoft Word. You can use the feature in the desktop app, Word for the web, and in the mobile app.

Dictate a document on the desktop

With your computer’s internal microphone or a USB microphone in hand, you can dictate your document in Word on both Windows and Mac. Go to the Home tab and click “Dictate”.

When the microphone icon appears, you can drag it to move it wherever you like. Click the icon to start dictating, click again to stop or pause. You can also say “Pause dictation” or “Stop dictation” and you can click the icon to resume.

To enable automatic punctuation, change the dialect or filter the sensitive language, click the gear icon to open the Settings.

To stop using dictation, click the “X” in the corner of the icon window to close it.

Dictate a document on the web

The web version of Microsoft Word is free as long as you have a Microsoft account. The dictation feature is currently available when using the Edge, Firefox, Chrome and Brave web browsers.

Visit Microsoft Word for the web , log in and open the document or create a new one. Go to the Home tab and click the Dictate icon. If this is your first time using the feature, you will be asked to allow access to the microphone.

Just like in the desktop application, you will see a small microphone icon at the bottom. You can move the icon by dragging it. Just click on the icon and start talking.

You can pause or stop by clicking the icon again or saying “Pause dictation” or “Stop dictation”. Then click the icon to continue when you are ready.

To adjust the language, microphone, or other options, click the gear icon next to the microphone icon to open the Dictation Settings. Make your changes and click “OK” to save them.

When you’re done using dictation, click the “X” in the corner of the icon window to close it.

Dictate a document on your mobile device

If you use Word on your Android device, iPhone, or iPad, dictation can be useful, especially when you’re on the go. Open the document and tap the microphone icon.

Start speaking, tap the icon to pause or stop, or say “Pause dictation” or “Stop dictation” just like desktop and web applications.

To change the settings, tap the gear icon. Make your changes and tap the X to save and return to the document.

For further assistance with dictation on your mobile device, tap the question mark icon.

To stop dictation and type instead, simply tap on the keyboard icon.