

Speech-to-text software programs are great because they use artificial intelligence programs to translate your spoken words to text. That is where I uncovered speech-to-text software. I instantly started looking for ways to save my wrists, knowing that if I could not type, I could not do my job. I was so scared that I was developing carpal tunnel syndrome. I remember the first time I felt a shock of pain in my wrists. While basic voice recognition works very well, the unreliability of the voice commands means this isn’t yet as powerful as paid software like Dragon NaturallySpeaking.In this guide, we test and review the best speech to text software options, both free and paid.ĭo you spend hours time sitting in front of the computer writing and editing documents? If so, you understand how physically demanding typing is. We’ve seen this same problem reported by other websites who tested this feature. The dictation feature understood the words we spoke, but often just inserted the words “delete that” rather than processing it as a command, for example. Unfortunately, we found that many of these voice commands don’t yet work consistently. Voice Commands Don’t Always Work Reliably Windows will suggest many of these voice commands to you via tips displayed on the dictation bar. For example, you can say “press backspace” to insert a backspace character, “select ” to select a specific word, “delete that” to delete what you’ve selected, “clear selection” to clear a selection, and “go after ” to position the cursor right after the end of a specific word or phrase. Some-but not all-of the voice commands that work with Speech Recognition also work with voice dictation. RELATED: How to Get Started With Speech Recognition on Windows 7 or 8 For example, to enter the text “She said “hello”.”, you’d need to say “she said open quotes hello close quotes period” aloud. Just say things like “period”, “comma”, “exclamation mark”, “open quotes” and “close quotes” aloud to do this. You have to speak the punctuation you want to use. That’s because dictation doesn’t automatically enter punctuation. Just speaking normally may be fine for writing down some quick notes or performing a web search, but it probably won’t be good for writing a document or email. To start dictating again, press Windows+H or click the microphone icon. You’ll hear a quick beep whenever Windows 10 starts or stops listening to your voice. Windows will also stop listening after you start typing with your keyboard. While the “Listening…” text appears and the microphone icon is blue, what you say into your microphone will appear as text in the application your text cursor is placed in.Īfter five seconds or when you say “stop dictating” aloud, the microphone icon will turn black again, “Listening…” will vanish, and your PC will stop listening to your voice.
