How to enable speech recognition in Windows 10 or Windows 11

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Tired of typing away on your old familiar keyboard? Don't worry. Fortunately, there is a neat alternative for Windows users known as speech recognition.

Windows Speech Recognition, also known as WCR, is a free voice recognition software developed by Microsoft. With WCR, you can write texts in notepad, emails, or other writing applications, control the desktop interface using voice commands, and even navigate entire websites. It also provides you with a set of keyboard shortcuts which we will discuss below. Introduced with Windows Vista, the program is now available in almost all versions of Windows in a much improved format.

Let's learn how to enable and use speech recognition on Windows.

How to enable speech recognition in Windows 10 or Windows 11

First, you need to check your computer's microphone; This will help you to run the speech recognition app in the first place. Here's how you can do that:

1. go to start menu In the search bar, type "settings" and select the best match.


2. head for Time & Language > Speech.


3. under microphoneSelect the start to choose.


4. The letter It will launch a wizard, which will start scanning for microphone problems automatically.

If you find any problems, you will be notified. However, if all is well, just move on to the next section.

Windows Speech Recognition Setup

In the start menu Search bar, type 'speech recognition,' And choose the best match. Once you do that, the speech recognition wizard will launch.

Click next one. Next, you will be asked what type of microphone you want to use: headphone, desktop, etc. Choose one and click next one.

From there, follow the onscreen instructions and Windows voice recognition will be enabled in no time.

Speech recognition training to improve accuracy

Now that you're all set up with Speech Recognition, it's time to improve its accuracy. You can do this through the feature that allows you to train your own speech recognition option. Here's how:

1. Run the control panel. go to start menu Search bar, type "control panel", and select the best match.


2. Head now to Ease of Access > Speech Recognition.


3. Click Train your computer to understand you better.


4. Finally, tap next one To continue training as directed by the application.

You will now be asked to repeat the typed text in the dialog. This training will help the app to recognize your voice whenever you speak. After completing the training, speech recognition will have a better understanding of your voice, and as a result, it will perform much better.

Use speech recognition in Windows 10 or Windows 11

Let's take a look at some of the most common use cases for Windows speech recognition.

Stare at speech recognition

Even though we've set up speech recognition, it won't be enabled by default (although you can change this from settings by turning it on at startup). You will first have to manually launch the speech recognition app. go to start menuType "speech recognition" and select the best match.

Turn it on or off

After turning on the speech recognition as shown above, click the microphone button and say “Start listening.” Voice recognition features will be enabled.

When you're done, you can turn it off by clicking stop listening.

Dictate texts on your computer

Run any program in which you want to type text. It could actually be any app — Notepad, email app, Word, etc. Now that you have enabled speed recognition, all you have to do to enable dictation is press Windows key + H.

For example, I'm using Google Docs here. When you start talking to your speaker, you will see texts written with it on the screen. Here are some commands you may come in handy.

1. Delete text: To delete text from your screen, simply say "delete" and follow it with the word you want to delete.


2. Punctuation: You will use punctuation a lot. So, for example, if you intend to include a comma, say "comma". Similarly, say "Point" to add a period at the end of any sentence.


3. Select: To select a specific word, say "select" and follow it with the word you want to select.

These are some direct commands. But that's nowhere near the full picture, as there are a lot of them. We recommend that you check out this list from Microsoft for all the commands.

Enable and use speech recognition in Windows 10 or Windows 11

Thanks to Windows speech recognition, you don't have to spend all your time typing on the keyboard. This is especially useful for disabled people who may be facing an uphill battle. With speech recognition enabled on Windows, all you have to do is remember a few commands, and you'll be able to do your work without hassle.

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