How to Use Microsoft Office by Talking Instead of Typing

Whether it's a broken keyboard or a broken finger, you can still produce that document using these steps and Microsoft Office.

Method 1
Method 1 of 2:
Mac

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    1
    Open System Preferences.
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    2
    Go to 'Dictation and speech'
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    3
    Select 'Turn on Dictation
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    4
    Open Microsoft Word
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    5
    Press the Function (fn) key twice
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    6
    Start speaking
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Method 2
Method 2 of 2:
Windows

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    1
    Right click on the desktop
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    2
    Select 'Personalize'
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    3
    Click 'Control Panel Home'
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    4
    Select 'Ease of Access' and click 'Start Speech Recognition'
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    5
    Take the tutorial. After you've finished, open Microsoft Word
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    6
    Click the microphone icon at the top of the screen. Start speaking
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Community Q&A

  • Question
    How do I get my speech recognition box back?
    Community Answer
    Community Answer
    Go to "insert," then "speech recognition box."

Things You'll Need

  • OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion or Windows 7/8
  • Microphone attached to computer (laptops and notepads may have one)
  • Microsoft Office (Any Version)

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About This Article

wikiHow is a “wiki,” similar to Wikipedia, which means that many of our articles are co-written by multiple authors. To create this article, 10 people, some anonymous, worked to edit and improve it over time. This article has been viewed 102,920 times.
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Co-authors: 10
Updated: October 3, 2018
Views: 102,920
Categories: Microsoft Office
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