Applies ToOneNote for Microsoft 365 OneNote for Microsoft 365 for Mac OneNote for the web OneNote 2024 OneNote 2021 OneNote for Windows 10 OneNote 2016 OneNote Web App

Dictation lets you use speech-to-text to author content in Office with a microphone and a reliable internet connection. It's a quick and easy way to create drafts, capture notes, and make comments.

How to use dictation

  1. Go to Home Office Dictate Button Dictate  while signed into Microsoft 365 on a mic-enabled device.

  2. Wait for the  Dictate is Listening Dictate  button to turn on and start listening.

  3. Start speaking to see text appear on the screen.

How to use dictation

  1. Go to Home Dictate while signed into Microsoft 365 on a mic-enabled device.Dictate button in the OneNote for Web ribbon.

  2. Wait for the  OneNote Web Dictation button Dictate button to turn on and start listening.

  3. Start speaking to see text appear on the screen.

How to use dictation

  1. Go to Home Office Dictate Button Dictate while signed into Microsoft 365 on a mic-enabled macOS device.

  2. Wait for the  Dictate is Listening Dictate button to turn on and start listening.

  3. Start speaking to see text appear on the screen.

How to use dictation

  1. Go to Home Dictate while signed into Microsoft 365 on a mic-enabled device.OneNote Universal Dictate Button

  2. Wait for the Dictate button to turn on and start listening.OneNote Universal Dictate Record

  3. Start speaking to see text appear on the screen.

What can I say?

In addtion to dictating your content, you can speak commands to add punctuatation, navigate around the page, and enter special characters.

Scroll down to see a list of commands available in other languages.

Phrase

Output

period, full stop
.
comma
,
question mark
?
exclamation mark/point
!
new line
new line
apostrophe-s
's
colon
:
semicolon
;
open quotes
close quotes
" "
hyphen
-
ellipsis, dot dot dot
...
begin/open single quote
end/close single quote
' '
left/open parentheses
right/close parentheses
( )
left/open bracket
right/close bracket
[ ]
left/open brace
right/close brace
{ }

Phrase

Output

asterisk
*
backslash
\
forward slash
/
vertical bar sign, pipe character
|
backquote, backtick
`
underscore
_
m-dash
n-dash
paragraph sign/mark
section sign
§
ampersand, and sign
&
at sign
@
copyright sign
©
registered sign
®
degree symbol
°
caret symbol
^
percent sign
%
number/pound sign
#
plus sign
+
minus sign
-
multiplication sign
x
plus or minus sign
±
division sign
÷
equal sign
=
less than sign, left angle bracket
greater than sign, right angle bracket
< >

dollar sign
$
pound sterling sign
£
euro sign
yen sign
¥

Phrase

Output

smiley face
:)
frowny face
:(
winky face
;)
heart emoji
<3

Phrase

undo
delete
delete that
delete [word or phrase]
delete last [1-100] words/sentences
insert space
backspace
backspace [1-100] 
show help
pause dictation
exit dictation

Important: Items marked with * are only available in the web version of OneNote.

Phrase

list (start list, start numbered list, next line, exit list) *
insert [1-10] row above/below*
insert [1-10] column to the left/right*
go to next cell, go up/down/left/right ([1-10] times)*
go to beginning/end of the row*
delete table/row/column*
exit table*

Important: Items marked with * are only available in the web version of OneNote.

Phrase

strikethrough format [word or phrase]*
bold*
italics*
underline*
highlight*
indent*
decrease indent*
align [left, center, right]*
clear all formatting*
superscript*
subscript*

Other languages

Select from the list below to see commands available in each of the supported languages.

More Information

By default, Dictation is set to your document language in Office.

We are actively working to improve these languages and add more locales and languages.

Supported Languages

Chinese (China)

English (Australia)

English (Canada)

English (India)

English (United Kingdom)

English (United States)

French (Canada)

French (France)

German (Germany)

Hindi

Italian (Italy)

Japanese

Portuguese (Brazil)

Spanish (Spain)

Spanish (Mexico)

Preview languages *

Arabic (Bahrain)

Arabic (Egypt)

Arabic (Saudi Arabia)

Bulgarian

Chinese (Traditional, Hong Kong)

Chinese (Taiwan)

Croatian (Croatia)

Czech

Danish

Dutch (Netherlands)

English (New Zealand)

Estonian

Finnish

Greek

Gujarati (India)

Hebrew

Hungarian

Irish

Korean

Latvian

Lithuanian

Maltese

Marathi (India)

Norwegian (Bokmål)

Polish

Portuguese (Portugal)

Romanian

Russian

Slovak

Slovenian

Swedish (Sweden)

Tamil (India)

Telugu (India)

Thai

Turkish (Turkey)

Vietnamese

* Preview Languages may have lower accuracy or limited punctuation support.

Click on the gear icon to see the available settings.

Dictate Settings

  • Spoken Language: View and change languages in the drop-down

  • Microphone: View and change your microphone

  • Auto Punctuation: Toggle the checkmark on or off, if it's available for the language chosen

  • Profanity filter: Mask potentially sensitive phrases with ***

  • Saying “delete” by itself removes the last word or punctuation before the cursor.

  • Saying “delete that” removes the last spoken utterance.

These tips work with the web version of OneNote:

  • You can bold, italicize, underline, or strikethrough a word or phrase. An example would be dictating “review by tomorrow at 5PM”, then saying “bold tomorrow” which would leave you with "review by tomorrow at 5PM"

  • Try phrases like “bold last word” or “underline last sentence.”

  • Saying “add comment look at this tomorrow” will insert a new comment with the text “Look at this tomorrow” inside it.

  • Saying “add comment” by itself will create a blank comment box you where you can type a comment.

  • To resume dictation, please use the keyboard shortcut ALT + ` or press the Mic icon in the floating dictation menu.

  • Markings may appear under words with alternates we may have misheard.

    If the marked word is already correct, you can select Ignore.

    Dictate Suggestions

This service does not store your audio data or transcribed text.

Your speech utterances will be sent to Microsoft and used only to provide you with text results.

For more information about experiences that analyze your content, see Connected Experiences in Office.

Troubleshooting

If you can't see the button to start dictation:

  • Make sure you have Windows 10 or above

  • Dictate is not available in Office 2016 or 2019 for Windows without Microsoft 365

If you see the dictate button is grayed out

  • Make sure the note is not in a Read-Only state.

Microphone doesn't have access

If you see "We don’t have access to your microphone":

  • Make sure no other application or web page is using the microphone and try again

  • Refresh, click on Dictate, and give permission for the browser to access the microphone Screenshot of OneNote Dictation permissions.

If you see "There is a problem with your microphone" or "We can’t detect your microphone":

If you see "Dictation can't hear you" or if nothing appears on the screen as you dictate:

  • Make sure your microphone is not muted

  • Adjust the input level of your microphone

  • Move to a quieter location

  • If using a built-in mic, consider trying again with a headset or external mic

If you see a lot of incorrect words being output or missed words:

  • Make sure you're on a fast and reliable internet connection

  • Avoid or eliminate background noise that may interfere with your voice

  • Try speaking more deliberately

  • Check to see if the microphone you are using needs to be upgraded

Need more help?

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