Set up Speech Recognition

You can use your voice to control your computer. You can say commands that the computer will respond to, and you can dictate text to the computer. For more information about what you can do with Windows Speech Recognition, see What can I do with Speech Recognition?

Before you get started using Speech Recognition, you'll need to set up your computer for Windows Speech Recognition. There are three steps to setting up Speech Recognition: set up your microphone, learn how to talk to your computer, and train your computer to understand your speech.

Before you get started, make sure that your microphone is connected to your computer.

 Set up your microphone

1. Click to open Speech Recognition.
2. Click Set up microphone.
3. Follow the instructions on the screen.

   Note

   • The success of speech recognition is directly related to the quality of the microphone you use. The two most common types of microphones for Speech Recognition are headset microphones and desktop microphones. Headset microphones are better suited for working with Speech Recognition because they are less prone to picking up extraneous sounds.

 Teach yourself how to talk to your computer

Windows comes with a speech training tutorial to help teach you the commands used with Speech Recognition. The tutorial takes about 30 minutes to complete. Follow the steps below to run the speech training tutorial:
1. Click to open Speech Recognition.
2. Click Take Speech Tutorial.
3. Follow the instructions in the Speech Recognition tutorial.

 Train your computer to recognize your speech

Speech Recognition uses a unique voice profile to recognize your voice and spoken commands. As you use Speech Recognition, your voice profile gets more detailed, which should improve your computer's ability to understand you.
1. Click to open Speech Recognition.
2. Click Train your computer to better understand you.
3. Follow the instructions on the screen.

Note

• Speech Recognition is available only in English, French, Spanish, German, Japanese, Simplified Chinese, and Traditional Chinese.