The Windows 10 Fall Creators Update introduced the Dictation feature, allowing for speech-to-text. The Dictation feature of Windows 10 provides you with an easier and faster way to transcribe the words you speak, into text you can edit on your computer.
Once you have dictation running (see the tip entitled Enabling Speech to Text Dictation) you can begin speaking the text you want entered in any text area found in Windows. As you begin to use dictation you will find that it will transcribe exactly what you say. The only problem with this is that it will transcribe what you say without punctuation, returns, or other grammatical elements. With the use of certain specific commands, you can have a better experience and results.
| Voice Command | Result | |
|---|---|---|
| Clear selection; unselect that | Clears a selection | |
| Delete that; strike that | Delete the most recent dictation result or currently selected text | |
| Delete word | Delete a unit of text, such as the current word | |
| Go after that; move after word; go to the end of paragraph; move to the end of that | Move the cursor to the first character after a specified word or phrase | |
| Go after word; move after word; go to the end of that; move to the end of paragraph | Move the cursor to the end of a unit of text | |
| Move back to the previous word; go up to the previous paragraph | Move the cursor backward by a unit of text | |
| Go to the start of the word | Move the cursor to the first character before a specified word or phrase | |
| Go before that; move to the start of that | Move the cursor to the start of a text unit | |
| Move forward to the next word; go down to the next paragraph | Move the cursor forward to the next unit of text | |
| Move to the end of the word; go to the end of the paragraph | Moves the cursor to the end of a text unit | |
| Tap Enter; press Backspace | Enter one of the following keys: Tab, Enter, End, Home, Page up, Page down, Backspace, Delete | |
| Select word | Select a specific word or phrase | |
| Select that | Select the most recent dictation result | |
| Select the next three words; select the previous two paragraphs | Select a unit of text | |
| Start spelling; stop spelling | Turn spelling mode on and off |
At times, as you're dictating, you will need to dictate numbers, punctuation, letters, or symbols. Just like the dictation commands above, you just need to speak the correct phase or command to achieve the desired result.
When you want to add punctuation or numbers, this is possible typically by just saying the punctuation or number. If, for example, you're wanting to add a "?" to the end of a sentence you would say "Question Mark." For numbers, you simply say the number and the correct number will be entered.
"Start Spelling", is a helpful command, in that it modifies Dictation from entering the word it hears to the letter you say. For example, if you wanted to spell out 'five' instead of '5', you would use the command "Start Spelling." After the "Start Spelling" command is given, you would then spell 'f-i-v-e' followed by "Stop Spelling." If you need to insert a capital letter you would need to use the "Start Spelling" command, then by saying "Uppercase" followed by the letter, then finish with "Stop Spelling." Also keep in mind that when you use the "Start Speaking" command, in addition to saying a symbol or punctuation you can also use the ICAO phonetic alphabet. (The ICAO phonetic alphabet is the use of assigned codewords inplace of letters of the English alphabet, such as Alfa for "A" or Zulu for "Z" )
| Voice Command | Result | |
|---|---|---|
| at symbol; at sign | @ | |
| Pound symbol; pound sign; number symbol; number sign; hash symbol; hash sign; hashtag symbol; hashtag sign; sharp symbol; sharp sign | # | |
| Dollar symbol; dollar sign; dollars symbol; dollars sign | $ | |
| Percent symbol; percent sign | % | |
| Caret | ^ | |
| And symbol; and sign; ampersand symbol; ampersand sign | & | |
| Asterisk; times; star | * | |
| Open paren; left paren; open parenthesis; left paren | ( | |
| Close paren; right paren; close parenthesis; right parenthesis | ) | |
| Underscore | _ | |
| Hyphen; dash; minus sign | - | |
| Tilde | ~ | |
| Backslash; whack | \ | |
| Forward slash; divided by | / | |
| Comma | , | |
| Period; dot; decimal; point | . | |
| Semicolon | ; | |
| Apostrophe; open single quote; begin single quote; close single quote; close single quote; end single quote | ' | |
| Equal symbol; equal sign; equals symbol; equal sign | = | |
| Space | (space) | |
| Pipe | | | |
| Colon | : | |
| Question mark; question symbol | ? | |
| Open bracket; open square bracket; left bracket; left square bracket | [ | |
| Close bracket; close square bracket; right bracket; right square bracket | ] | |
| Open curly brace; open curly bracket; left curly brace; left curly bracket | { | |
| Close curly brace; close curly bracket; right curly brace; right curly bracket | } | |
| Plus symbol; plus sign | + | |
| Open angle bracket; open less than; left angle bracket; left less than | < | |
| Close angle bracket; close greater than; right angle bracket; right greater than | > | |
| Open quotes; begin quotes; close quotes; end quotes; open double quotes; begin double quotes; close double quotes; end double quotes | " |
All of these commands will help you better use Dictation and help get you closer to the results you are looking for.
This tip (13555) applies to Windows 10.
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