Talk to Text on Samsung Galaxy: How to Use It

Samsung Galaxy phones have two built-in talk to text engines: Samsung voice input, which works only in Samsung Keyboard, and Google Voice Typing. ¹ To dictate, tap a text field, tap the microphone on the keyboard, speak, and tap the microphone again to stop. ² You choose the engine in the Voice input setting. Offline language packs are managed in the Offline voice input section of the keyboard settings. ³ Samsung describes the same two apps for your phone or tablet. ¹

Samsung's pages describe the microphone's place in slightly different words, and they do not say where it appears on every One UI version. This guide covers where to look, how to choose an engine, what offline packs do, how Galaxy AI turns recordings into text, and what to check when nothing happens. For the wider picture, see our overview of dictation on phones and tablets.

The microphone on Samsung Keyboard starts talk to text

Samsung's US support page tells you to start voice input from the microphone on the keyboard toolbar. ⁴ The engine is Samsung voice input, which works only in Samsung Keyboard, so if you type in a different keyboard, it will not be available there. ¹

The same kind of button exists on Google's keyboard. On Android with Gboard, you tap the microphone at the top of the keyboard and speak when the screen shows "Speak now". ⁵ If you are on Gboard rather than Samsung Keyboard, the steps are in our guide to voice typing on Android.

Samsung's US page says the microphone is on the toolbar. ⁴ Its UAE page says to tap the microphone "at the top of the keyboard". ² They appear to describe the same button, so the difference is mainly wording. Neither page says where the button appears on every One UI version.

The toolbar can be switched off, and that hides the microphone

Samsung's US page says the Samsung Keyboard toolbar offers Voice Input along with Emojis, Stickers, GIFs and Settings. ⁶ Samsung's page puts the microphone on that toolbar, so a missing microphone can mean the toolbar itself is hidden. ⁴

The toolbar can be hidden with a switch. Samsung's US page says that turning off the switch next to Keyboard toolbar makes the toolbar disappear, and the microphone with it. ^{7 8} To bring it back, go to Settings, search for Samsung Keyboard, and tap the switch again. ⁹

From the keyboard, a hidden toolbar and a missing microphone look the same. If the toolbar shows but the microphone does not, check the navigation bar switch below.

A navigation bar switch sits in the voice input setup

Samsung's setup steps include a switch named Keyboard button on navigation bar. It sits on the same screen as the switch for Google Voice Typing. ¹⁰

Samsung's pages present this switch as part of voice input setup. They do not say it controls the microphone button on every model. So when the microphone is missing, check the toolbar first, then check this switch in the same Settings path. If your phone shows no such switch, move on to the engine steps below and check the Samsung Keyboard settings for your model.

You can choose Samsung voice input or Google Voice Typing

Samsung offers both engines, and you pick one in settings. Follow these steps on a Galaxy phone:

1. Open Settings, tap General management, then tap Samsung Keyboard settings.
2. Swipe to and tap Voice input.
3. Select the voice input you want to use, either Samsung voice input or Google Voice Typing. ¹¹

To turn on Google Voice Typing from the other path, open Keyboard list and default and tap the switch next to Google Voice Typing. ¹²

The same Voice input screen lets you change the voice input language. ¹³ Set the language you dictate in there, then check that its offline pack is installed if you need to dictate without a connection.

The table below sets out what the Samsung pages say about each engine, and what they do not say.

Samsung does not say which engine is more accurate, and we found no independent test of the two on Galaxy phones. Test both yourself:

1. Choose one engine under Voice input and dictate the same short paragraph in the language you use most.
2. Count the words you have to correct afterwards.
3. Switch to the other engine and repeat the same paragraph.
4. Keep the engine that needed fewer corrections, and test again after a major software update.

Offline language packs decide which languages work without a connection

Samsung's offline setup lives in the Offline voice input section. Select a language there to use it offline. ³ To add a language, tap Install offline language pack, then turn on the language with its switch. ¹⁴

Samsung's page does not list which languages have offline packs on each model, so the list on your phone is the only reliable source. If a language is missing from the offline list, the engine may need a connection for that language. To test the offline path, turn on airplane mode, dictate a short sentence in that language, and turn airplane mode off again before you rely on it.

Galaxy AI features use a similar pack system. In April 2024, Samsung said that newly supported Galaxy AI languages and dialects would each be downloaded as a language pack from the Settings app. ¹⁵ That announcement is about Galaxy AI languages, so it says nothing about the Samsung Keyboard microphone.

Why offline packs exist at all is clearer from Google's keyboard. In 2019, Google moved Gboard voice typing onto the phone with an 80 MB speech recognizer that works offline, first on Pixel phones in American English. ¹⁶ Before that, Google said its server recognizer used a search graph of almost 2 GB, which was too large for a phone and was why voice typing needed a connection. ¹⁷ Those figures describe Gboard, not Samsung's engines, but they show the trade-off between accuracy, size and connection that the language packs reflect. For more on the offline side, see our guide to offline voice typing on phones, and for which languages you can use, dictation languages on iPhone and Android.

Galaxy AI turns voice recordings into text, not live typing

The Galaxy AI steps work on saved recordings, not on words spoken into a text field. Use Voice Recorder when you want a transcript you can translate or share, and Samsung Notes when the transcript belongs in a note you are already writing. ¹⁸ They turn a recording into a transcript, either in the Voice Recorder app or in Samsung Notes. That is the answer to how to transcribe a recording on Samsung.

In the Voice Recorder app, the steps are:

1. Open the Voice Recorder app and start a recording. ¹⁹
2. When you have saved the recording, select it, then tap the Transcript assist icon (the four stars) at the top of the screen, and tap Transcribe. ²⁰

Galaxy AI then displays the transcript. Samsung's US page says you can translate the memo into other languages, share it, or move it to Samsung Notes. ¹⁸ The language list matters here. The US page lists 16 languages for Transcript assist, including several regional forms of English, Spanish and Chinese. ²¹ Samsung's UAE page lists 13. ²² That is three fewer, ²³ and the UAE list leaves out Arabic, Russian and Indonesian, which the US list includes. ^{21 22}

Samsung's two pages disagree, so check the language list in the Voice Recorder settings on your own phone before you record in a language that is only on one of them.

The feature has device and region limits. Voice Recorder's Galaxy AI features are on select phones and tablets running Android 14 with One UI 6.1 or higher. ²⁴ Samsung says Transcript Assist availability may vary by model and region. ²⁵ Samsung says its basic Galaxy AI features are free. ²⁶

Samsung's UAE page tells you to check your internet connection when transcription is delayed or shows errors. ²⁷ Keep a connection available whenever you transcribe.

Samsung Notes has its own speech-to-text option

Samsung Notes can also turn a recording into text. In Samsung Notes, tap List to see your saved recordings, then tap Speech-to-text. ²⁸ Samsung lists this feature on the Galaxy Z Fold6, Z Flip6, S24, S25 and S26 series, and on select Galaxy A models. ²⁹

If the option is missing, first check that your phone is on the list above.

Samsung's support pages do not list spoken punctuation commands

The Samsung pages we read cover where the microphone is and how to start and stop it, but they do not list the words that turn into punctuation marks, so this guide does not give a command list. Samsung's pages also do not say whether a phone adds punctuation without a spoken word.

To check your own phone, dictate one short sentence that uses the words you expect to need, such as "comma" and "period", and look at what appears in the field. Do the same test in each engine, because the two can differ. For the general idea of marks added without a spoken word, see automatic punctuation, and for the spoken words used for marks, see spoken punctuation.

Samsung's privacy policy covers voice commands, not voice typing by name

Samsung's US privacy policy does not say where voice typing audio is processed. We read the policy while preparing this guide. It does not mention voice typing or dictation by name, and the voice clauses describe voice commands and customer service calls. The policy says Samsung keeps recordings of your voice on its servers when you turn on the voice command function and use it. ³⁰

The policy also says that a third party providing speech-to-text services for Samsung may receive and store some voice commands, under a contract with Samsung. ³¹ It does not name that provider or say which features use it, so it cannot tell you where dictation audio goes.

If you dictate confidential or client information, check your organization's rules before you choose an engine, because the policy we read does not settle where voice typing audio goes. If the question matters for your work, read the privacy policy for your region, and check Google's policy if you use Google Voice Typing. We did not cover Google's policy here. For the wider question, see our guide on voice data retention.

Settings and permissions are the first things to check when talk to text fails

When talk to text does not work, check these in order. Most of them are in the settings described above.

1. Keyboard. Samsung voice input works only in Samsung Keyboard. ¹ If another keyboard is active, switch to Samsung Keyboard first.
2. Toolbar. If the microphone is missing, check whether the Keyboard toolbar switch has hidden the toolbar, and turn it back on if so. ⁹
3. Navigation bar switch. Check the Keyboard button on navigation bar switch in the same settings screen as Google Voice Typing. ¹⁰
4. The engine. Confirm which voice input is selected under Voice input. ¹¹
5. Permissions and terms. Samsung says that the first time you use Samsung voice input, you may need to agree to terms or allow some permissions. ³² If nothing happens on first use, look for this prompt.
6. Language and offline packs. Make sure the language you speak is selected, and that its offline pack is installed if you dictate without a connection. ¹⁴
7. Connection. Transcript assist needs a connection when it is slow or gives errors. ²⁷

We did not find a Samsung page that names battery restrictions as a cause, so this guide does not treat them as one.

For more on a specific symptom, read the question on why talk to text is not working on a Samsung, or our guide to voice typing not working on Android. The question on where the voice button went on Samsung Keyboard covers the missing microphone in more detail. The question on whether Samsung voice input or Google Voice Typing is better gives the test we suggest above.

Four short answers cover most Samsung talk to text questions

• Where is the microphone? On the Samsung Keyboard toolbar, which can be hidden with a switch. ^{4 7} See the question on the missing button.
• Which engine should I use? Choose Samsung voice input or Google Voice Typing under Voice input. ¹¹ Test both before you decide. See the question on which is better.
• Why does it not work? Check the keyboard, the switches, the engine, the permissions and the language, in that order. See the question on talk to text not working.
• How do I turn a recording into text? Use Transcript assist in Voice Recorder, or Speech-to-text in Samsung Notes. ^{20 28} See the question on recordings.

Other guides cover iPhone, Android and privacy in more depth

If you use an iPhone, the same kind of guide is on iPhone dictation. For spoken commands and live captions on Android, read Live Transcribe, Live Captions and Voice Control. For how the steps differ between the phone and a server, read our guide to on-device speech recognition.