Copilot Voice and Dictation on Windows

Copilot can take dictation, but only inside Copilot. You start it from the chat prompt box, and the text lands in that box ¹. Microsoft describes the feature as a way to speak your prompt instead of typing it ². Microsoft's description covers only the Copilot prompt box. To type into Word, Outlook, a browser or any other app, use Windows voice typing, which is built into Windows, or Voice Access for hands-free control. The short answer to the question whether Copilot can take dictation is yes, inside Copilot. For other apps, use voice typing.

Copilot's voice features are useful, but they answer a different question from dictation. They turn your speech into a prompt, or hold a conversation with you. Windows voice typing turns your speech into text in whatever box has the cursor. This guide sets out which tool does which job, how to start Copilot's voice features, what needs a microphone permission, and what Microsoft says happens to your audio.

Copilot listens and answers, voice typing types what you say

Copilot's voice features answer or respond, and dictation types only into the Copilot prompt box ¹. Microsoft lists two of them: dictation, which speaks a prompt, and Copilot Voice, a real-time spoken conversation ³. Dictation is listed for work or school accounts only ⁴, while Copilot Voice is listed for work or school and personal accounts ³.

Windows voice typing works differently. On Windows 11, you turn it on with the Windows key + H on a hardware keyboard, or the Microphone button on the touch keyboard ⁵, and the words go into whatever text box has the cursor. That is why it is the right tool for writing, and Copilot is the right tool for asking.

The table shows the main difference. Copilot's voice features are a conversation with an AI assistant. Voice typing and Voice Access are dictation tools for the apps you already use, and they are the answer for anyone who wants to fill in a document by voice.

Press to talk and the wake word start a Copilot voice conversation

You can start a Copilot voice chat from the keyboard or by voice. On a Windows desktop with the Microsoft Copilot app installed, pressing Win+C or the Copilot key starts a voice chat in quick view ⁹. The steps are short:

1. Press Win+C or the Copilot key.
2. Speak. Microsoft says you can interrupt Copilot, redirect it, or ask a follow-up at any time ¹⁰.
3. To mute or end the chat, select Mute/pause or End voice chat ¹¹.

Copilot does not keep listening forever. If you go quiet, the chat ends on its own: a voice chat ends automatically after one minute of inactivity, with a warning after 30 seconds ¹².

The wake word is optional. Starting a voice chat by saying "Hey Copilot" is turned off by default and must be switched on in the Copilot app's settings ¹³. Microsoft says the PC detects the wake word locally, using a service that keeps a 10-second audio buffer in memory, which is never recorded or stored ¹⁴. Answers still need a connection: Hey Copilot needs an internet connection to answer, and a chat started offline ends when Copilot cannot connect ¹⁵.

Shortcuts and menu names can change between app versions, so check the current Microsoft article before you write a training guide around one.

Copilot's dictation button turns speech into a prompt inside Copilot

Dictation is the feature for writing a prompt by voice. In the chat prompt box, select Start dictation ¹. Copilot transcribes your speech into text in real time ¹⁶. Select Stop dictation when you are done, and check the text before you send it, because Microsoft says AI may occasionally misinterpret speech ¹⁷.

Use dictation when the prompt is long, and you would rather speak it than type it. Use voice typing when the words belong in another app, such as a draft email or a report. The rule is simple: Copilot dictation writes the question, and voice typing writes the document.

Two limits matter. First, Microsoft lists dictation for work or school accounts, not personal accounts ⁴. Second, the article describes no way to use dictation outside the Copilot prompt box. If you need a personal account, check the feature table on Microsoft's page before you rely on the feature. Our guide to dictating into any app covers the workaround: dictate into the app itself with voice typing.

Word has its own Dictate button, and Copilot in Teams depends on transcription

Word does its own dictation, and it is not the same feature as Copilot's. Dictation in Word belongs to Microsoft 365 and is only available to Microsoft 365 subscribers ¹⁸. It also needs a microphone and a reliable internet connection ¹⁹. If you want dictation inside a Word document, use the Dictate button, and read our guide to dictating in Word for the exact steps.

Copilot in Teams is a different case, because it works from what is said in the meeting. The setting that matters is Allow Copilot and Facilitator. Under the During and after the meeting option, Microsoft says transcription is required to use Copilot ²⁰. Under Only during the meeting, Copilot uses speech-to-text data to give insights about what is said in the meeting ²¹.

Copilot also has limits in Teams. It won't work in meetings hosted outside your organization ²². For the transcription side of meetings in more detail, see our guide to meeting transcription.

Copilot in Teams needs a live transcript to answer questions after a meeting

Copilot in Teams needs a transcript for anything afterward. Microsoft's note is direct: to prompt Copilot about the meeting, or to see Copilot's conversation history after the meeting ends, live transcription must be on during the meeting ²³. The note names live transcription. It does not mention recordings.

This matters for the question whether Copilot can transcribe audio to text. Within Teams, Copilot's answers depend on a transcript that someone has started. Copilot Voice also keeps a text transcript after a voice conversation ends ²⁴, but that is a record of your chat, not a transcription service for your own recordings. Microsoft's documentation for these features does not describe transcribing a file you upload. Word can: its Transcribe feature handles uploaded audio, with a monthly cap set by your license, 300 minutes for a Microsoft 365 subscriber ²⁵ and 30,000 minutes for a Copilot license ²⁶. For other recordings, use a transcription tool, such as our free audio to text page, or the guide to transcribing audio.

Copilot voice needs microphone permission in Copilot and in Windows

Copilot needs permission to use the microphone before any voice feature works. The first time you use voice in Copilot Chat, you may be asked to allow microphone access, and you can change this later in your browser or device settings ²⁷. If you dismissed that prompt, or a voice feature stops working, check Windows as well.

1. Open Settings, then Privacy & security, then App permissions, then Microphone.
2. Confirm that Microphone access is on. Windows 11 allows apps to use the microphone only when it is turned on under Privacy & security, App permissions, Microphone ²⁸.
3. Confirm that Let desktop apps access your microphone is on. Microsoft says desktop apps have their own setting, and it must be turned on ²⁹.

Voice typing has the same requirement. Microsoft says you must turn on microphone access in Windows settings to use voice typing ³⁰. Use the steps above. If voice typing or Copilot dictation still fails, the Copilot dictation troubleshooting question and our guide to fixing Windows dictation go through the causes in order.

Copilot's privacy settings decide what happens to your voice conversations

What happens to your audio depends on the feature and the account type. For work or school accounts, Microsoft says dictation sends your speech only to convert it to text, and the audio is not stored ³¹. Copilot Voice is different: user and Copilot audio are temporarily stored to support feedback scenarios, the audio is accessed only if you submit feedback about the conversation, and it is deleted after 48 hours ³².

For personal accounts, Microsoft says voice data is used to provide the Copilot Voice experience ³³. Your conversation history is kept for 18 months by default: Microsoft says it stores conversation activity for 18 months by default, and you can delete individual conversations or your whole history at any time ³⁴.

The chart shows the gap. Dictation keeps no audio at all, which is zero days ³¹. Copilot Voice audio is kept for two days, which is 48 hours ³⁵. The default conversation history is about 548 days, calculated from the 18-month period ³⁶. The chart compares only these three figures, because each one comes from a different Microsoft statement.

Training is a separate question. Microsoft says it uses data from Copilot, including your voice and conversation activity, for AI training, except for certain categories of users or users who have opted out ³⁷. In the Copilot app for Windows, the two toggles are under Settings, then Privacy: Training on conversation activity and Training on voice conversations ³⁸. Menu names can change between app versions, so check the current menus before you rely on them. For more on this subject, see our guide to voice data retention.

Voice typing has a different data path. Windows voice typing uses online speech recognition powered by Azure Speech services ³⁹. Microsoft documents that for real-time speech to text in Azure, audio is processed only in server memory and no data is stored at rest ⁴⁰. That statement comes from Azure's documentation, not from the Windows privacy statement, so read both before a decision that depends on it. Microsoft also says audio of people speaking and its transcripts may be personal or sensitive data under various privacy laws ⁴¹. Voice Access works without an internet connection ⁸, but its initial setup needs one ⁷.

Choose the tool by the job: dictating, transcribing or commanding

Most people need one of three jobs. The table below matches each job to the tool that does it, with the main limit.

The flowchart shows the same choice in short form.

For the wider picture of the built-in options, read our overviews of Windows voice typing, Voice Access in Windows 11 and the best dictation software for Windows. The short answer to how to talk to Copilot with your voice on Windows is the Win+C shortcut and the chat controls covered above.

Check four things before you rely on Copilot's voice features

Most problems with Copilot's voice features come down to four checks. Run them in order before you decide that a feature is broken.

1. Account type. Dictation is listed for work or school accounts only ⁴, and Copilot Voice for both work or school and personal accounts ³. Microsoft does not list dictation for personal accounts, so check the table before you promise it to anyone.
2. Where the words need to go. Copilot dictation writes into the Copilot prompt box. If the words belong in another app, you need voice typing, which writes into whatever box has the cursor ⁶.
3. Microphone access. Copilot may ask for microphone access the first time, and Windows must also allow it under Privacy & security, Microphone ²⁸.
4. How long your audio is kept. For work accounts, dictation keeps no audio, and Copilot Voice audio is deleted after 48 hours ³². Your conversation history is kept longer, by default for 18 months ³⁴.

If all four pass and a feature still fails, the problem is usually the connection or the app version. Windows voice typing needs an internet connection ⁶, and Hey Copilot needs one to answer ¹⁵.

Where to go next

If you want to dictate a document, start with Windows voice typing. If you want hands-free control of every app, read about Voice Access. If your dictation is not working, the guide to Windows dictation problems lists the causes in the order to check them. Privacy is covered in our guide to Windows dictation privacy.

For background on the terms used here, see the entries on voice typing, voice commands and Copilot+ PCs. If you dictate often, Copilot's features are only one part of the picture. Yap, which we make, is an on-device dictation app for Windows, so your speech is processed on the PC. The overview of dictation on Windows compares the free built-in tools with the alternatives, and it is the right place to start if you want to make the choice yourself.