How do you use voice input in Google Translate?

Use voice input by choosing both languages first, then speaking into the microphone button that Google's app shows on your device. The steps differ on Android, on an iPhone or iPad, and on a computer, mainly in the button name and the browser. The steps below follow Google's own help pages as we read them on 17 October 2026.

On Android, tap Speak and wait for the prompt

Google's Android steps are short. Open the Translate app, choose the languages, tap Speak, and say your phrase after the app prompts you. The prompt is the important part: Google says to speak after it says "Speak now" ¹.

1. Open the Translate app.
2. At the bottom left, choose the language you will speak. At the bottom right, choose the translation language.
3. Tap Speak.
4. When the app shows the prompt, say the phrase in full, then pause.

If the Speak button is disabled, the language you chose cannot be translated from speech ². Pick a different spoken language, or type the phrase instead. Google also says that in some languages you can hear the translation spoken aloud ³.

On an iPhone or iPad, use Dictation and Transcribe for longer speech

Google's iPhone and iPad help names the control Dictation, not Speak. For speech longer than a phrase, Google describes a Transcribe mode, which the app uses to translate in near real-time while someone speaks a different language, such as a lecture ⁴.

1. Open the Translate app and tap Dictation, then Transcribe.
2. At the top, select the speaker's language, then the translation language.
3. Speak. The phone starts translating the spoken words.
4. To see the speaker's words beside the translation, use Settings in the toolbar near the microphone and turn on Show original text.
5. To stop, tap the blue microphone. To end, tap Back. To keep the result, tap Save transcript at the top.

On a computer, use Chrome and allow the microphone

On a computer, open Google Translate in your browser and choose the two languages. Google says supported languages vary by browser. You can translate with a microphone in Chrome, and support in Safari and Edge is limited ⁵. Use Chrome if the microphone does not work in another browser.

Give the browser permission to use the microphone, and check the microphone settings in the browser and on your computer ⁶. Then click the microphone and speak.

Microphone translation on a computer does not detect your language automatically ⁷. Set the spoken language before you speak.

It depends on the device, the words and the language

Voice input needs a microphone. Google's help says that if your device has a microphone, you can translate spoken words and phrases ⁸. A device without one cannot use this path.

Use the Android Speak button for a phrase, and the iPhone Transcribe mode for a longer talk, so use the mode that matches the job.

Some languages will not accept speech at all. The Speak or Dictation button tells you this when it is disabled ², so check it before you rely on the feature for a trip or a meeting.

Google's offline help says you can download languages to translate without an internet connection ⁹, but the pages we read do not say that speech works offline. Test voice in airplane mode before you depend on it.

What to do next

1. Pick the device you will use, then follow its steps above.
2. Set both languages and confirm that the Speak or Dictation button is enabled.
3. Speak one test sentence and read the transcript and the translation.
4. If the button is missing or nothing happens, read why Google Translate voice is not working.
5. If the transcript is right but the translation reads oddly, check the accuracy question for why that happens.

For the whole picture of speaking in one language and getting text in another, read the guide to speech to text with translation. The term for this process is speech translation. For the wider set of languages that voice input supports, see the languages overview.