How do you dictate punctuation on Android?

To dictate punctuation on Android, say the name of the mark while you speak. In Gboard, Google's help gives these phrases as examples: Period, Comma, Exclamation point, Question mark, New line and New paragraph ¹. Say the phrase where the mark belongs. Gboard turns it into the symbol, or into a new line or paragraph. Some Pixel phones, such as the Pixel 6 Pro, can add marks without a spoken phrase ², and punctuation phrases might not be available in every language ³.

Say the mark's name where it belongs

The phrases fall into two groups. Period, Comma, Exclamation point and Question mark add a symbol. New line and New paragraph start a new line or a new paragraph without a symbol ¹. Google presents the phrases as examples, so the list is not guaranteed to be complete.

Here is an illustration of the method. If you say "Meet me at noon comma bring the forms period," Gboard should type "Meet me at noon, bring the forms." The exact output depends on your language, your phone and how clearly you speak, so read the result before you send it.

Check that the phrases work in your language

Google says punctuation phrases might not be available in every language that Gboard voice typing supports ³. If a phrase does nothing in your language, type the mark yourself and carry on, or check that the language you are speaking is the one selected.

Gboard can switch languages during voice typing, but only if you have enabled more than one language. Then you tap the abbreviation for your default language at the bottom left of the toolbar to change it ⁴. Before you dictate a message in a second language, check which language the toolbar shows.

Some Pixel phones add the marks for you

Pixel phones can go further. In 2021, Google released a new version of voice-to-text on Android that was exclusive to the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro ⁵. In 2022, 9to5Google called automatic punctuation the killer feature of that system, in a passage quoting the author's earlier review ². Automatic punctuation means the marks appear as you speak, without a spoken phrase. The glossary entry on automatic punctuation explains the term.

Google's Gboard help also points some Pixel owners to Advanced voice typing ⁶. We could not open Google's separate page for that feature, so check your phone's settings for the models and the punctuation it covers. If your phone adds marks you did not say, you may be using that feature, and you can say the marks yourself instead.

On other Android phones, plan to say the marks. The Gboard help material we could check describes punctuation as phrases you say, so do not expect automatic marks on a phone that does not show them.

Unexpected punctuation can come from Android's own voice typing

In February 2020, 9to5Google reported that Gboard's voice typing was not affected in its testing, and that installing Gboard was another fix for the punctuation problem on Android. That suggests the problem sat with Android's native voice typing rather than with Gboard ⁷. The report is from 2020 and describes a fix Google was rolling out at the time, so treat it as a clue rather than a rule for current phones.

If marks appear that you did not say, check which keyboard and voice input you are using. Then compare the same sentence in Gboard and in the other tool, if you have both.

Read the punctuation before you send the message

Dictated punctuation is only as good as the words around it. Read the text before you send it, and fix any marks that did not come out as you intended. Names, numbers and addresses need the most checking. The dictation punctuation guide explains the same rules on computers, and the spoken punctuation entry gives the general term.

For the full set of steps, see the guide to voice typing on Android. For where the microphone key is, see where voice typing is on Android. For commands that edit text rather than add marks, see the question on Gboard voice typing commands.