How do you turn on voice typing on Android?

Voice typing on Android has no separate on-off switch for most phones. If Gboard is your keyboard, the voice tool is already there as the Microphone key. You turn it on by making Gboard your keyboard, then allowing the microphone the first time you tap the key. Samsung phones work differently, because their voice input belongs to Samsung's own keyboard. The steps below cover both, plus the settings that stop the key from working.

Gboard's microphone key is the switch, so make Gboard your keyboard first

Gboard is Google's keyboard app. Its voice typing is the Microphone key at the top of the keyboard, and you tap it in a text field to start dictating ¹. The key is missing when the keyboard you type with is some other keyboard, because you can only use one at a time. Android's developer documentation says that after you install an input method, you select it in system settings and use it across the whole system, and that only one can be enabled at a time ².

So the first check is the keyboard, not the microphone. Follow these steps on a phone where you want Gboard to be the keyboard. The menu names come from Google's Gboard help page.

1. Install Gboard from the Google Play Store if it is not on your phone, then select it as your keyboard.
2. Open an app you can type in, such as Gmail or Keep, and tap a text field.
3. At the top of the keyboard, tap Microphone.
4. When you see Speak now, say what you want written.

If you switch to another keyboard, the Microphone key goes with it.

The first time you tap Microphone, Android asks for recording permission

The first time you tap Microphone, Android asks for permission to record. The three choices are While using app, Only this time and Don't allow ³. Google's Gboard help page explains what each option allows, so read it before you choose. If you choose Don't allow, the key cannot record until you change that choice.

Permission is not the only switch. Guiding Tech says that if voice typing is disabled in Gboard, you cannot use its voice-to-text feature until you switch it on ⁴. If the key is there but does nothing, check the permission and then the Gboard voice typing setting.

On Pixel 6 and later, advanced voice typing is a separate switch

Google's Gboard help has a separate page for advanced voice typing features, and those features need a newer phone. The archived copy of the page says that to use them, you must have a Pixel 6 or up, which includes Fold or Tablet ⁵. Check that your own model is on that list before you rely on it.

To turn the advanced features on or off, use the keyboard's own settings:

1. Open any app you can type with, such as Messages or Gmail, and tap where you can enter text.
2. At the top of the keyboard, tap Settings, then tap Voice typing.
3. Turn Advanced voice typing features on or off ⁶.

On a phone that does not offer the advanced features, you still have the basic Microphone key, and the steps above do not apply. For how punctuation works in each mode, see how to dictate punctuation on Android.

Samsung phones turn on voice input in Samsung Keyboard settings

Samsung says its Galaxy phones and tablets have two built-in voice-to-text apps, Samsung voice input and Google Voice Typing ⁷. Samsung voice input works only when you use the Samsung Keyboard. If you type with Gboard on a Samsung phone, use Gboard's Microphone key, and follow the steps above.

On the Samsung Keyboard, open its settings and look for the voice input options. Samsung's page warns that screens and settings can vary by software version and phone model, so use the names on your own phone if they differ. To turn on Google Voice Typing, tap the switch next to its name in the keyboard settings ⁸. The full Samsung steps are on Samsung's keyboard settings page.

For more on the Samsung side, including which voice tool to keep, see Samsung voice input or Google voice typing and the guide to talk to text on Samsung Galaxy.

When the key is missing, check the keyboard, the switch and the permission in that order

Work through the checks in this order, because each one hides the next.

• Keyboard. Is Gboard, or Samsung Keyboard with voice input, the keyboard you are typing with? If not, select it again.
• Switch. Is voice typing turned on in the keyboard's settings? On Pixel 6 and later, check the advanced switch too.
• Permission. Has Android been allowed to record for the keyboard? Choose While using app or Only this time again if you denied it.

If the key still does not appear, see why the microphone disappeared from the Android keyboard and how to fix "no permission to enable voice typing". The full troubleshooting steps are in the guide to voice typing not working on Android.

Related questions and guides

• Where is voice typing on Android? shows where the key sits on each keyboard.
• How do you dictate punctuation on Android? covers the phrases that add marks as you speak.
• The guide to voice typing on Android covers the steps, settings and limits in full.
• Dictation on phones and tablets lists every guide in this section.