Why is talk to text not working on my Samsung?

Talk to text on a Samsung usually fails for one of a short list of reasons, and Samsung's pages cover most of them. Start with the keyboard, because Samsung voice input works only in Samsung Keyboard. ¹ If the keyboard is right, check the microphone, the engine, the first-use prompt and the language, in that order.

The steps below follow what Samsung describes. Where a cause is only reported by users, or Samsung does not confirm it, we say so.

Start with the keyboard

Samsung's own statement is clear: Samsung voice input is available only when you use Samsung Keyboard. ¹ If you are typing in Gboard or another keyboard, the Samsung microphone will not respond there. Switch to Samsung Keyboard, then try again in the same text field.

Check the microphone and the toolbar

If the microphone does not appear, the keyboard toolbar may be hidden. Samsung provides a switch for this, so turn the toolbar back on under Settings, by searching for Samsung Keyboard. ²

Samsung's setup steps also include a switch named Keyboard button on navigation bar, on the same screen as the Google Voice Typing switch. ³ Samsung does not say on its pages that this switch always controls the microphone, but some users report that turning it on brought the button back after an update. Treat that as a thing to test, not a confirmed fix.

For a fuller walk-through of the missing button, read our question on why the voice input button is missing on Samsung Keyboard.

Confirm the engine you selected

Samsung offers two engines, and you choose one under Voice input. ⁴ If the engine you chose is not working, select the other one and try again. This is the quickest test, because it tells you whether the problem is in one engine or in the phone's setup.

Accept the first-use prompt

Samsung says that the first time you use Samsung voice input, you may need to agree to terms or allow some permissions. ⁵ If you tapped past the prompt, or never saw it because the keyboard was used for typing only, nothing will happen when you tap the microphone. Tap the microphone once in a text field and look for the prompt.

Samsung's pages we read do not give the menu path for microphone permissions on each keyboard app. If the prompt does not return, check the permissions for the keyboard app in Settings on your own model.

Set up the language and offline pack

Make sure the language you speak is selected in the Voice input settings. If you dictate without a connection, the language also needs an offline pack. To install one, tap Install offline language pack and then turn on the language with its switch. ⁶ A language without a pack may need a connection, so turn on airplane mode and dictate a short sentence to test the offline path.

Background settings are possible but unconfirmed

Battery and background settings are a possible cause that Samsung's pages do not confirm. Samsung's battery pages describe a Deep sleeping apps list, and Samsung says apps on that list never run in the background and only work when you open them. ⁷ Samsung does not say whether Samsung Keyboard or Gboard can be placed on that list. Check the list on your phone if the other steps fail, but do not treat it as the cause without a test.

The order to check things in

1. Keyboard. Confirm Samsung Keyboard is the active keyboard.
2. Toolbar and switches. Turn on the Keyboard toolbar and check the Keyboard button on navigation bar switch.
3. Engine. Confirm which voice input is selected under Voice input, and try the other one.
4. First-use prompt. Tap the microphone once in a text field, and answer any terms or permission prompt.
5. Language and offline pack. Check the language, and install the offline pack if you dictate without a connection.
6. Battery lists. Only if the steps above fail, check whether the keyboard app is on a sleeping list.

If you use talk to text to turn a recording into text, that is a different feature, and the steps are in our question on how to turn a voice recording into text on Samsung.

Where to read more

This question is part of our guide to talk to text on Samsung Galaxy, which sits in our overview of dictation on phones and tablets. If the problem is with Google's keyboard rather than Samsung's, see our guide to voice typing not working on Android. For the Samsung engine, see the Samsung voice input glossary entry. If you use another keyboard app, the third-party keyboard glossary entry explains the limits that apply to it.