How do you turn on Voice Access in Windows 11?

To turn on Voice Access, open Settings and go to Accessibility and then Speech. Turn on the Voice access switch, choose your language, and let the speech pack download. The download needs internet, and it happens once, during setup ¹. This works on Windows 11 version 22H2 and later, and the steps below were checked against Microsoft's setup pages on 2026-10-17. The full guide to Voice Access covers what happens after setup.

Check your Windows version before you start

Voice Access is available only in Windows 11 version 22H2 and later. Microsoft's setup page says the feature is available in Windows 11, version 22H2 and later ². On Windows 10 there is no switch to turn on, because the feature is not offered there, as the Windows 10 question explains.

Turn it on in Settings, Accessibility, Speech

Microsoft's setup steps start from the Start menu. These are the steps, in order.

1. Select Start, then select Settings, then Accessibility, then Speech. Microsoft describes this exact path in its setup steps ³.
2. Turn on the Voice access switch.
3. On the welcome screen, choose your language, then select Agree and continue.
4. Wait while the language files download. Microsoft says this step needs an internet connection ⁴.
5. On the Setup microphone screen, check that a default microphone is selected. Once one is, you can exit setup and start using Voice Access right away.

You can also open it from search, and pin it for quick access

After setup, you do not need to return to Settings each time. Microsoft says you can start Voice Access from Settings or by using Windows search ⁵. Type voice access into the search box and open the result. Microsoft's setup page also says you can pin Voice Access to Start or the taskbar, which makes it quicker to find.

If you want it to start every time the PC starts, the Speech settings have a startup option. Voice access can be set to launch automatically before or after you sign in ⁶. Turn this on only if you want Voice Access running from the start.

Languages download separately, and some are ready at once

The language you choose during setup is downloaded to your PC. Microsoft's Languages list separates languages that are ready to use from languages that need a speech pack downloaded first ⁷. If you pick a language marked available for download, wait for it to finish before you try to dictate. You can change the language later from the Languages option in the Voice access settings.

If setup stalls, check the connection and the Microsoft Store

Setup needs internet for the language download, so a weak connection can stall it. Reconnect, then open Voice Access again so the download can finish. If you exit before the download finishes, you need to restart setup the next time you open Voice Access.

If the download keeps failing on a work PC, the cause may be policy rather than your connection. Microsoft says that if you cannot download apps from the Microsoft Store and work in an enterprise, your network administrator may have disabled access to the Microsoft Store app ⁸. In that case, ask your IT team to allow the download.

If Voice Access does not hear you, check the microphone privacy setting

Turning the feature on is not enough if Windows blocks the microphone. Microsoft says the microphone is controlled by your privacy settings, so a privacy setting can stop Voice access from hearing you ⁹. Check how to allow microphone access on Windows before you change anything else.

What to do next

Once Voice Access is on, say "Voice access wake up" to start listening, and read the question on how to use Voice Access for the first commands. To check whether a PC can run it, and what it costs, read whether Windows Voice Access is free. To switch it off later, see how to turn off Voice Access.

For the names used here, see the glossary entries for Windows Voice Access and speech pack. If you are not sure what the feature does yet, start with what Windows Voice Access is.