What is the shortcut for voice typing?

On a Windows PC the shortcut for voice typing is Windows key + H. On a Mac, press the Microphone key if your keyboard has one, or use the Dictation shortcut you set in Keyboard settings. Each platform has its own key, and the table below lists them. On a Mac and a Chromebook the shortcut works only after dictation is switched on, and in every case only where the cursor is.

Windows key + H starts voice typing on Windows

Click into a text box and press Windows key + H on a hardware keyboard ¹. On a touch keyboard, tap the microphone button instead.

Voice typing on Windows needs three things: a working microphone, an internet connection and the cursor in a text box ². If the shortcut does nothing, check the connection first. The full Windows steps are in How to turn on voice typing on every device.

On a Mac, the Microphone key or the Dictation shortcut starts it

A Mac gives you three ways to start Dictation: press the Microphone key in the top row (on keyboards that have one), press the Dictation shortcut, or choose Edit > Start Dictation ³. Press and release the Microphone key.

The Dictation shortcut is one you choose. In Keyboard settings, the option for the fn or Globe key can be set to Start Dictation, which starts Dictation when you press that key twice ⁴. Apple's Mac Help page on Dictation covers the other shortcut options. On a Mac you can speak to enter text anywhere you can type ⁵.

Chromebook uses Search + D, and Google Docs uses Ctrl + Shift + S

On a Chromebook, turn on Dictation under Settings, Accessibility, then press Search + D (or Launcher + D on some keyboards) ⁶. If you speak a different language from the device language, dictation will not work ⁷, so change the language first.

In Google Docs, press Ctrl + Shift + S on Windows, and Command + Shift + S on a Mac ⁸. This shortcut only types into the open document. Google says voice typing works in the latest versions of Chrome, Edge and Safari ⁹. Google's shortcut list labels the shortcut as available in Chrome, so if it does nothing in Edge or Safari, use Tools > Voice typing from the menu ¹⁰, which opens the same microphone box.

Word uses Alt + ` on Windows and Option + F1 on a Mac

In Microsoft Word, the Dictate button is under Home > Dictate. On Windows, press Alt + ` (the backquote key, below Esc on US keyboards) ¹¹. On a Mac, press Option + F1 ¹². The Dictate button on the desktop app is only for Microsoft 365 subscribers ¹³; a one-time copy of Word will not show it, and the operating system's tool types into Word anyway.

Phones have a microphone key on the keyboard, not a shortcut

A phone's touch keyboard has no shortcut to press. On Android with Gboard, tap Microphone at the top of the keyboard, then speak when you see "Speak now" ¹⁴. On an iPhone, turn on Enable Dictation under Settings, General, Keyboard ¹⁵ first, then tap the microphone on the keyboard.

When the shortcut does nothing

Most failures come from one of three causes:

• Dictation is off. On a Mac, the switch is under Keyboard settings ¹⁶; on a Chromebook, it is under Accessibility ⁶.
• The microphone is blocked. On Windows, apps can use the microphone only when Microphone access is on under Privacy & security ¹⁷.
• The fn or Globe key is set to something else. A double press does nothing until you choose Start Dictation for that key.

The full checklist is in Why is the dictation shortcut not working?, and the Mac-specific fixes are on Mac dictation not working.

What to do next

Use the shortcut for the device you are on, and learn one more only when you switch machines. If you want the same key to work across apps on both a Mac and a PC, Yap, which we make, gives one dictation shortcut in every app, and it runs on the computer ( download). The built-in shortcuts above are free and enough for most people.

To turn voice typing off instead, see How do you turn off voice typing?. For the setup on every device, read the guide How to Turn On Voice Typing on Every Device, or start at the overview of Dictation and Voice Typing. If the term is new, see voice typing and system-wide dictation.