Why is Google Docs voice typing not working?

Google Docs voice typing can fail for four reasons. The browser may not be on Google's list. Chrome may have blocked the microphone. The microphone may be too weak, too far away or in use by another app. Or you may be speaking a command that works only in English. Check them in that order, because the first two stop the feature from starting at all.

Check the browser first: Firefox is not on Google's list

Google's current list of browsers for voice typing names Chrome, Edge and Safari ¹. Firefox is not on it. If the menu is missing or the microphone never starts in Firefox, the browser is likely the cause, and switching to a listed browser is the fix.

Allow the microphone in Chrome

When a website first asks for the microphone, Chrome offers Allow while visiting the site, Allow this time and Never allow ². If you chose Never allow, the site cannot use the microphone, and you must change that setting in Chrome before voice typing works. Choose an Allow option, then start voice typing again from Tools, then Voice typing.

The microphone may be the problem

Google's troubleshooting steps, in the December 2020 copy of its page, begin with an error message. If voice typing says it is having trouble hearing you, Google's steps are to move to a quiet room, plug in an external microphone and adjust the input volume ³. If the microphone does not work at all, check that it is plugged in and is not being used by another application ⁴.

The microphone also affects accuracy, not only whether it starts. Figures from Ravanelli et al. (2017) put a distant microphone's word error rate at about 3.2 times the close-talk rate ⁵, a rough ratio because the speech and rooms differ. If your words come out wrong but voice typing runs, move closer to the microphone or switch to a headset before you blame the feature.

Commands that do nothing may be a timing or language issue

When a spoken command does nothing, Google's steps say to pause before and after each command ⁶. The microphone shows a bubble containing the most recent command ⁷, so you can see what Docs heard. If the command is wrong, say "Undo" ⁸.

Editing and formatting commands are a separate matter. Google's current help page says they are available only in English, and that the account language and document language must both be English ⁹. The commands do not run in other languages, so make those edits with the keyboard.

What to do

1. Switch to Chrome, Edge or Safari if you are on another browser.
2. Choose Allow while visiting the site when Chrome asks for the microphone, or change the setting if you chose Never allow.
3. Move to a quiet room, plug in an external microphone or headset, and raise its input volume.
4. Close any other app that might use the microphone, then try again.
5. Pause before and after each command, and check the bubble to see what Docs heard.
6. Switch the account and document language to English if you need commands.

If it still fails, check the live help page

Some troubleshooting steps above come from the December 2020 copy of Google's page, so the current wording may differ. Google's current page says your computer microphone must be on and working before you use voice typing ¹⁰, and it tells you to check that the microphone is plugged in and not being used by another application ¹¹. Google's help pages we could read do not say that voice typing stops on its own, so if it stops, check the microphone first. The guide to Google Docs voice typing sets out the limits in full. For the menu itself, read where voice typing is in Google Docs. For how to speak punctuation, read punctuation with Google Docs voice typing.

If Docs is not the right place to dictate, for example in email or a web form, the overview of dictating into any app compares the tools that work across apps. The glossary entry for voice typing explains the feature's scope.