How do you create custom commands in Voice Access?

You create a custom command in Voice Access by making a voice shortcut. You choose a trigger phrase, then the actions the shortcut runs when you say it. A shortcut can hold up to eight actions ¹, and the feature is available only in six English locales ². You do all of it by voice, and the steps below follow Microsoft's guide to voice shortcuts.

Start listening, then build the shortcut in the Voice shortcuts page

Voice Access has to be listening before you start. Say "Unmute" or "Voice access wake up" ³. The feature itself needs Windows 11, version 22H2 or later ⁴, and it is part of the same tool as the command list.

Once it is listening, work through these steps in order:

1. Say "Open voice shortcuts" to go to the Voice shortcuts page. You can also reach it from the Help button on the Voice Access bar, by choosing View all commands, then Voice shortcuts in the navigation pane.
2. Say "Click create new shortcut".
3. Say "Click when I say", then dictate the trigger phrase. Microsoft's example is "Address" for a shortcut that enters your home address.
4. Say "Click perform actions" to open the action list, then say "Click" and the action type, such as "paste text and media".
5. Say the action type again to focus its edit box, then dictate the text or paste it with the Paste button.
6. To add a further step, say "Click add next action" and choose the action.
7. Optional: say "Click add this shortcut to group" to file it in a group of its own. Otherwise it goes into the General group ⁵.
8. Say "Click save". The shortcut then appears on the Voice shortcuts page, below the Create new shortcut button.

Say "Open voice shortcuts" again later to edit a shortcut, rename it or delete it from its edit page.

Five action types are offered when you build a shortcut

Each step in a shortcut is one action. The Create new shortcut page offers these types:

Microsoft describes the keyboard action as useful "if you use a screen reader or if you primarily use keyboard shortcuts to work with applications, like gaming" ⁶. The wait step gives a slow window time to open before the next action runs.

Choose a trigger phrase that you will not say by accident

The trigger phrase is the thing you say to run the shortcut, so pick one that you do not use in ordinary speech. Short phrases work best. "Address" is clear, but a common word could fire in the middle of a sentence you are dictating. This advice is ours, not Microsoft's, and it follows from how the feature works: any phrase you say while the shortcut is listening can run it.

It depends: language, length and mode

Language. Shortcuts are available in English (US), English (UK), English (India), English (New Zealand), English (Canada) and English (Australia) ². If you dictate in another language, Microsoft's list does not include shortcuts for it. Check the Voice Access language setting before you build one.

Length. The eight-action limit applies to each shortcut, so a longer routine has to be split into more than one shortcut. Each shortcut still starts from one phrase.

Mode. In dictation mode, Voice Access writes what you say into a text field instead of running it. Microsoft describes dictation mode as treating "every input as something to be input in an editable field" ⁷. If a shortcut does nothing, say "Default mode" first, then say the trigger phrase again.

Windows version. Voice Access is in Windows 11, version 22H2 and later ⁴, so check your version before you start.

What to do next

Build one shortcut that you would use every day, test it three times, and only then add more. Check that it runs from the trigger phrase alone, then check that normal dictation of the same words does not run it by accident. To read the commands you can use alongside shortcuts, see the Voice Access command list. For the other basic question, how the feature wakes and sleeps, read how to wake up Voice Access and put it to sleep. For dictation, read how to dictate text with Voice Access, and for the bigger question of whether the voice can run the whole PC, read whether you can control Windows 11 entirely with your voice. Our overview of dictation on Windows covers the rest of the feature set. For what the word "command" means in voice software, see the voice command entry.