What is the keyboard shortcut for Voice Access in Windows 11?

Voice Access has no keyboard shortcut that opens it. Microsoft documents two shortcuts for the feature, and both change the state of the microphone once Voice Access is already running. Alt+Shift+B switches Voice Access between sleep and listening ¹. Alt+Shift+C turns the microphone off and back on ². To open Voice Access, you use Settings or Windows search ³.

People often expect a shortcut like Windows key + H, which is the voice typing key. That shortcut belongs to a different feature. The sections below explain each key you may have seen, so you can find the one you need.

Microsoft lists two shortcuts, and both change the microphone

Each shortcut has a spoken command that does the same job. Microsoft's getting started page pairs them in one table, and the two keys are the only shortcuts in it.

Alt+Shift+B only moves between sleep and listening. Alt+Shift+C is the key to use when you want silence without closing the feature. Neither key closes Voice Access. Closing it is a separate spoken command, "Turn off voice access" ⁶, and the page does not list a shortcut that starts or closes the feature at all.

Windows key + H starts voice typing, not Voice Access

Many people mean Windows key + H when they ask about a shortcut. It opens voice typing on Windows 11 ⁷. Voice typing is a separate feature that writes into the text box you are in.

If Voice Access is already running, Windows key + H does not open voice typing. Windows tells you to use Voice Access for typing instead ⁸. That is why the shortcut seems to fail while Voice Access is open.

Windows key + Ctrl + S starts the older Speech Recognition

Another shortcut that appears in search results is Windows key + Ctrl + S. Microsoft's keyboard shortcut list gives it as the way to turn on Windows Speech Recognition ⁹. Microsoft says that tool is no longer developed and is being replaced by Voice Access ¹⁰. If you press the shortcut, you get the older tool instead. The guide to Windows Speech Recognition covers it.

Microsoft does not document a way to change these keys

We did not find a Microsoft page that describes a setting to change Alt+Shift+B or Alt+Shift+C, so this guide gives no steps for that. Third-party keyboard tools can change what a key does, but they affect every app on the PC, and we did not test any of them.

What to do

1. To start Voice Access, press the Windows key, type voice access, and select Open. Microsoft documents search as a way to start the feature ³. Once it is running, the keys below control it.
2. To wake Voice Access into listening, press Alt+Shift+B, or say "Voice access wake up" or "Unmute".
3. To silence the microphone while keeping the feature open, press Alt+Shift+C, or say "Turn off microphone". Press the same keys again to turn it back on.
4. To put Voice Access to sleep, press Alt+Shift+B again while it is listening, or say "Voice access sleep" or "Mute".
5. If you want the feature to stop opening when you sign in, use the automatic startup option under Accessibility and Speech in Settings, not a shortcut ¹¹. Our answer on why Voice Access keeps popping up explains them.

If you want the keys to stop working, read our answer on disabling the shortcut. It covers what you can and cannot turn off. The full list of ways to switch the feature on and off is in our guide to turning off Voice Access.

For the spoken commands, see our guide to Voice Access commands. For the terms in this answer, see the glossary entries for Windows key + H and Voice Access.