The Microphone Button You've Probably Never Clicked

I watched a colleague spend 45 minutes typing a document in Microsoft Word yesterday. She was clearly exhausted, kept making typos, and was visibly frustrated with her keyboard.

I asked if she'd ever tried Word's dictation feature. She looked at the Word toolbar like she was seeing it for the first time. "That microphone icon? What does that do?"

Most people have Microsoft Word open for hours every day and never realize they can dictate instead of type.

The Simplest Way to Use Dictation in Word

If you have Microsoft 365 (the subscription version of Word), dictation is built in:

Click the microphone icon on the Home tab. It's in the ribbon at the top, usually near the right side.

Or press Alt+grave accent (the key above Tab, left of the 1 key).

A small floating dictation toolbar appears. Start talking. Words appear in your document.

That's it. No installation, no configuration, no training. If you have Microsoft 365 and internet connection, you have dictation.

What Actually Happens When You Dictate

Word uses Microsoft's cloud speech recognition. Your audio is sent to Microsoft's servers, transcribed, and the text returns to your document. This requires internet connectivity. If you're offline, Word dictation won't work.

Accuracy is around 85-90 percent for conversational English. Word adds basic punctuation automatically - periods, commas, question marks. You don't have to say "period" constantly, though you can if you want specific punctuation placed.

For simple documents, emails, and first drafts, Word's built-in dictation is surprisingly competent for a free included feature.

The Voice Commands That Actually Work

Word dictation recognizes specific voice commands:

"New line" - moves to next line without paragraph break.
"New paragraph" - creates paragraph break.
"Delete that" - removes your last phrase.
"Select [word]" - highlights the specified word if it exists nearby.
"Bold that" - makes your last phrase bold.

These work maybe 70-80 percent of the time. Don't rely on voice commands for precise operations. Use them for basic formatting, switch to keyboard for anything complicated.

When Word's Built-In Dictation Isn't Enough

Word dictation works fine for straightforward content. Where it struggles:

Technical terminology. Medical terms, legal jargon, industry-specific vocabulary - Word's accuracy drops significantly with specialized language.

Long documents. You can dictate continuously, but accuracy degrades over time and errors accumulate in longer sessions.

Complex formatting. Tables, footnotes, citations, numbered lists - voice commands for these are unreliable. You'll spend more time fixing formatting than you saved by dictating.

Accents and speech patterns. If English isn't your first language or you have a strong regional accent, accuracy drops noticeably.

For casual use, Word dictation at 85-90 percent accuracy is acceptable. For professional documents where precision matters, you need better accuracy.

What I Use for Dictation in Word

I use Dictation Daddy for all my Word dictation - emails, documents, articles, reports, everything. I have obvious bias (I built it), but the differences matter:

96-98 percent accuracy without any training required. That's significantly higher than Word's 85-90 percent. The difference means fixing 2-3 errors per 100 words instead of 10-15 errors.

Automatic formatting. Punctuation, new lines, and paragraphs added intelligently without voice commands. No more saying "period comma new paragraph" or hoping Word's automatic punctuation gets it right.

You can still use formatting commands like "new line" or "comma" when needed, but the AI handles most formatting automatically. False starts and self-corrections are handled naturally.

Technical terminology works immediately. Medical terms, legal jargon, industry vocabulary all work from day one without training. Word's built-in dictation struggles with specialized language.

Available on Mac, Windows, iPhone, Android, and Chrome extension. The apps don't sync between devices, but I can dictate into Word on any platform. Under 100 dollars per year. For enterprises needing SOC2 or HIPAA compliance, there's a dedicated plan.

Works directly in Word just like the built-in dictation, but with higher accuracy and better formatting.

The Difference Between Word Dictation and Dragon

People often ask if they should buy Dragon NaturallySpeaking for use with Word. Let me compare honestly:

Dragon accuracy after months of training: 95-97 percent.
Word built-in dictation accuracy: 85-90 percent.
Dictation Daddy accuracy: 96-98 percent, zero training required.

Dragon requires 20-30 minutes initial training plus weeks of corrections. Word requires nothing. Dictation Daddy requires nothing.

Dragon makes you say punctuation out loud constantly. Word adds punctuation automatically (sometimes incorrectly). Dictation Daddy adds punctuation automatically with higher accuracy.

Dragon costs 500 dollars one-time. Word dictation is free with Microsoft 365. Dictation Daddy costs under 100 dollars per year.

For professional Word users who dictate regularly, AI dictation like Dictation Daddy provides the best balance: higher accuracy than Dragon without training requirements, better than Word's free option without the cost and complexity of Dragon.

Tips for Better Dictation Results in Word

Regardless of which dictation you use:

Use a decent microphone. Your laptop's built-in microphone works, but a 30-50 dollar USB microphone (Blue Snowball, Audio-Technica ATR2100) dramatically improves accuracy.

Speak naturally but clearly. Don't shout or whisper. Normal conversational volume and pace work best.

Find a quiet environment. Background noise, other conversations, and ambient sound all reduce accuracy.

Review and edit afterward. Dictation produces first drafts. Budget time for editing like you would when typing.

Pause between sentences. Give the AI time to recognize sentence boundaries and add punctuation correctly.

Don't expect perfect formatting. Dictation is great for prose content. Complex formatting, tables, and citations are faster with keyboard.

When to Use Dictation vs. Typing in Word

Use dictation for:

First drafts. Getting ideas down quickly without worrying about perfection.

Long documents. Dictating 2,000 words is less tiring than typing 2,000 words.

When your wrists or hands hurt. Health trumps efficiency.

Simple straightforward content. Emails, reports, articles, meeting notes.

Type for:

Complex formatting. Tables, charts, footnotes, citations, numbered lists.

Precise technical content. Code, formulas, specialized notation.

Final editing and refinement. Reading and adjusting on screen is easier than dictating edits.

The most efficient workflow: dictate content, type formatting and structure. Use the tool that's best for each task.

The Uncomfortable Reality

Most Microsoft Word users have dictation available and never try it. They assume it won't work well, or don't know it exists, or tried it once years ago when accuracy was poor.

Word's built-in dictation in 2026 is surprisingly competent for a free included feature. It's not perfect, but it's good enough for casual use.

If you dictate regularly for professional work, better options exist that provide higher accuracy without complexity. AI dictation achieves 96-98 percent accuracy compared to Word's 85-90 percent, and that difference matters when you're dictating hours daily.

Start with Word's built-in dictation. Click the microphone icon. Try it for a week. If the accuracy is good enough for your needs, great. If you need better accuracy, you know what to look for.

Last updated: January 15, 2026, verified with current Microsoft Word dictation features in Microsoft 365