Setting Up Speech Recognition

Issue/Question

How do I enable Speech Recognition?

Environment

  • Windows 10

Resolution

  1. Open Control Panel.
  2. Click on Ease of Access.
  3. Click on Speech Recognition.
  4. Click Start Speech Recognition.
  5. In the Set up Speech Recognition page, click Next.
  6. Select the type of microphone you'll be using.
    Note: Desktop microphones are not ideal, and Microsoft recommends headset microphones or microphone arrays.
  7. Click Next.
  8. Click Next again.
  9. Read the text aloud to ensure the feature can hear you.
  10. Click Next.
  11. Click Next again.
  12. Speech Recognition can access your documents and emails to improve its accuracy based on the words you use. Select the Enable document review option, or select Disable document review if you have privacy concerns.
  13. Click Next.
  14. Select Pick activation mode:
    Use manual activation mode — Speech Recognition turns off the "Stop Listening" command. To turn it back on, you'll need to click the microphone button or use the Ctrl + Windows key shortcut.
    Use voice activation mode — Speech Recognition goes into sleep mode when not in use, and you'll need to invoke the "Start Listening" voice command to turn it back on.
  15. Click Next.
  16. Click Next, or View Reference Sheet to see a list of available voice commands.
  17. Select whether you want this feature to start automatically at startup.
  18. Click Next.
  19. Click the Start tutorial button to access the Microsoft video tutorial about this feature, or click the Skip tutorial button to complete the setup.