The Windows dictation tool every writer should try

I write for a living and honestly, the process of typing is my bottleneck. Whether it’s getting my braindumps down on paper, sending email replies, or just simply writing out an article, I can verbally communicate my ideas faster than I can type them. That’s why I love dictation tools. And I think anyone can benefit from using them, not just writers. Luckily, Windows has a handy dictation tool built right in.

Click inside almost any text box and press Win + H. Windows Voice Typing will pop up and start using your microphone to dictate. Speak like you normally would, and Windows will turn your words into text. All you need is an internet connection and a working microphone for it to work.

You can also dictate punctuation as you go. Say “comma,” “period,” “question mark,” or “exclamation mark,” and Windows will add the matching symbol. Voice Typing can handle pretty much every other symbol too, and commands such as “delete that” or “select that” can help streamline editing. There’s also an automatic punctuation option if you’d rather let Windows handle some of that work for you—it’s actually pretty good, too.

I find Voice Typing most useful when I need to get words down fast. Times when you need to dictate the rough draft of an email or capture your stream of consciousness notes.

It can also be a great way to get past writer’s block. Staring at a blank page is intimidating and makes it easy to overthink every sentence. Talking feels less formal. In these situations I turn on dictation and try to explain ideas as if I’m telling them to a friend, then go in and clean up the text afterward.

I’m not saying this trick will totally replace your keyboard, but for quick drafts and notes, it’s a neat hack.

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