How to Type With Your Voice in Google Docs

If you’re a Google Docs enthusiast, you probably spend a few hours every day typing. Some people can do 100 words or more per minute, but the truth is that typing isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. There are days when you feel too tired to even touch the keyboard, but you still need to get the work done. So, how do you do it?

You’ll be relieved to know that there is a solution: Google Docs voice typing feature.

In this article, we’re going to show you how to type with your voice in Google docs across a range of devices.

What Is Google Docs Voice Typing?

Voice typing is all about using your voice to command your device to type whatever is on your mind. You don’t have to lift a finger. But wait, hasn’t voice typing been around since the late 90s? Yes, that’s true. But voice recognition was quite frustrating in the early days. Achieving anything close to 70% in terms of accuracy would have been very difficult.

But not anymore. Developers at Google have finally made a breakthrough, and the results are impressive.

Dictating in Google Docs is not only fun, but it can actually help you to expedite your document faster than you would if you use your keyboard. What about punctuation? Worry not. Voice typing has advanced so much that you can now enter commas, periods, question marks, and even exclamation marks – all via dictation.

Who Should You Use Voice Typing in Google Docs?

Although voice typing can be useful for everyone, it can be particularly helpful for anyone who:

1. Experiences pain when typing
2. Suffers from carpal tunnel syndrome (median nerve compression)
3. Anyone suffering from office-induced repetitive strain injury

If you fall under any of the above categories, or if you just want to give your fingers a break without compromising on the quality of your work, let’s see how you can actually use voice typing in Google Docs.

What Do You Need?

1. You must be connected to the internet
2. Your device must have an inbuilt or external microphone
3. Preferably, you should install the Chrome browser. It’s possible to use voice typing with other browsers, but Chrome offers the best output.

How to Type With Your Voice in Google Docs

To type with your voice in Google docs, do the following:

1. Open Google Docs and enter your credentials to log in.
   
2. Navigate to the document you’d like to work on or start a new one.
   
3. Click on “Tools” in the top menu. This will launch a dropdown menu.
   
4. Click on “Voice typing” in the dropdown menu. A small dialogue box will appear.
   
5. Click on the microphone and then give Google Docs permission to use the microphone by clicking on “Allow.”
   
6. Start talking. Goggle Docs will automatically start transcribing. To add punctuation marks, simply say them out loud.
   

How to Type With Your Voice in Google Docs on Android

Voice typing can be an excellent alternative to your keyboard if you own an Android device. Let’ see how it works:

1. Download and install the Gboard app.
   
2. Download the Google Docs app and enter your credentials to sign in. If you don’t have an account, follow the on-screen instructions to open one.
3. Navigate to the document you’d like to work on or start a new one.
   
4. Tap on the empty space where you can enter text.
   
5. Tap and hold on the microphone icon at the top of your keyboard. This will launch your keyboard’s listening mode, and you’ll see the words “Speak Now” at the top of the keyboard.
   
6. Start talking.
   
7. When through, tap on the microphone again to exit voice typing.
   
   

How to Type With Your Voice in Google Docs on iPhone

1. Download and install the Gboard app for Apple devices.
   
2. Download the Google Docs app and enter your credentials to sign in.
   
3. Open the document you’d like to work on or start a new one.
   
4. Tap on the empty space where you can enter text.
   
5. Tap and hold on the microphone icon at the top of your keyboard until the words “Speak Now” pop up on your screen.
   
6. Start talking.
7. When through, exit voice typing by tapping on the keyboard icon.

Although voice typing works well on Android, the feature may turn itself off if there’s a long lapse without talking. As such, you should ensure that the words “Speak Now” are displayed on your screen whenever you’re using the voice typing feature. If not, you should tap on the microphone to switch it back on.

How to Type With Your Voice in Google Docs on Mac

To use voice typing on Mac, you need to open Google Docs using the Chrome browser:

1. Open Chrome.
2. Launch Google Docs by typing “docs.new” in the search bar. If you’re not logged in already, you’ll need to enter your credentials afresh or create a new account.
3. Launch the document you’d like to work on or start a new one.
4. Click on “Tools” in the top menu. This will launch a dropdown menu.
5. From the resulting dropdown menu, click on “Voice typing.”.
6. Click on the microphone and then click on “Allow.”
7. Start talking. Goggle Docs should automatically start transcribing.

How to Type With Your Voice in Google Docs on Windows 10

As with Mac, you need the Chrome browser to use voice typing in Goggle docs on Windows 10. Before the actual voice typing starts, it’s important to check whether the microphone is in good working condition. To do so:

1. Connect the microphone to your computer.
2. Click on Start and then scroll down to “Settings” in the left side bar.
   
3. Click on “System” and then click on “Sound.”
   
4. Go to sound settings and click on input. Then proceed to test your mic. If it’s working properly, there should be a blue bar that rises and falls as you speak.
   

Once that’s out of the way:

1. Open Chrome and launch Google Docs.
   
2. Open the document you’d like to work on or start a new one.
   
3. Click on “Tools” in the top menu.
   
4. From the resulting dropdown menu, click on “Voice typing.”
   
5. Click on the microphone and then click on “Allow.”
   
6. Start talking.

How to Edit Text With Your Voice in Google Docs

During dictation, a misplaced word is never too far away. It could even be an accidental “um.” You might even decide to rewrite the whole paragraph. So, how can you edit your document with voice? The solution lies in the following editing commands:

1. “Delete last paragraph”
2. “Delete last word”
3. “Copy”
4. “Paste”
5. “Cut”

Editing commands are often paired with selection commands, some of which we list below:

1. “Select last paragraph”
2. “Select last word”
3. “Select line”
4. Select last [number] words”
5. “Deselect”

Additional FAQs

How Do You Activate Voice Typing on Google Docs?

• Click on “Tools” in the top menu. This will launch a dropdown menu.

• Click on “Voice typing” in the dropdown menu.

• Click on the microphone and then click on “Allow.”

How Do You Use Punctuation With Google Voice Typing?

Simply say the punctuation out loud as you speak.

Example: “Words make the world go round period”

Result: Words make the world go round.

Why Can’t I Use Voice Typing on Google Docs?

This usually happens when the microphone is not working. Before troubleshooting anything else, you should first check whether the mic is functioning properly.

How Do You Add Audio to Google Docs?

First, create the audio and save it on Drive. Then insert it to a Google slide.

Expedite Your Google Docs Faster With Voice Typing

At first, Google Docs voice typing can be a bit difficult to grasp since you need to learn quite a number of selection and editing commands. But with a bit of practice, you should be able to expedite documents faster and attain more accuracy.

How often do you use voice typing in Google Docs?

Let’s engage in the comments.