Dictate in any Windows app
Click into any text box: an email, a Word document, a chat, a search bar. Press Ctrl+Space (Option+Space on a Mac), speak, then press it again. Your words land at your cursor. You press once to start and once to stop, so you never hold the keys down. It’s speech to text for your whole Windows PC or laptop: the same shortcut in every program.
You do not say “comma” or “full stop”. Punctuation and capital letters come by default, and “um” and “uh” are left out. There are no plug-ins and nothing to set up for each app.
Prefer the mouse? Click the small mic dot that floats just above the taskbar. It does exactly what the shortcut does. It goes red while it listens, blue while it works on your words, and green when they have landed.
Works wherever you can type
Email, chat, documents, project tools, AI assistants and code editors. If there is a text box, Talkativ can fill it: Outlook, Word, Gmail, Slack, Microsoft Teams, Notion, ChatGPT, Claude and more.
Speak in full sentences, as you would to a person. Every dictation is also saved in a searchable history in the app, so nothing you said is lost if you clicked in the wrong place.
What your words look like
By default you get punctuation, capital letters and no “um”. Switch on Advanced formatting in Settings and Talkativ goes further. With it on, “half past three” becomes 3:30, “fifty dollars” becomes $50, and “john at company dot com” becomes [email protected]. If you count your points out loud, “first, second, third”, you get a numbered list. Advanced formatting is off until you switch it on, and every plan has it.
Talk to text on your computer, in four steps
- Download Talkativ and open the installer. If Windows asks whether you want to run it, confirm.
- Sign in with Google, or with an email and password.
- Talkativ then waits in your system tray, with the mic dot above the taskbar.
- Click into a text box, press Ctrl + Space on Windows, ⌥ Option + Space on a Mac, speak, and press it again.
You need Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit), 4GB of memory or more, an internet connection and any microphone. You can download Talkativ from the download page.
Voice typing for Windows: Talkativ and the built-in tool
Windows has voice typing of its own. Press Win+H and it types what you say. It is built into Windows, so try it first. Microsoft’s support page says it needs an internet connection too. Microsoft also describes a newer feature, fluid dictation, that corrects grammar and punctuation on Copilot+ PCs only.
Here is what Talkativ adds, so you can compare on your own voice:
- The same shortcut in every app, with a clickable mic dot as a back-up.
- Punctuation, capital letters and “um” removal by default.
- Vocabulary, a list of names and words you want spelt your way. Every plan has it.
- Advanced formatting, switched on in Settings: numbered lists from “firstly, secondly”, money symbols, email addresses, links and times. Every plan has it.
- A searchable history of everything you have dictated.
- 100 languages, highly accurate in 56.
- On the Max plan, Genius Mode (highlight text and change it by asking) and Smart Edits (31 writing styles).
There is a longer side-by-side on the Windows voice typing alternative page. If you want to control your whole PC by voice, read Windows Voice Access vs Talkativ. Weighing up paid apps instead? See Wispr Flow alternatives.
The Windows speech to text shortcut
Dictation is Ctrl+Space (Option+Space on a Mac). Genius Mode, on the Max plan, is Ctrl+D (Option+D on a Mac). Both are fixed and there is no setting to change them.
Free to start, with plans when you want more
The Free plan gives you 2,200 words a week, reset every 7 days, in every app. Pro is unlimited for $7 a month or $56 a year. Max adds Genius Mode and Smart Edits for $11 a month or $88 a year. Paying yearly gives you 4 months free. Upgrade and cancel inside the app. See Talkativ pricing, or read about the free plan.
Also on Mac
Talkativ is built for Mac and Windows, with the same plans and the same way of working. Read about Talkativ for Mac, or go back to the Talkativ homepage.