This guide covers Windows and Mac computers. If you searched “talk to text not working” on a phone, the phone maker’s help pages are the place for those fixes.
Voice to text not working: start here
Try these in order.
- Check you are online. Microsoft says Windows voice typing needs an internet connection, and Apple’s Dictation troubleshooting page tells you to check yours.
- Click into a text box first. Voice typing writes where your cursor is. If no box is active, nothing appears.
- Check the microphone works. Test it on its own (steps below). If the computer cannot hear it, no voice tool can.
- Check the app is allowed to use the microphone. Both Windows and Mac can block it (steps below).
- Check the language. The tool must support the language you speak.
Speech to text not working on Windows
These steps are from Microsoft’s support pages, read on 6 November 2026.
1. Test your microphone. Open Start > Settings > System > Sound. Under Input, choose your microphone and select the arrow to the right of it. Under Input settings, select Start test, speak normally, then Stop test and Play. Adjust the Input volume slider if needed.
2. Check the right microphone is chosen. On the same Sound page, under Input, pick your device in “Choose a device for speaking or recording” (on Windows 10, “Choose your input device”). Check any mute button on a headset is off, and that a Bluetooth headset is paired and connected.
3. Allow microphone access. On Windows 11, open Start > Settings > Privacy & security > Microphone. Turn on Microphone access and “Let apps access your microphone”. Also turn on “Let desktop apps access your microphone”, because Windows doesn’t let you switch microphone access on or off for individual desktop apps. On Windows 10 the path is Start > Settings > Privacy > Microphone, with “Allow apps to access your microphone” and “Allow desktop apps to access your microphone”.
4. Try Windows voice typing. Press the Windows key + H. Wait for “Listening…”, then talk. To stop, say “Stop listening” or press the microphone button on the voice typing menu. Our Windows voice typing guide covers it in full.
5. Run the sound troubleshooter. On Windows 11, go to Settings > System > Sound, then Advanced, choose “Troubleshoot common sound problems” and pick Input devices. On Windows 10, it is Settings > Update & Security > Troubleshoot > Additional troubleshooters > Recording Audio.
6. Update or reinstall the audio driver. Right-click Start, open Device Manager and expand “Sound, video and game controllers”. Right-click your audio device and choose Update driver. If that does not help, choose Uninstall device, restart the computer, and follow the reinstall steps on Microsoft’s microphone page.
Voice typing not working on a Mac
These steps are from Apple’s support pages for macOS 27, read on 6 November 2026.
- Dictation switched on? Apple menu > System Settings > Keyboard > Dictation.
- Right microphone? System Settings > Sound > Input. Choose your microphone and check its input volume. You can also choose one under Keyboard > Dictation > Microphone source.
- App allowed to use it? System Settings > Privacy & Security > Microphone, then turn on the app’s switch.
- Right language and region? Keyboard > Dictation > Edit, next to Languages.
- Online? System Settings > Network.
There is a longer list in Mac dictation not working: fixes, and the basics are in how to dictate on a Mac.
If it still doesn’t work
- Try a headset. Apple suggests one in a noisy room, and it also rules out a faulty built-in microphone.
- Try another app. If it works in one app but not another, look at that app and its microphone permission.
- Restart the computer. This is general good practice, not a step on Apple’s or Microsoft’s page.
- Using Google Docs voice typing? See Google voice typing not working for that tool’s own fixes.
Is a dictation app worth it when voice to text fails?
If the microphone or a permission is the cause, the fix is the same for every tool, so a new app will not cure it. Sort the basics first.
When the built-in tool works but is not enough, an app can help. Talkativ is a dictation app for Windows and Mac. You press Ctrl + Space on Windows, ⌥ Option + Space on a Mac in any app, talk, and press it again to stop. Punctuation and capital letters come by default. The Free plan is 2,200 words a week, and Pro is $7 a month or $56 a year. How to use Talkativ shows it step by step.
Talkativ needs an internet connection and does not work offline. It does not transcribe audio files, and it has no phone app. Shortcuts are fixed and you cannot change them. On Windows, if nothing is heard, it says so and names the microphone it listened to. If that microphone looks like Bluetooth earbuds, it adds that they often drop into a quiet “music mode”, and that switching to the laptop microphone usually sorts it. Talkativ uses your computer’s default microphone, with no picker of its own, so set the right one in your system’s sound settings.
On a Mac, Talkativ needs Microphone and Accessibility permission under System Settings > Privacy & Security. Accessibility is what lets it type into other apps. See Talkativ on Windows or Talkativ for Mac.