How to type with your voice
- Choose your language or dialect from the Language menu.
- Click Start dictation and allow microphone access when your browser asks.
- Speak naturally; grey text shows words still being recognized before they're added to the transcript.
- Click Stop when you're done, fix any errors in the box, then Copy or Download .txt.
What you can do with Speech to Text
- Live transcript
- Words appear while you speak, with interim results shown in grey until the recognizer settles on the final text.
- 37 languages and dialects
- Includes US, UK, Indian and Australian English, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Hindi, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Korean and many more.
- Continuous dictation
- Recognition restarts automatically after pauses, so you can dictate long notes without clicking Start again.
- Editable output
- The transcript is a normal text box, so you can fix mistakes, add punctuation or keep typing between dictation sessions.
- Automatic capitalization
- The first word of the transcript, and the first word after a period, question mark or exclamation point, is capitalized for you.
- Copy or save
- Copy the transcript to your clipboard or download it as a plain .txt file with one click when you're finished.
Browser speech recognition support and accuracy tips
Speech to text in the browser relies on the speech recognition part of the Web Speech API. Support varies: Chrome and Edge on desktop and Android, and Safari on Mac, iPhone and iPad all support it, while Firefox does not yet. Accuracy depends mostly on your microphone and surroundings. A headset or a phone held close works much better than a laptop microphone across the room, and speaking at a steady pace in complete phrases gives the recognizer more context to choose the right words.
A Stanford study found that speech input on a phone was about three times faster than typing, which makes dictation useful for drafting emails, capturing ideas, writing first drafts and taking notes when typing is slow or painful. Most recognizers don't add punctuation from pauses, so plan to tidy the transcript afterward. Choosing the exact dialect, such as English (India) or Spanish (Mexico), noticeably improves recognition of accents and local vocabulary compared with a generic setting.
Frequently asked questions
Is my voice recorded or uploaded?
PanDev never receives or stores your audio or transcript. However, recognition is done by your browser, and some browsers, including Chrome and Edge, send the audio to their own online speech service to transcribe it. Avoid dictating highly sensitive information if that matters to you.
Why doesn't speech to text work in Firefox?
Firefox hasn't shipped the Web Speech recognition API, so the tool shows a notice instead of the microphone button. Open the page in Chrome, Edge or Safari, on desktop or mobile, to use dictation.
Why does it say microphone access was blocked?
Your browser needs permission to use the microphone. Click the lock or site settings icon next to the address bar, allow the microphone for this site and reload. On a phone, also check that the browser app itself has microphone permission in system settings.
Does it add punctuation automatically?
Usually not. Most speech engines return words without punctuation, although some add it for certain languages. The tool capitalizes the start of new sentences, and you can edit the transcript to add commas and periods once you've finished speaking.
Is there a time limit for dictation?
This tool sets no limit. The browser's recognizer may end a session after a stretch of silence or a long run of speech, but the tool restarts it automatically while dictation is on, so you can keep talking.