How to use it
- 1
Click into a text box
So the cursor is there. Voice typing only starts with the cursor in one.
- 2
Press Win+H and talk
Wait for “Listening...”, then talk. Say “comma” or “new line” for punctuation.
- 3
Say “stop listening”
Or press the microphone on the toolbar. It needs an internet connection: Microsoft does the listening online.
The settings worth knowing
The gear on the toolbar opens them.
Voice typing launcher
The small microphone that pops up beside text boxes. Turn it off if it gets in the way; Win+H still works.
Automatic punctuation
Full stops and commas without saying them.
Default microphone
Worth setting if your PC has more than one.
Fluid dictation
On Copilot+ PCs, in English, on by default. It corrects grammar, punctuation and filler words as you go. Say “undo that” or press Ctrl+Z to put one back.
Talking it through, for up to an hour
Windows voice typing switches itself off when you go quiet: in our test, after about 20 seconds, and it took Win+H again to carry on. Long enough for a message. Too short for thinking out loud, where the pauses are where the thinking happens.
rawflo waits through your pauses. It only stops itself after 2 minutes of quiet, for the press you forgot, or never, if you set it that way. Pause, think, start again, talk a whole idea through: one recording can run up to an hour, and every word lands where you're typing about a third of a second after you stop. That's the difference between dictating a line and getting a draft out.
What it changes in your words
Two things change what you said. Fluid dictation, where it's on, tidies your sentences: fine for an email, less so when the exact wording matters.
And spoken commands act instead of typing: say “delete that” or “press enter” and Windows does it. Usually that's what you want. When you're dictating a prompt for an AI, notes, or a quote, it isn't.
You say
“Rewrite this, um, delete that word and keep the rest.”
rawflo types
Rewrite this, um, delete that word and keep the rest.
Side by side
| Windows voice typing | rawflo | |
|---|---|---|
| Pausing to think | Stops after about 20 seconds of quiet (our test); Win+H again to carry on | Waits through 2 minutes of quiet, or never stops: your choice. Up to an hour a recording |
| Speech to text | Microsoft's Azure Speech, online | Deepgram Nova-3 |
| Tidying your words | Fluid dictation fixes grammar and filler words on Copilot+ PCs | Never: ums kept or dropped, your choice |
| Saying “delete that” | Deletes your last words | Types “delete that” |
| If something fails | Start again | Every recording is saved on your PC first, to try again |
| To start and stop | Win+H, with the cursor in a text box | One key, ` unless you choose another |
| The practical bits | ||
| Cost | Free, built into Windows | $5 US a month with 5 hours; free for 14 days |
| Languages | About 50 | English (Australia, US, UK, New Zealand, India) |
| When the words appear | As you speak | About a third of a second after you stop |
Which to use
Stay with Windows voice typing
If you dictate in a language other than English, want to see words appear as you speak, or edit by voice. It's free, and for quick messages it does the job.
Use rawflo when the words have to be yours
Prompts for AI tools, where a tidied prompt gets a different answer. Notes and drafts that should sound like you. Anything where “delete that” might be part of what you mean.
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