Can Copilot transcribe voice to text?

Yes, while you speak, if you sign in with a work or school account. Select Start dictation in the Message Copilot box, speak, then select Stop dictation, and your words stay in the box to edit and send. Say “period”, “comma” or “new line” as you go; Microsoft’s steps do not mention punctuation added for you. A personal account has no Start dictation, so use Windows key + H or Mac Dictation in the box. Copilot’s voice guides do not describe transcribing recordings. For an audio file, Transcribe in Word, under Home > Dictate > Transcribe, takes an uploaded recording with a Microsoft 365 subscription. VoiceSnap Pro does not transcribe audio files. Dragon Copilot, which turns up in the same searches, is Microsoft’s separate AI clinical assistant for care teams and is not covered here.

What is the difference between Copilot dictation and Copilot Voice?

Dictation turns your speech into a written prompt in the box, which you read and send. Copilot Voice is a real-time spoken conversation: Copilot greets you, answers out loud and can be interrupted, and you get a text transcript when it ends. Microsoft says a voice chat can’t create images or files or @-mention agents today, and its answers may be shorter. It also notes that voice and text use different models.

How do I activate voice in Copilot?

Open Copilot on the web or in the Copilot app and select the Voice icon in the message composer. Allow microphone access if you are asked, wait for the audio greeting, then speak. On Windows, the Copilot key or Windows key + C opens Copilot, either the full app or its smaller Quick View, and both have the voice icon. To start a chat by saying “Hey Copilot”, turn on Listen for “Hey Copilot” in the Windows Copilot app’s Settings, under General or, in some versions, Quick View; it is off by default.

Why is Copilot dictation not working?

Start with your account: Microsoft lists dictation for work or school accounts only, and voice depends on your subscription, region and a gradual rollout. Then check the microphone: allow it when Copilot asks, or turn it back on in your browser or device settings. Background noise also lowers accuracy. If there is no Start dictation button on a personal account, click in the prompt box and use Windows key + H or Mac Dictation instead.

Does Copilot offer text to speech?

Yes. With a work or school account, select More options below one of Copilot’s responses, then Read aloud. In a Copilot Voice chat, Copilot speaks every answer, and you can mute yourself or end the chat at any time.

How do I dictate a Copilot prompt on Android or iPhone?

With a work or school account, Start dictation sits in the Message Copilot box on a phone too, next to Start a new voice chat; Microsoft’s steps cover its Copilot app on mobile as well as on the desktop. On any account, your keyboard’s microphone can type into the prompt box. On Android, tap Microphone at the top of Gboard and talk once “Speak now” appears; not every language is supported. On an iPhone, turn on Enable Dictation under Settings → General → Keyboard, tap the microphone key and speak. To finish, tap it again, say “Stop dictation” or stay silent for 30 seconds. For a spoken conversation, Microsoft lists voice chat on iOS and Android as well.

Do I need to download anything to dictate in Copilot?

Not for Copilot’s own voice features: Start dictation and Copilot Voice work in Copilot on the web as well as in the Microsoft Copilot app. On Windows, the app comes from the Microsoft Store and should already be installed on a new Windows 11 PC; the Mac app needs macOS Sonoma 14 or later. Windows key + H and Mac Dictation are part of your computer. VoiceSnap Pro is a desktop app you download for an Apple silicon Mac or a Windows PC. Nothing is added to Copilot or your browser, and it types the prompt where your cursor is without pressing Send.

AI chat · Dictation workflow

Copilot dictation on Mac and Windows Talk through the whole request, then read it before Copilot does.

Copilot gives you two ways to talk to it, and they do different jobs. Start dictation types your speech into the prompt box so you can edit it before sending, and Microsoft lists it for work or school accounts. Copilot Voice is a spoken conversation that answers out loud, and personal accounts get it too. No Start dictation button? Windows key + H and Mac Dictation can type into the same box. With VoiceSnap Pro, you hold one key, say the whole request and let go; the punctuated prompt appears in the box for you to check and send.

Download free See the workflow

Mac and Windows · Internet required · Free allowance, no card

Set up on Mac or Windows.

Copilot · Message Copilot box

An example to try

Questions for a supplier call

You say

“i have a call with our packaging supplier on thursday um help me prepare five no six questions about lead times minimum order sizes and what happens when a delivery is late keep each question to one sentence and put the hardest one first”

After release and transcription

I have a call with our packaging supplier on Thursday. Help me prepare six questions about lead times, minimum order sizes and what happens when a delivery is late. Keep each question to one sentence, and put the hardest one first.

Illustrative transcript. Recognition and punctuation can vary; review your own result.

Already on your computer

How to use dictation and voice in Microsoft Copilot

What Copilot offers depends on how you sign in. Microsoft’s voice guide lists Dictation, for speaking a prompt instead of typing it, for work or school accounts only. Copilot Voice, a real-time spoken conversation, is listed for work, school and personal accounts. Both depend on your subscription and region, and Microsoft is releasing them gradually. If you want a written prompt and see no Start dictation button, use the dictation built into Windows or macOS in the prompt box.

Copilot: Start dictation (work or school account)

Sign in with your work or school account at copilot.cloud.microsoft, or in the Microsoft Copilot app on your desktop.
Click in the Message Copilot box and select the microphone icon, Start dictation, in its lower-right corner.
If your browser or device asks, allow microphone access. You can change that choice later in its settings.
Speak. Copilot writes your words into the box as you talk. Say “period”, “comma” or “new line” where you want them.
Select Stop dictation when you finish, and Copilot stops listening.
Read the prompt before you send it. Microsoft warns that speech can be misheard and advises cutting background noise.

Copilot Voice: talk and hear the answer

Open Copilot on the web or in the Copilot app. On Windows, the Copilot key or Windows key + C opens the app or its smaller Quick View, as set under Account → Settings → Copilot Keyboard Shortcuts, and both have the voice icon.
Select the Voice icon in the message composer. In a work or school account it sits next to Start dictation and is called Start a new voice chat.
Allow the microphone if asked, wait for Copilot’s audio greeting, then speak. Copilot answers out loud, and you can interrupt it.
Select the Microphone icon to mute or resume yourself, and the X icon to end the chat; in Quick View, use Mute and Dismiss. A text transcript is there when it ends.
In the Copilot app on Windows, you can also start a chat by saying “Hey Copilot”. It is off by default: select Settings at the bottom of the left menu and turn on Listen for “Hey Copilot”, which sits under General, or under Quick View in some versions.

No Start dictation button: Windows key + H or Mac Dictation

Windows 11: click in the Copilot prompt box and press Windows key + H. Speak once “Listening...” shows; you need to be online.
Windows 11: say “comma” or “question mark”, or turn on Automatic punctuation under the gear icon. Say “stop listening” to finish. On Windows 10, the same keys open the dictation toolbar, and “stop dictation” ends it.
Mac: switch on Dictation once in System Settings → Keyboard → Dictation, and note the shortcut it shows.
Mac: click in the Copilot prompt box, or press Option + Space to open the Copilot app’s small prompt window. Start Dictation with the Microphone key, your shortcut or Edit → Start Dictation; in supported languages it adds the punctuation.
Mac: press Escape, the Microphone key or the shortcut to stop. Dictation also ends after 30 seconds with no speech.

Where the built-in option stops

Microsoft lists Start dictation and Read aloud for work or school accounts only, and in a work context voice is not yet available without a Microsoft Copilot license. On a personal account, the guide offers Copilot Voice, which answers out loud instead of typing your prompt.
Microsoft’s dictation steps have you say “period”, “comma” and “new line”. They do not mention punctuation added for you.
A voice chat can’t create images or files or @-mention agents today, Microsoft says, and its answers may be shorter. Microsoft notes that voice and text use different models.
Voice chats are time limited and can disconnect on their own. On Windows, a Quick View or “Hey Copilot” chat warns you after 30 seconds without speech and ends after a minute, though background noise can keep it listening. Audio from another app interrupts any voice chat, and background speech can be picked up.
“Hey Copilot” works only in the Copilot app on Windows and only while the app is running, and the wake word itself must be said in English. It can’t start a chat when the screen is locked or another app is playing audio.

The built-in option compared with VoiceSnap Pro in Microsoft Copilot
Feature	Copilot dictation and Copilot Voice	VoiceSnap Pro
Account and setup	Part of Copilot on the web and in the app, with nothing to install. Start dictation needs a work or school account; Copilot Voice works with personal accounts too	A desktop app for Apple silicon Macs and Windows PCs, with its own account that starts with a free allowance and no card, before a Pro subscription. Any Copilot account works, personal included
Where it types	Copilot’s own prompt box	Copilot’s prompt box, and any other app or website field you can type in
When the words appear	In real time, while you speak	All at once, after you let go of the key and transcription finishes
Punctuation and commands	You say “period”, “comma” or “new line”, so you can add line breaks by voice. Microsoft’s steps mention no automatic punctuation	It punctuates on its own, with no marks to say. No spoken commands and no line breaks
Long prompts and pauses	Microsoft gives no time limit for Start dictation. Voice chats have session limits, and on Windows a Quick View or “Hey Copilot” chat ends after a minute without speech	It listens for as long as you hold the key. For a long prompt, Control + Option + D (Ctrl + Alt + D on Windows) starts and stops hands-free
Names and terms	Microsoft notes that some words are more prone to errors and suggests a quiet room	Personal vocabulary holds your names, product terms and acronyms, and follows you to every device you sign in on
Spoken answers	Copilot Voice talks back and can be interrupted, and Read aloud plays a written reply on work or school accounts	None. It types your words and stops; Copilot’s answer stays on screen

From cursor to draft

How to dictate in Microsoft Copilot with VoiceSnap Pro

First install VoiceSnap Pro, sign in and complete the microphone and system-permission prompts. Then keep the app running while you write.

Read the getting-started guide

Click in the prompt box, with Copilot’s mic off
Open Copilot in your browser or the desktop app and click in the Message Copilot box. End any voice chat with the X icon and leave Start dictation off, or Copilot will hear the words you are about to dictate. Nothing needs installing in Copilot or the browser.
Say the background, the task and the answer you want
Hold Right Option on a Mac or Right Alt on Windows, or the key you picked in Settings → Shortcuts. Say what Copilot needs to know, what you want from it and the form of the answer, without saying the punctuation. Let go, and the whole prompt arrives in the box in one piece. Clean up dictation, on by default, takes out fillers and the words you take back as you speak, and leaves the rest of your words as you said them. Stay in Copilot until the text appears.
Paste what must be exact, then send
Paste the email, table or passage your request refers to, and type names, figures and links that must be exact. Add any line breaks with the keyboard, taking care not to send a half-finished prompt. Read the prompt the way Copilot will, then send it yourself: VoiceSnap Pro types the text and never presses Enter.

Three useful ways to write in Microsoft Copilot

A research question with constraints

Say the question, then the limits that make the answer useful to you: the region, the time frame, what you already know and what to leave out. Ask for sources you can open, and check them before you rely on the answer.

A question about a work file

Add the file first: in Copilot Chat, select the plus icon in the Message Copilot box, then Add and manage sources, and upload it or attach it from OneDrive. Then dictate what you need from it, who the answer is for and what to leave out, so Copilot works from the document rather than your summary of it.

A task for an agent

Open the agent from Agents in Copilot’s navigation panel, then hold the key and say the task, the inputs and the result you want. Microsoft says voice chats aren’t supported in Copilot agents yet, so a written prompt, typed or dictated, is how you brief one.

The human part

Make the draft yours.

Read the day and the count: the prompt should ask for six questions, not five. Add the supplier’s name and the order details you want Copilot to use, then send it.

Put the form of the answer last, such as a table, five bullet points or one paragraph, so you can tell at a glance whether you got it.
Need an image, a file or an agent? Write the prompt as text, by dictation or keyboard. Microsoft says a voice chat can’t do those yet.
Company acronyms and project names are where a spoken prompt is likeliest to slip. Add the ones you use with Copilot to personal vocabulary, and still read them before you send.
Saying a file’s name does not attach it. Add the file with Copilot’s own controls before you send.

When dictation in Microsoft Copilot doesn’t work

There is no Start dictation button in Copilot: Microsoft lists dictation for work or school accounts only, and releases voice gradually by subscription and region. Sign in with your work or school account at copilot.cloud.microsoft or in the Copilot app. In a work context, Microsoft says voice is not yet available without a Microsoft Copilot license. On a personal account, click in the prompt box and type the prompt with Windows key + H or Mac Dictation, or hold your VoiceSnap Pro key.
Copilot can’t use your microphone: Copilot may ask for microphone access the first time you use voice. If you said no on the web, select the lock or site-information icon in the address bar in Edge or Chrome, set Microphone to Allow and try again. On Windows 11, open Start → Settings → Privacy & security → Microphone and turn on Microphone access, Let apps access your microphone and, for the desktop app, Let desktop apps access your microphone. On a Mac, open System Settings → Privacy & Security → Microphone and turn on your browser or the Copilot app.
A Copilot voice chat ends by itself, or won’t stop listening: Voice chats have session limits and can disconnect when one is reached; Microsoft says signing in to the Copilot app gives you extended voice sessions. On Windows, a Quick View or “Hey Copilot” chat warns you after 30 seconds without speech and ends after a minute, while background noise can keep it listening. Audio from another app interrupts a voice chat. Move somewhere quiet, pause other audio and end the chat with the X icon, or Dismiss in Quick View. To carry on by text, select the chat under Chats and type in the Message Copilot box.
“Hey Copilot” doesn’t start a chat: The wake word works only in the Copilot app on Windows, and only after you turn on Listen for “Hey Copilot” in its Settings, under General or, in some versions, Quick View. Keep the app running and the screen unlocked, stop other audio and check that you are online. Say it in English; the chat can then continue in another supported language. On a Mac or the web, select the Voice icon instead.
Windows key + H or Mac Dictation won’t type in Copilot: Click inside the prompt box first so the cursor is there. On Windows, check your connection and choose the right Default microphone from the voice typing gear icon. On a Mac, check Dictation is on in System Settings → Keyboard, pick the Microphone source you use there, and turn Voice Control off.
VoiceSnap Pro’s prompt didn’t appear in Copilot: Keep Copilot in front, with the cursor in the prompt box, until the text arrives. While you hold the key, the mic pill shows “Listening…” with the app it will type into; with Copilot in a browser tab, that is your browser, such as “Microsoft Edge”. If it names any other app, press Escape, click in the Copilot prompt box and start again. Check your internet connection. On a Mac, VoiceSnap Pro needs Microphone, Accessibility and Input Monitoring under System Settings → Privacy & Security; quit and reopen it after turning on the last two. To get the words back without saying them again, click the prompt box and use Paste last dictation: Control + Option + V, or Ctrl + Alt + V on Windows.

Choose what fits

Dictation, a voice chat or one held key

With a work or school account and the occasional prompt, Start dictation is enough: you see the words as you speak and send them when they read right. To think out loud and hear answers, start a Copilot Voice chat, on a personal or a work or school account where your plan and region include it, and switch back to text when you need images, files or agents. On a personal account, Windows key + H or Mac Dictation types a prompt into the box; Mac Dictation punctuates as you go in supported languages, and Windows does once Automatic punctuation is on.

Where VoiceSnap Pro fits

VoiceSnap Pro fits when you write long prompts often, in Copilot and in the apps you copy from, on a Mac, a Windows PC or both. You hold the same key in every app and let go when the prompt is complete; silence alone doesn’t stop the recording. Clean up dictation drops fillers and corrected slips from dictations of up to about five minutes, without rewording, and personal vocabulary gives transcription your names and terms as spelling hints. It needs an internet connection, shows the text only after you let go, takes no spoken commands and never answers out loud. There is a free allowance to start, and no card is needed.

Official guidance checked October 19, 2026.

Questions about dictating in Microsoft Copilot

: Yes, while you speak, if you sign in with a work or school account. Select Start dictation in the Message Copilot box, speak, then select Stop dictation, and your words stay in the box to edit and send. Say “period”, “comma” or “new line” as you go; Microsoft’s steps do not mention punctuation added for you. A personal account has no Start dictation, so use Windows key + H or Mac Dictation in the box. Copilot’s voice guides do not describe transcribing recordings. For an audio file, Transcribe in Word, under Home > Dictate > Transcribe, takes an uploaded recording with a Microsoft 365 subscription. VoiceSnap Pro does not transcribe audio files. Dragon Copilot, which turns up in the same searches, is Microsoft’s separate AI clinical assistant for care teams and is not covered here.
: Dictation turns your speech into a written prompt in the box, which you read and send. Copilot Voice is a real-time spoken conversation: Copilot greets you, answers out loud and can be interrupted, and you get a text transcript when it ends. Microsoft says a voice chat can’t create images or files or @-mention agents today, and its answers may be shorter. It also notes that voice and text use different models.
: Open Copilot on the web or in the Copilot app and select the Voice icon in the message composer. Allow microphone access if you are asked, wait for the audio greeting, then speak. On Windows, the Copilot key or Windows key + C opens Copilot, either the full app or its smaller Quick View, and both have the voice icon. To start a chat by saying “Hey Copilot”, turn on Listen for “Hey Copilot” in the Windows Copilot app’s Settings, under General or, in some versions, Quick View; it is off by default.
: Start with your account: Microsoft lists dictation for work or school accounts only, and voice depends on your subscription, region and a gradual rollout. Then check the microphone: allow it when Copilot asks, or turn it back on in your browser or device settings. Background noise also lowers accuracy. If there is no Start dictation button on a personal account, click in the prompt box and use Windows key + H or Mac Dictation instead.
: Yes. With a work or school account, select More options below one of Copilot’s responses, then Read aloud. In a Copilot Voice chat, Copilot speaks every answer, and you can mute yourself or end the chat at any time.
: With a work or school account, Start dictation sits in the Message Copilot box on a phone too, next to Start a new voice chat; Microsoft’s steps cover its Copilot app on mobile as well as on the desktop. On any account, your keyboard’s microphone can type into the prompt box. On Android, tap Microphone at the top of Gboard and talk once “Speak now” appears; not every language is supported. On an iPhone, turn on Enable Dictation under Settings → General → Keyboard, tap the microphone key and speak. To finish, tap it again, say “Stop dictation” or stay silent for 30 seconds. For a spoken conversation, Microsoft lists voice chat on iOS and Android as well.
: Not for Copilot’s own voice features: Start dictation and Copilot Voice work in Copilot on the web as well as in the Microsoft Copilot app. On Windows, the app comes from the Microsoft Store and should already be installed on a new Windows 11 PC; the Mac app needs macOS Sonoma 14 or later. Windows key + H and Mac Dictation are part of your computer. VoiceSnap Pro is a desktop app you download for an Apple silicon Mac or a Windows PC. Nothing is added to Copilot or your browser, and it types the prompt where your cursor is without pressing Send.