Windows 10
Windows Speech Recognition lets you control your PC by voice alone, without needing a keyboard or mouse. The following tables list commands that you can use with Speech Recognition.
If a word or phrase is bold, it's an example. Replace it with similar words to get the result you want.
For info on how to set up Speech Recognition for the first time, see Use speech recognition.
Any time you need to find out what commands to use, say "what can I say?"
Speech Recognition is only available for the following languages: English (United States, United Kingdom, Canada, India, and Australia), French, German, Japanese, Mandarin (Chinese Simplified and Chinese Traditional), and Spanish.
Common Speech Recognition commands
| To do this | Say this |
|---|---|
| Open Start | Start |
| Open Cortana Note Cortana is only available in certain countries/regions, and some Cortana features might not be available everywhere. If Cortana isn't available or is turned off, you can still use search. | Press Windows C |
| Open Search | Press Windows S |
| Perform an action in an app | Right-click; Press Windows Z; press ctrl B |
| Select an item by its name | File; Start; View |
| Select an item or icon | Click Recycle Bin; Click Computer; Click file name |
| Double-click an item | Double-click Recycle Bin; Double-click Computer; Double-click file name |
| Switch to an open app | Switch to Paint; Switch to WordPad; Switch to program name; Switch application |
| Scroll in one direction | Scroll up; Scroll down; Scroll left; Scroll right |
| Insert a new paragraph or new line in a document | New paragraph; New line |
| Select a word in a document | Select word |
| Select a word and start to correct it | Correct word |
| Select and delete specific words | Delete word |
| Show a list of applicable commands | What can I say? |
| Update the list of speech commands that are currently available | Refresh speech commands |
| Turn on listening mode | Start listening |
| Turn off listening mode | Stop listening |
| Move the Speech Recognition microphone bar | Move speech recognition |
| Minimize the microphone bar | Minimize speech recognition |
Commands for dictation
| To do this | Say this |
|---|---|
| Insert a new line in the document | New line |
| Insert a new paragraph in the document | New paragraph |
| Insert a tab | Tab |
| Insert the literal word (for example, insert the word "comma" instead of the punctuation mark) | Literal word |
| Insert the numeral form of a number (for examples, insert 3 instead of the word three) | Numeral number |
| Put the cursor before a specific word | Go to word |
| Put the cursor after a specific word | Go after word |
| Don't insert a space before the next word | No space |
| Go to the start of the current sentence | Go to start of sentence |
| Go to the start of the current paragraph | Go to start of paragraph |
| Go to the start of the current document | Go to start of document |
| Go to the end of the current sentence | Go to end of sentence |
| Go to the end of the current paragraph | Go to end of paragraph |
| Go to the end of the current document | Go to end of document |
| Select a word in the current document | Select word |
| Select a word range in the current document | Select word range; Select word through word |
| Select all text in the current document | Select all |
| Select a number of words before the location of the cursor | Select previous 20 words; Select previous 10 words |
| Select a number of words after the location of the cursor | Select next 20 words; Select next 10 words |
| Select the last text you dictated | Select that |
| Clear the selection on the screen | Clear selection |
| Capitalize the first letter of a word | Caps word |
| Capitalize all the letters of a word | All caps word |
| Make all the letters in a word lowercase | No caps word |
| Change the next number of words to uppercase | Change next 10 words to uppercase |
| Change the next number of words to lowercase | Change next 10 words to lowercase |
| Delete the previous sentence | Delete previous sentence |
| Delete the next sentence | Delete next sentence |
| Delete the previous paragraph | Delete previous paragraph |
| Delete the next paragraph | Delete next paragraph |
| Delete the selected or last dictated text | Delete that |
Commands for the keyboard
| To do this | Say this |
|---|---|
| Press a key or key combination | Press keyboard key; Press A; Press capital B; Press Shift plus A; Press Ctrl plus A |
| Press certain keyboard keys without saying "press" first | Delete; Backspace; Enter; Page Up; Page Down; Home; End; Tab |
You can also use the ICAONATO phonetic alphabet. For example, say "press alpha" to press A or "press bravo" to press B.
Speech Recognition commands for the keyboard works only with languages that use Latin alphabets.
Commands for punctuation marks and special characters
| To Insert this | Say this |
|---|---|
, | Comma |
| ; | Semicolon |
| . | Period; Dot; Decimal point |
| : | Colon |
| " | Open double quote; Open quote |
| " | Close double quote; Close quote; Close inverted commas |
| ' | Apostrophe |
| ' | Open single quote |
| ' | Close single quote |
| > | Greater than sign |
| < | Less than sign |
| / | Forward slash |
| \
| Backslash |
| ~ | Tilde |
| @ | At sign |
| ! | Exclamation mark; Exclamation point |
| ? | Question mark |
| # | Number sign; Pound sign |
| $ | Dollar sign |
| % | Percent sign |
| ^ | Caret |
| ( | Open parenthesis; Open paren |
| ) | Close parenthesis; Close paren |
| _ | Underscore |
| - | Hyphen; Minus sign; Dash |
| - | En dash |
| - | Em dash |
| = | Equal sign |
| + | Plus sign |
| { | Open brace; Open curly bracket |
| } | Close brace; Close curly bracket |
| [ | Open bracket; Open square bracket |
| ] | Close bracket; Close square bracket |
| | | Vertical bar |
| :-) | Smiley face |
| :-( | Frowny face |
| ;-) | Winky face |
| ™ | Trademark sign |
| ¾ | Three-quarter sign |
| ¼ | One-quarter sign |
| ½ | One-half sign |
| £ | Pound sterling sign |
| & | Ampersand; And sign |
| * | Asterisk |
| // | Double slash |
| ` | Back quote |
| < | Open angle bracket |
| > | Close angle bracket |
| ± | Plus or minus sign |
| « | Open angle quote |
| » | Close angle quote |
| × | Multiplication sign |
| ÷ | Division sign |
| ¢ | Cent sign |
| ¥ | Yen sign |
| § | Section sign |
| © | Copyright sign |
| ® | Registered sign; Registered trademark sign |
| ° | Degree sign |
| ¶ | Paragraph sign |
| ... | Ellipsis; Dot dot dot |
| ƒ | Function sign |
Commands for Windows and apps
| To do this | Say this |
|---|---|
| Select an item by its name | File; Start; View |
| Select an item or icon | Click Recycle Bin; Click Computer; Click file name |
| Double-click an item | Double-click Computer; Double-click Recycle Bin; Double-click folder name |
| Right-click an item | Right-click Computer; Right-click Recycle Bin; Right-click folder name |
| Minimize all windows to show your desktop | Show desktop |
| Select something if you don't know what it's called | Show numbers (Numbers will appear on the screen for every item in the active window. Say an item's corresponding number to select it.) |
| Select a numbered item | 19 OK; 5 OK |
| Double-click a numbered item | Double-click 19; Double-click 5 |
| Right-click a numbered item | Right-click 19; Right-click 5 |
| Open an app | Open Paint; Open WordPad; Open app name |
| Switch to an open app | Switch to Paint; Switch to WordPad; Switch to app name; Switch application |
| Close an app | Close that; Close Paint; Close Documents |
| Minimize | Minimize that; Minimize Paint; Minimize Documents |
| Maximize | Maximize that; Maximize Paint; Maximize Documents |
| Restore | Restore that; Restore Paint; Restore Documents |
| Cut | Cut that; Cut |
| Copy | Copy that; Copy |
| Paste | Paste |
| Delete | Delete that; Delete |
| Undo | Undo that; Scratch that; Undo |
| Scroll in one direction | Scroll up; Scroll down; Scroll right; Scroll left |
| Scroll an exact distance in pages | Scroll down 2 pages; Scroll up 10 pages |
| Scroll an exact distance in other units | Scroll up 5; Scroll down 7 |
| Go to a field in a form or app | Go to field name; Go to Subject; Go to Address; Go to cc |
Commands for using the mouse
| To do this | Say this |
|---|---|
| Show the mousegrid | Mousegrid |
| Move the pointer to the center of a mousegrid square | Number of the square; 1; 7; 9 |
| Select a mousegrid square | Click number of the square |
| Select an item to drag with the mouse | Number of the square where the item appears (followed by) mark; 3 mark; 7 mark; 9 mark |
| Select an area in the mousegrid where you want to drag the item | Number of the square where you want to drag the item (followed by) click; 4 click; 5 click; 6 click |
Windows 7
You can print this topic for quick reference while you're using Windows Speech Recognition.
How do I use Speech Recognition?
To use Speech Recognition, the first thing you need to do is set it up on your computer. When you're ready to use Speech Recognition, you need to speak in simple, short commands. The tables below include some of the more commonly used commands.
To open Speech Recognition
-
Open Speech Recognition by clicking the Start button
, clicking All Programs, clicking Accessories, clicking Ease of Access, and then clicking Windows Speech Recognition. -
Say "start listening" or click the Microphone button to start the listening mode.
Speech Recognition is available only in English, French, Spanish, German, Japanese, Simplified Chinese, and Traditional Chinese.
Common Speech Recognition commands
Frequently used commands
The following table shows some of the most commonly used commands in Speech Recognition. Words in italic font indicate that you can say many different things in place of the example word or phrase and get useful results.
| To do this | Say this |
|---|---|
| Click any item by its name | Click File; Start; View |
| Click any item | Click Recycle Bin; Click Computer; Click file name |
| Double-click any item | Double-click Recycle Bin; Double-click Computer; Double-click file name |
| Switch to an open program | Switch to Paint; Switch to WordPad; Switch to program name; Switch application |
| Scroll in one direction | Scroll up; Scroll down; Scroll left; Scroll right |
| Insert a new paragraph or new line in a document | New paragraph; New line |
| Select a word in a document | Select word |
| Select a word and start to correct it | Correct word |
| Select and delete specific words | Delete word |
| Show a list of applicable commands | What can I say? |
| Update the list of speech commands that are currently available | Refresh speech commands |
| Make the computer listen to you | Start listening |
| Make the computer stop listening | Stop listening |
| Move the Speech Recognition microphone bar | Move speech recognition |
| Minimize the microphone bar | Minimize speech recognition |
| View Windows Help and Support content about specific tasks | How do I do something? For example, say "How do I install a printer?" and a list of help topics is returned. Note that this command is only available if you're using the U.S. English Speech Recognizer. For more information, see Setting speech options. |
Dictation
Commands for working with text
The following table shows commands for using Speech Recognition to work with text. Words in italic font indicate that you can say many different things in place of the example word or phrase and get useful results.
| To do this | Say this |
|---|---|
| Insert a new line in the document | New line |
| Insert a new paragraph in the document | New paragraph |
| Insert a tab | Tab |
| Insert the literal word for the next command (for example, you can insert the word "comma" instead of the punctuation mark) | Literal word |
| Insert the numeral form of a number | Numeral number |
| Put the cursor before a specific word | Go to word |
| Put the cursor after a specific word | Go after word |
| Don't insert a space before the next word | No space |
| Go to the start of the sentence that the cursor is in | Go to start of sentence |
| Go to the start of the paragraph the cursor is in | Go to start of paragraph |
| Go to the start of the document | Go to start of document |
| Go to the end of the sentence that the cursor is in | Go to end of sentence |
| Go to the end of the paragraph that the cursor is in | Go to end of paragraph |
| Go to the end of the current document | Go to end of document |
| Select the word in the current document | Select word |
| Select the word range in the current document | Select word range; Select word through word |
| Select all text in the current document | Select all |
| Select a number of words before the location of the cursor | Select previous 20 words; Select previous 10 words |
| Select a number of words after the location of the cursor | Select next 20 words; Select next 10 words |
| Select the last text you dictated | Select that |
| Clear the selection on the screen | Clear selection |
| Capitalize the first letter of the word | Caps word |
| Capitalize all the letters of the word | All caps word |
| Make all the letters in the word lowercase | No caps word |
| Change the next number of words to uppercase | Change next 10 words to uppercase |
| Change the next number of words to lowercase | Change next 10 words to lowercase |
| Delete the previous sentence | Delete previous sentence |
| Delete the next sentence | Delete next sentence |
| Delete the previous paragraph | Delete previous paragraph |
| Delete the next paragraph | Delete next paragraph |
| Delete the selected or last dictated text | Delete that |
Keyboard keys
Commands for keyboard keys
The following table shows commands for using Speech Recognition to press keyboard keys. Words in italic font indicate that you can say many different things in place of the example word or phrase and get useful results.
| To do this | Say this |
|---|---|
| Press any key on the keyboard | Press keyboard key; Press a; Press capital b; Press Shift plus a; Press Ctrl plus a |
| Press certain keyboard keys without saying "press" first | Delete; Backspace; Enter; Page Up; Page down; Home; End; Tab |
You can also use the ICAONATO phonetic alphabet to say the keyboard keys to press. For example, you can say "press alpha" to press "a" or "press bravo" to press "b."
Using Speech Recognition to press keyboard keys will only work with Latin alphabets.
Punctuation marks and special characters
Commands for punctuation marks and special characters
The following table shows commands for using Speech Recognition to insert punctuation marks and special characters. Words in italic font indicate that you can say many different things in place of the example word or phrase and get useful results.
| To make this appear | Say this |
|---|---|
| , | Comma |
| ; | Semicolon |
| . | Period; Dot; Decimal point |
| : | Colon |
| " | Open double quote; Open quote |
| " | Close double quote; Close quote; Close inverted commas |
| ' | Apostrophe |
| ' | Open single quote |
| ' | Close single quote |
| > | Greater than sign |
| < | Less than sign |
| / | Forward slash |
| \
| Backslash |
| ~ | Tilde |
| @ | At sign |
| ! | Exclamation mark; Exclamation point |
| ? | Question mark |
| # | Number sign; Pound sign |
| $ | Dollar sign |
| % | Percent sign |
| ^ | Caret |
| ( | Open parenthesis; Open paren |
| ) | Close parenthesis; Close paren |
| _ | Underscore |
| - | Hyphen; Minus sign; Dash |
| – | En dash |
| — | Em dash |
| = | Equal sign |
| + | Plus sign |
| { | Open brace; Open curly bracket |
| } | Close brace; Close curly bracket |
| [ | Open bracket; Open square bracket |
| ] | Close bracket; Close square bracket |
| | | Vertical bar |
| :-) | Smiley face |
| :-( | Frowny face |
| ;-) | Winky face |
| ™ | Trademark sign |
| ¾ | Three quarter sign |
| ¼ | One quarter sign |
| ½ | One half sign |
| £ | Pound sterling sign |
| & | Ampersand; And sign |
| * | Asterisk |
| // | Double slash |
| ` | Back quote |
| < | Open angle bracket |
| > | Close angle bracket |
| ± | Plus or minus sign |
| « | Open angle quote |
| » | Close angle quote |
| × | Multiplication sign |
| ÷ | Division sign |
| ¢ | Cent sign |
| ¥ | Yen sign |
| § | Section sign |
| © | Copyright sign |
| ® | Registered sign, Registered trademark sign |
| ° | Degree sign |
| ¶ | Paragraph sign |
| ... | Ellipsis; Dot dot dot |
| ƒ | Function sign |
Controls
Commands for using common controls
The following table shows commands for using Speech Recognition to perform tasks in Windows. Words in italic font indicate that you can say many different things in place of the example word or phrase and get useful results.
| To do this | Say this |
|---|---|
| Click any item by saying its name | File; Edit; View; Save; Bold |
| Click any item | Click File; Click Bold; Click Save; Click Close |
| Double-click any item | Double-click Computer; Double-click Recycle Bin; Double-click folder name |
| Right-click any item | Right-click Computer; Right-click Recycle Bin; Right-click folder name |
| Minimize all windows to show your desktop | Show desktop |
| Click something you don't know the name of | Show numbers (Numbers will appear on the screen for every item in the active window. Say an item's corresponding number to click it.) |
| Click a numbered item | 19 OK; 5 OK |
| Double-click a numbered item | Double-click 19; Double-click 5 |
| Right-click a numbered item | Right-click 19; Right-click 5 |
Windows
Commands for working with windows
The following table shows commands for using Speech Recognition to work with windows and programs. Words in italic font indicate that you can say many different things in place of the example word or phrase and get useful results.
| To do this | Say this |
|---|---|
| Open a program | Open Paint; Open WordPad; Open program name |
| Switch to an open program | Switch to Paint; Switch to WordPad; Switch to program name; Switch application |
| Close a program | Close that; Close Paint; Close Documents |
| Minimize | Minimize that; Minimize Paint; Minimize Documents |
| Maximize | Maximize that; Maximize Paint; Maximize Documents |
| Restore | Restore that; Restore Paint; Restore Documents |
| Cut | Cut that; Cut |
| Copy | Copy that; Copy |
| Paste | Paste |
| Delete | Delete that; Delete |
| Undo | Undo that; Scratch that; Undo |
| Scroll in one direction | Scroll up; Scroll down; Scroll right; Scroll left |
| Scroll an exact distance in pages | Scroll down 2 pages; Scroll up 10 pages |
| Scroll an exact distance in other units | Scroll up 5; Scroll down 7 |
| Go to a field in a form or a program | Go to field name; Go to Subject; Go to Address; Go to Cc |
Click anywhere on the screen
Commands for clicking anywhere on the screen
The following table shows commands for using Speech Recognition to click anywhere on the screen. Words in italic font indicate that you can say many different things in place of the example word or phrase and get useful results.
| To do this | Say this |
|---|---|
| Show the mousegrid | Mousegrid |
| Move the mouse pointer to the center of any mousegrid square | Number—or numbers—of the square; 1; 7; 9; 1, 7, 9 |
| Click any mousegrid square | Click number of the square |
| Select an item to drag with the mousegrid | Number—or numbers—of the square where the item appears; 3, 7, 9 (followed by) mark |
| Select an area where you want to drag the item with the mousegrid | Number—or numbers—of the square where you want to drag; 4, 5, 6 (followed by) click |