How to activate dictate in word

Question

I am trying to use the dictate feature in Word. I have a Microsoft 365 subscription and Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2016 and Windows 10 Pro, but when I open a Word doc, I do not see a dictation button.

Answer 1

Hi,

Did you have other Office application in the same PC before?

The dictation feature is available in Microsoft 365. Make sure you're signed in with your Microsoft 365 account.

You can also try to open a new or existing document in Word. Go to the Home tab and look for the Dictate button in the Voice group.- If you don't see the Dictate button, you can try adding it to the ribbon:

• Right-click on the ribbon and select Customize the Ribbon.
• In the Customize Ribbon window, select Home (Main Tabs) and then New Group.
• Add the Dictate command to this new group.

If you have installed other version of Office before, I suggest you check the status of Office license in PC, please follow these steps: Search CMD, right-click the Command Prompt and run as administrator. Then copy and paste the command, click Enter at last: cscript.exe "%ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Office\Office16\ospp.vbs" /dstatus

If you are running 32-bit Office on a 64-bit operating system: cscript.exe "%ProgramFiles(x86)%\Microsoft Office\Office16\ospp.vbs" /dstatus

If you can find other Office product keys in list, try to remove them by typing the following command with the Last 5 characters of installed product key (I replace it with XXXXX, but what you type in is what you see on your computer) in this interface: cscript.exe "%ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Office\Office16\ospp.vbs" /unpkey:XXXXX

If the 32bit version of Office installed on a 64bit operation, run the following command: cscript.exe "%ProgramFiles(x86)%\Microsoft Office\Office16\ospp.vbs" /unpkey:XXXXX

Then repair Office application:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/repair-an-office-application-7821d4b6-7c1d-4205-aa0e-a6b40c5bb88b

Just checking in to see if the information was helpful. Please let us know if you would like further assistance.

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