While dictating the words appear then disappear.

A. Add 90

While dictating, the words appear and then disappear. How can I fix the problem?

Alan Roper 55 Reputation points

2025-09-24T13:47:51.0633333+00:00

We appear to be having this very same issue. All of a sudden, when using Word dictation the text is being overwritten. It'll be interesting to know if Microsoft are possible having issues.
Alan Roper 55 Reputation points

2025-09-24T14:27:33.1733333+00:00

To elaborate. When I say something into my microphone Word dictation picks it up (i.e. in faded text). It then takes Word a long while to accept this text and move on. If I pause and say anything else, it then deletes what I've already said. It's annoying.
Shill 35 Reputation points

2025-09-25T18:12:59.4166667+00:00

Exact same issue here for the last week.
Jo L 25 Reputation points

2025-09-26T09:10:56.9166667+00:00

I am so happy to see others having the same issue !!!! It’s been driving me mad for the last week but I’m glad it’s not my laptop. So annoying it’s been like this since Monday!!
Jo L 25 Reputation points

2025-09-27T13:00:48.8266667+00:00

It seems to have resolved itself for me today! Working good as new, hope it continues. I didn’t do anything so not sure if others will be resolved?
André 15 Reputation points

2025-09-29T17:25:07.1466667+00:00

I'm experiencing the exact same issue, Dictation captures the speech, but then it automatically deletes it. I never had this problem until about a month ago. I’m wondering if the issue was caused by a recent update. I really wish Microsoft would address this promptly, since after doing a quick Google search, I found multiple users reporting the same problem.
alexofindy 65 Reputation points

2025-09-29T17:36:52.8766667+00:00

I have exactly the same problem; it began last week, suddenly, and it hasn't resolved itself. I'm hoping Microsoft fixes this quickly. Voice recognition is now performed "in the cloud" rather than locally, and they've changed some parameter, possible related to the so-called "confidence level," that seriously degrades usability for many users, myself included.
Alice Havill 5 Reputation points

2025-10-03T13:18:22.35+00:00

Yup, having this same issue - it's now the 3rd October, have other people actually seen an improvement or are you all just using workarounds for now? It's so frustrating, as it used to work without any issues and now it's basically useless.
Kathy H 10 Reputation points

2025-10-03T13:25:48.46+00:00

I've moved to Whispr Flow and they've given me a 2-week free trial of the Pro version. It's good! Microsoft are going to lose customers at this rate. Not to mention goodwill. Does anyone know how we actually lodge a complaint to a real person at Microsoft? It looks like only bots are reading this thread.
Michael McDonald 10 Reputation points

2025-10-03T16:01:42.0466667+00:00

Yesterday the dictation function worked fine. Today, it was off and on.
Bryan Fitzgerald 40 Reputation points

2025-10-03T16:14:29.01+00:00

10/3/25 11:13 Central Time....STILL SCREWED UP... DICTATION FRUSTRATION!!
Irwin ETX 0 Reputation points

2025-10-05T18:28:17.5966667+00:00

Agreed, as of Sept 30th there was 100% continuous self-deletion by the MS Word-Dictation app on my MS Surface; my go to device for Word Dictate for the previous 24 months. BAM, ultra critical mtg notes were lost.

Out of desperation went to my smarty phone that has MS full pdct support and that worked fine, but by then I lost 95% of the intended capture. Read the notes above today, and found it working 100% on Oct 5th. Lost alot on that one mtg, but that's the breaks. Bravo to MS. Kind of the best Tech company out there, ...98% of the time. (|:^)
Bryan Fitzgerald 40 Reputation points

2025-10-06T19:58:23.0866667+00:00

October 6, 2025 at 2:57 PM. Same dictation problem, as bad as ever was. The only dictation possible now is through outlook classic cutting and pasting it onto other documents. I'm going to start looking for a third party applications to purchase if Microsoft can't seem to get this thing fixed
Jenni Thynne 20 Reputation points

2025-10-14T12:52:20.56+00:00

My husband has been experiencing this also and tearing his hair out so I (inhouse IT support) spent quite a while on a web chat with MS earlier and we resolved it until, as he suggested, subsequent updates correct what has clearly been an unintended consequence... Anyway what works for us is Windows key + H while a Word document is open - it should bring up the dictate microphone icon in its own little microwindow and using THAT vs. the Dictate icon in a Word document actually works - all dictated text is in black, not pale grey, and all is retained.
Paul DeForrest Scisney 20 Reputation points

2025-10-16T17:55:55.09+00:00

WORKAROUND: If on Windows 11, use Windows Key + H to use that dictation function. It should work anywhere you type text.
KH32@ 0 Reputation points

2025-10-22T09:29:02.6666667+00:00

I’m having this issue mid-October 2025
David Wilton 5 Reputation points

2025-10-22T10:11:56.52+00:00

as off 22nd oct - i am having same problem. start dictating in word and each 3 or 4 words it overtypes the previous 3-4 words - unusable.

25 answers

Mitch O 5 Reputation points

2025-10-16T14:52:54.46+00:00

I'm having the same problem, and it appears to be messed up due to the Copilot integration. Copilot keeps trying to overthink what you are saying and tries to rewrite it on it the fly instead of just dictating the words so you can go back and clean it up later.
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1 person found this answer helpful.
Bryan Fitzgerald 40 Reputation points

2025-10-16T20:10:30.46+00:00

That sounds very plausible. I hope they fix it. soon.
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Q&A Assist

2025-09-23T18:37:41.7466667+00:00

AI generated content. This question contains an answer created with AI from Q&A Assist. Learn more
If the words are appearing and then disappearing while dictating, it may be due to the speech recognition system not having enough confidence in the recognition results. To improve this, you can handle the HypothesisGenerated event, which provides interim recognition results as the user continues speaking. This helps reassure the user that the system is still processing their speech. Once the system has high confidence in a recognition result, it will replace the interim results with the final output.

Make sure to keep the speech recognition system responsive by showing the interim hypotheses to the user until the final results are confirmed.

References:

Continuous dictation
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Viego An 4,685 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-09-24T05:59:15.9966667+00:00

Dear @A. Add

Thank you for posting in the Q&A forum. We’re happy to help.

To assist you better, could you please describe the issue in more detail?

Are you referring this feature in Word?

When it reads a paragraph, are some words missing, or is something else happening? If you can, it would be great if you could share an example!

These details will help us better understand the issue and explore possible ways to resolve it. We look forward to your reply so we can continue assisting you!
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J. Bell 55 Reputation points

2025-09-25T15:59:52.61+00:00

Read the original question. It is perfectly clear.

Viego An 4,685 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-09-26T08:46:48.67+00:00

Hello @A. Add

It has been a while and I am writing to see how things are going with this issue. Have you had a chance to check the replies provided? Any update would be appreciated.

Please feel free to let me know if there’s anything I can assist you with.

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Wish you have a great day.

Bryan Fitzgerald 40 Reputation points

2025-09-26T12:28:49.3233333+00:00

the problem continues...I think you can see that.

Bryan Fitzgerald 40 Reputation points

2025-09-29T19:56:37.4966667+00:00

still no help...dictation FRUSTRATION!

Viego An 4,685 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-10-01T08:20:44.0233333+00:00

Hello @A. Add

I hope you’re doing well. I’m reaching out again to follow up on this issue, as we haven’t heard back from you since our previous message.

Have you had a chance to review the information we provided? If there’s anything unclear or if you need further assistance, I’m happy to help.

Looking forward to your update.

Wishing you a pleasant day!

Bryan Fitzgerald 40 Reputation points

2025-10-01T20:38:38.7666667+00:00

10/01/25 3:38 PM still no help...dictation FRUSTRATION!
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Chris Petersen 10 Reputation points

2025-09-27T17:05:12.1+00:00

Mine is working normally again, at least for now, and they appear to have done the repair referenced in another answer. Hopefully it is resolved for everyone else.
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Michael McDonald 10 Reputation points

2025-09-29T16:00:35.7033333+00:00

I am still having this problem as of 29 Sep 2025.

Dan Bond 15 Reputation points

2025-09-29T16:01:45.38+00:00

Me too

alexofindy 65 Reputation points

2025-09-29T17:43:02.5066667+00:00

I have EXACTLY the problem described here, it is clearly common issue. As of 29-September it is still present.

Chris Petersen 10 Reputation points

2025-09-29T20:07:29.2033333+00:00

It was working for a while this weekend, and I thought it was fixed, but it isn't working now. This seems to be a widespread issue, and I suspect a lot of people need it fixed.
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Nic 5 Reputation points

2025-10-07T09:50:47.3933333+00:00

As 7 October 2025 at 10:48 AM - still having the same issues, rendering the dictation via word unusable at peak hours - surely this can be "fixed" - I have posted via the feedback section in word also.
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CG 0 Reputation points

2025-10-07T14:50:43.1466667+00:00

I have ages trying to resolve this issue assuming it was a problem with my microphone - coincidentally I had a microphone issue a few days ago and assumed this issue was connected. As of 7 October 2025 3pm the problem persists

Nic 5 Reputation points

2025-10-07T15:01:01.57+00:00

Its reassuring that others are having the same issues but so frustrating that there has been no improvement after weeks now - not sure what else can be done.
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While dictating the words appear then disappear.

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