VoicePrivate
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Dictation software for Windows
that runs on your PC, not Microsoft's servers.
Press Win+H on Windows and your voice goes to Azure Speech services. Microsoft says so in its own accessibility documentation. VoicePrivate is voice to text for Windows that transcribes on your own CPU instead: no cloud upload, no Microsoft account, and it keeps working with the network switched off.
Or General, $84/yr.
A 30-day money-back guarantee on individual monthly and annual plans. No Microsoft account.
Does Windows have built-in dictation software? Yes, three kinds, and only one is local.
Windows dictation is not one feature, it is four separate products with four different answers to the only question that matters for regulated work: where does the audio go? Microsoft voice typing (Win+H) uploads it. Microsoft voice access transcribes it on the PC. Dictate in Word uploads it. Windows Speech Recognition, the old Control Panel tool, is deprecated. VoicePrivate is paid dictation software for Windows that transcribes on the device like voice access does, and then adds the things voice access does not do: 99 languages, audio and video file transcription, professional vocabularies, searchable history, and export.
| Windows dictation option | Where your audio is processed | Works with no internet | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Voice typing (Win+H) | Azure Speech services, in the cloud | ✗ No | Free with Windows 10 and 11 |
| Voice access | On the PC | ✓ Yes, after a one-time language download | Free with Windows 11 version 22H2 or later |
| Dictate in Word | Microsoft servers | ✗ No | Microsoft 365 subscription |
| Windows Speech Recognition | Not stated on Microsoft's current page | Not stated | Free, but deprecated since December 2023 |
| VoicePrivate for Windows | On the PC | ✓ Yes, after a one-time model download | From $84/yr General |
The evidence for each row sits in Microsoft's own pages. Microsoft's voice typing article states that to use voice typing you need to be connected to the internet, and that voice typing uses online speech recognition powered by Azure Speech services. Microsoft's voice access setup page states that voice access lets you control your PC and author text using only your voice and without an internet connection. Microsoft Learn lists Windows Speech Recognition as deprecated and no longer being developed, replaced by voice access, announced December 2023. The Word article states that dictation is only available to Microsoft 365 subscribers and that your speech utterances will be sent to Microsoft.
Microsoft sources checked 15 September 2026: voice typing, voice access setup, deprecated Windows features, Windows Speech Recognition, Dictate in Word.
Every Microsoft dictation tool on Windows, and where each one sends your voice
Read this before you pick dictation software for Windows. The four options are not interchangeable.
Windows voice typing (Win+H)
Voice typing is the Windows dictation feature most people mean when they say Windows has speech to text. Put the cursor in a text box, press Win+H, and talk. Microsoft's accessibility documentation is unambiguous about the trade: to use voice typing you need to be connected to the internet, and voice typing uses online speech recognition powered by Azure Speech services. So the audio from a client call, a patient encounter, or a deposition summary travels to Microsoft before the text comes back.
That is fine for a grocery list. VoicePrivate exists because it is not fine for the Windows workstations in a clinic, a firm, or an adjuster's laptop. More on the split in the VoicePrivate breakdown of on-device versus cloud transcription.
Windows voice access (Windows 11 version 22H2 or later)
Voice access is the genuinely local Windows dictation option, and most comparison articles miss it. Microsoft's setup page says voice access lets you control your PC and author text using only your voice and without an internet connection, and that the first run downloads language files for on-device speech recognition. Turn it on under Settings, then Accessibility, then Speech, then the voice access toggle.
The honest limit is coverage. Microsoft lists 15 supported locales for voice access: English in US, UK, India, New Zealand, Canada and Australia, Spanish in Spain and Mexico, German in Germany, French in France and Canada, Simplified Chinese in China, Traditional Chinese in Taiwan, Japanese, and Italian. It also does not transcribe recorded audio or video files, does not keep a searchable transcript history, and has no medical, legal, finance, or insurance vocabulary. VoicePrivate covers 99 languages on Windows and does all four of those things.
Dictate in Microsoft Word
Dictate is the microphone button inside Word, Outlook, and the rest of Microsoft 365. Microsoft's support article states that the dictation feature is only available to Microsoft 365 subscribers, that it requires a microphone and a reliable internet connection, and that your speech utterances will be sent to Microsoft and used only to provide you with text results. It is a good writing tool and it is a cloud tool. VoicePrivate types into Word the same way, but without the upload, which is why Windows-only firms tend to run both.
Windows Speech Recognition (the legacy Control Panel tool)
If a 2026 roundup still recommends Windows Speech Recognition, it has not been updated. Microsoft Learn lists it under deprecated Windows features: Windows speech recognition is deprecated and is no longer being developed, and the feature is being replaced with voice access. That deprecation was announced in December 2023, and Microsoft's own support page states that voice access replaced Windows Speech Recognition for Windows 11 22H2 and later versions in September 2024. The wizard still opens with Windows key plus Ctrl plus S on Windows 11, but this is not a platform to standardize a practice on. If you used it because recognition ran on the PC, voice access and VoicePrivate are the two Windows dictation options that kept that property.
How to turn on dictation in Windows, three ways
Two are already on your PC. The third is VoicePrivate, for when the audio cannot leave the machine.
Windows voice typing
- Click into any text box so the cursor is showing.
- Press Win+H. The voice typing bar appears.
- Click the microphone or say the wake phrase, then speak.
- Say period, comma, or question mark to punctuate. Say stop listening to finish.
Needs a live internet connection. Transcription happens at Microsoft, not on your PC.
Windows voice access
- Open Settings on Windows 11 version 22H2 or later.
- Go to Accessibility, then Speech.
- Switch the voice access toggle on.
- Let the language files download when prompted, then dictate from the voice access bar.
After that one download, recognition runs on the device and works with no internet connection.
VoicePrivate on Windows
- Download the VoicePrivate .exe installer and run it. No admin rights needed for a user install.
- Let the speech model download once, roughly 500 MB with the app.
- Pick your edition vocabulary: General, Healthcare, Legal, Finance, or Insurance.
- Choose a backup folder in Settings, Backup. VoicePrivate saves an encrypted backup about once an hour when something changes, and keeps the last 10.
- Press Ctrl+Shift+Space in any Windows app and speak.
Transcription runs on your own CPU from then on, online or offline, in 99 languages.
Windows dictation is free.
The default route sends your audio to Microsoft.
Win+H is the path of least resistance on every Windows PC, and it is the one that uploads. Microsoft's own accessibility page for voice typing sets the requirement plainly: you need to be connected to the internet, and the recognition is done online by Azure Speech services. For a grocery list that is a non-issue. For a Windows workstation where somebody dictates client instructions, patient findings, a settlement letter, or a claim file, it is a data path you have to document and defend.
VoicePrivate is dictation software for Windows built for exactly those machines. The speech model runs on your own CPU. No audio leaves the PC during transcription, no Microsoft account is involved, and the app behaves the same whether the network adapter is on or off. Voice access proves Microsoft can do on-device recognition too. VoicePrivate is what you reach for when you also need file transcription, 99 languages, a 74,000-term medical vocabulary, or an exportable transcript.
Microsoft cloud processing
- → You press Win+H and start speaking
- → Audio goes to Azure Speech services
- → Recognition happens online, on Microsoft infrastructure
- → Text comes back and is typed into your app
- → Drop the connection and dictation stops working
On-device, local processing
- → You press Ctrl+Shift+Space and start speaking
- → Audio is processed by the on-device model on your CPU
- → Transcription runs locally with no internet call
- → Text is typed directly into any Windows app
- → Drop the connection and nothing changes
Want to verify? Disable the network adapter and open VoicePrivate. It works identically. More: on-device voice to text · on-device versus cloud transcription · how realtime transcription works · full architecture overview →
The best free dictation software for Windows is already on your PC
Nobody should pay for Windows dictation software before trying the free built-ins, and VoicePrivate is not going to pretend otherwise. Voice typing with Win+H is free on Windows 10 and Windows 11 and takes one keystroke. Voice access is free on Windows 11 version 22H2 or later and recognizes speech on the device. Between them they cover a large share of everyday typing on a Windows PC.
Free is enough when you dictate short messages, you are online anyway, you write in one of Microsoft's supported locales, and nothing you say would matter if it were logged somewhere you cannot see.
Free stops being enough when any one of these is true: the audio is confidential and cannot travel to a third party; you need to transcribe recorded audio or video files rather than live speech; you dictate in a language outside Microsoft's voice access list; you need specialist vocabulary so that fracture classifications, drug names, statute citations, or policy terms come out right; you need a searchable transcript history; or you need to export to TXT, JSON, Markdown, SRT, or WebVTT. VoicePrivate for Windows covers all six, starting at $84/yr for the General edition. There is no free tier and no free version of VoicePrivate.
VoicePrivate on Windows: what it needs to run
Windows 10 version 1903 is the floor. Below that, VoicePrivate will not install.
Windows users who need dictation that stays on the PC
Clinical documentation on Windows workstations
Hospital systems and outpatient clinics often run Windows-only IT environments, which rules out most Mac-first dictation tools before the evaluation starts. VoicePrivate dictates clinical notes straight into browser-based EHRs without routing patient audio through a cloud service. The Healthcare Edition carries a 74,000-term medical vocabulary at $297/yr. See healthcare dictation software or Healthcare pricing.
Client intake, drafting, and case notes
Attorneys dictating client communications cannot route that audio through a third-party server, and Win+H does exactly that. VoicePrivate runs locally, so there is no cloud custody of the recording. The Legal Edition adds a 12,000-term legal vocabulary and works alongside any Windows practice management software at $247/yr. See legal dictation software or Legal pricing.
Home office without a reliable connection
Cloud dictation breaks the moment your connection does, and Win+H simply stops. VoicePrivate keeps transcribing in airplane mode, on a VPN, behind a restrictive firewall, or on a train. The model is local, so recognition speed tracks your CPU rather than your bandwidth.
Restricted and isolated Windows networks
Plenty of Windows estates block outbound calls to cloud speech endpoints outright, which kills voice typing and Dictate in Word on day one. VoicePrivate sends no audio to a server during transcription, so it can be deployed on isolated machines and locked-down enterprise builds where cloud tools are prohibited.
Beyond what voice access and Dragon give you
Voice access is local but English-heavy and live-input only. Dragon Professional v16 is a Windows-only perpetual license at a list price of $699.00 and needs vocabulary maintenance. VoicePrivate sits between them: on-device like voice access, priced like software rather than a capital purchase, with file transcription, speaker diarization, and searchable history that neither offers. VoicePrivate also has a Dragon alternative breakdown if you are leaving Dragon.
What VoicePrivate adds on a Windows PC.
VoicePrivate vs. the other Windows dictation options
Microsoft's built-ins are good at what they do. Here is exactly where each one stops.
| What matters | VoicePrivate | Voice typing (Win+H) | Voice access | Dragon Professional v16 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Audio processing location | ✓ On your PC | ✗ Azure Speech services | ✓ On your PC | ✓ On your PC |
| Works with no internet | ✓ Yes, after model download | ✗ Connection required | ✓ Yes, after language download | ✓ Recognition runs locally |
| Windows versions | Windows 10 (1903+) and 11 | Windows 10 and 11 | ✗ Windows 11 22H2 or later only | Windows 11, back-compatible to Windows 10 |
| Languages | ✓ 99 | Wide, via Azure | ✗ 15 locales | Limited set |
| File transcription (audio and video) | ✓ Yes | ✗ Live input only | ✗ Live input only | ✓ Yes |
| Professional vocabulary editions | ✓ Healthcare, Legal, Finance, Insurance | ✗ General only | ✗ General only | ✓ Medical and Legal, separate SKUs |
| Speaker diarization | ✓ Yes (paid plans) | ✗ No | ✗ No | ✗ No |
| Searchable transcription history | ✓ Yes | ✗ No history | ✗ No history | ✓ Yes |
| Export formats | ✓ TXT, JSON, Markdown, SRT, WebVTT | ✗ Types into the app only | ✗ Types into the app only | ✓ Limited |
| Price | General $84/yr. Professional editions $197 to $297/yr | Free with Windows | Free with Windows 11 | $699.00 one-time, list price checked 15 September 2026 |
Dragon Professional v16 is a Windows-only product; Nuance does not publish a price on its own product page, so the $699.00 figure is the current retail list price for the single-user download, checked 15 September 2026. Voice access rows come from Microsoft's voice access setup documentation.
Medical and legal dictation software on Windows is a different question
General Windows dictation software and medical dictation software are not the same purchase, and the vocabulary is only half of why. A clinic comparing options on a Windows fleet is usually weighing a per-clinician cloud subscription against a local install, and the pricing gap is large enough to decide the question on its own. VoicePrivate's Dragon Medical One cost and pricing breakdown lays out what the incumbent charges and what changes if the audio never leaves the workstation.
On the legal side the constraint is custody rather than terminology: the question a firm has to answer is who else holds the recording. VoicePrivate's legal dictation software pages cover the Windows and Mac setups a practice actually runs, and the Legal Edition vocabulary rides on the same on-device engine described above. Insurance adjusters and financial advisers get the same architecture with claims and finance vocabularies.
VoicePrivate editions for regulated industries
Same on-device Windows architecture. Vocabulary and features tuned for your field.
All editions are the same base application. Professional vocabulary is the primary differentiator, not feature restrictions.
VoicePrivate for Windows pricing. No surprise charges.
One machine per license. A 30-day money-back guarantee on individual monthly and annual plans.
- Live dictation into any Windows app
- File transcription (audio and video)
- Speaker diarization
- Custom vocabulary
- Searchable transcription history
- Export to TXT, JSON, Markdown, SRT, WebVTT
- Fully offline after setup, no Microsoft cloud
- Windows 10 (1903+) and Windows 11
A 30-day money-back guarantee on individual monthly and annual plans. No Microsoft account.
Professional editions: Legal, $247/yr, Healthcare, $297/yr, Finance, $197/yr, Insurance, $197/yr. See all pricing →
Windows dictation software: common questions
Does Windows 11 have built-in dictation software?
Yes. Windows 11 ships with two built-in dictation tools, and they behave very differently. Voice typing opens with Win+H and sends your audio to Microsoft for processing. Voice access, available on Windows 11 version 22H2 or later, recognizes speech on the device and keeps working with no internet connection once its language files have downloaded. VoicePrivate is a third option for Windows: it transcribes on the device in 99 languages and adds file transcription, professional vocabularies, and export.
Does Windows voice typing work offline, and is it private?
No, Windows voice typing does not work offline. Microsoft's own accessibility documentation says that to use voice typing you need to be connected to the internet, and that voice typing uses online speech recognition powered by Azure Speech services. Your audio leaves the PC. VoicePrivate does the opposite on the same Windows machine: transcription runs on your own CPU, so you can pull the network cable and it behaves identically.
Does Microsoft have a dictation program besides voice typing?
Yes, two more. Voice access, under Settings then Accessibility then Speech on Windows 11 version 22H2 or later, does dictation and full PC control with on-device speech recognition across 15 language locales. Dictate in Word is available to Microsoft 365 subscribers and needs a microphone and a reliable internet connection, because your speech utterances are sent to Microsoft to produce the text. Windows Speech Recognition, the old Control Panel tool, was deprecated in December 2023 and is no longer being developed.
What is the best free dictation software for Windows?
On a Windows PC the best free dictation software is already installed. Voice typing with Win+H is the quickest to reach, and voice access is the better choice when you need dictation that survives a dropped connection. Neither one transcribes audio or video files, keeps a searchable history, exports to SRT or WebVTT, or carries a medical, legal, finance, or insurance vocabulary. VoicePrivate charges for those, and VoicePrivate has no free tier.
Does VoicePrivate send audio to Microsoft on Windows?
No. VoicePrivate processes audio entirely on your Windows PC using a local speech model. Nothing is sent to Microsoft, Amazon, Google, or any other server during transcription. You can test the claim yourself: disable the network adapter, then dictate, and VoicePrivate keeps producing text.
What Windows versions does VoicePrivate support?
VoicePrivate runs on Windows 10 version 1903 or later and on Windows 11. It needs WebView2, which ships pre-installed on Windows 10 version 2004 and later and on every Windows 11 build, and which installs itself if it is missing. Plan on 8 GB of RAM as the floor and roughly 500 MB of disk for the app and its base model.
How does the VoicePrivate hotkey work on Windows?
The default hotkey for toggling recording in VoicePrivate on Windows is Ctrl+Shift+Space. It is system-wide, so you can start dictating from any Windows app without changing focus. Microsoft voice typing uses Win+H and voice access uses its own toolbar, so all three can sit on the same PC without fighting over a shortcut.
Does VoicePrivate dictate into any Windows application?
Yes. VoicePrivate types text wherever your cursor already is, system-wide. That covers Edge, Chrome, Firefox, Outlook, Word, Notepad, VS Code, Slack, Teams, and any web application running in a browser, including browser-based EHR and practice management systems. If you can type into it, VoicePrivate can dictate into it.
How should healthcare teams evaluate VoicePrivate on Windows?
VoicePrivate's architecture is designed to minimize data exposure: patient audio is processed on the local Windows device instead of being uploaded to a cloud transcription service. Healthcare teams should still review their own policies, device controls, retention settings, and compliance requirements before using any dictation workflow with protected information.
Dictation software for Windows that keeps the audio on the PC.
A 30-day money-back guarantee on individual monthly and annual plans. Buy a plan, install, and transcribe your first file in under five minutes.
Also available for Mac voice to text. Related reading: on-device voice to text, on-device versus cloud transcription, realtime transcription, the Dragon alternative, and the VoicePrivate FAQ.