This feature is available in the Simplified Chinese, English (U.S.), and Japanese language versions of Microsoft Office.
When you use Office speech recognition, you'll switch between working in Voice Command mode and Dictation mode by clicking buttons on the Language bar or by saying "voice command" or "dictation."
Language bar with text labels hidden
Note The Language bar by default shows text labels beside each button on the bar. You can hide or show the text labels by right-clicking the Language bar, and then clicking Text Labels.
Using Voice Command mode
Note Using Voice Command mode for dialog box and task pane items is not available in Simplified Chinese and Japanese.
To select menu, toolbar, dialog box, and task pane items by using your voice, if the microphone is not already turned on, click Microphone on the Language bar, and then click Voice Command
on the Language bar, or say "voice command."
For example, to change the font in any Office program by using your voice, do the following:
Note You can also change font format without opening the Font dialog box. Say "font" to open the Font box on the Formatting toolbar, and then say a font name.
Other Voice Command mode examples
Do the following to select:
Toolbar buttons
Say the name of the toolbar button. If you don't know the name, rest the mouse pointer on the button to display a ScreenTip that shows you the name you can say.
For example, the ScreenTip for the Save button is "Save." Say "save" to open the Save dialog box.
Menu and command items
Say the name of the menu. For example, to open the Tools menu, say "tools" or "tools menu."
If all the commands you want to see on a menu are not visible, say "expand" or "more buttons."
To select a command on the Tools menu, say "options," for example, which will open the Options dialog box.
Dialog box items
To clear a dialog box option, say "prompt to update style" again or say "uncheck prompt to update style."
In an Open dialog box, you can open a drop-down list by saying the name next to the list, if a name is available. For example, in Microsoft PowerPoint, to open the Tools menu, say "tools." To select the Options command, say "options," which opens the Options dialog box.
To select a tab in the Options dialog box, say the name of the tab. For example, say "save" to open the Save tab.
To see the items in the Save PowerPoint files list, say "save PowerPoint files as" or "drop save PowerPoint files as."
Task pane items
To open the New File task pane in Office programs, do the following:
To open a new blank file, say "new file."
To say the name of a hyperlink in a task pane, say the name of the entire hyperlink. For example, to open Templates on Microsoft.com in the New File task pane, say "templates on Microsoft dot com."
Note This does not apply to Microsoft Outlook.
The following list is a sample of the commands you can say. For more information, see the Microsoft Office Web site.
Navigation examples
Using Dictation mode
To dictate text into any Office program, if the microphone is not already turned on click Microphone on the Language bar, and then click Dictation
on the Language bar, or say "dictation."
Tips
You can dictate by spelling. Say "spelling mode," pause briefly, and then say "s-u-n."
You can use Dictation mode to get help as you work. Place the insertion point into the Office Assistant or into the Ask a Question box, and then dictate your question.
The following lists tell you how to say some things as you dictate. What you can say is followed by what is inserted. For example:
Punctuation
Symbols and special characters
Brackets
Quotation marks
Numbers
Tip
To dictate all numbers as digits, say "force num," pause briefly, and then say "5."
Notes