To use Dictation, you need internet connection. Please make sure your connection is working.

I have the SAME EXACT issue.

However, a twist - dictation in POWERPOINT works fine - click on dictate > get red dot on white microphone > start talking.

In WORD, the system tray says that Word is using the microphone, but the mic remains blue, does something for a couple of seconds, and then throws the internet connection Indian grammar error.

I've cleared out all Office settings, rebooted, etc. - and still have the error.

Also:

• Dictation in Office Online (via browser) works
• Regular dictation through Windows 10 works.
• On another user account - same machine - Word dictation does work.

So this is absolutely an ISOLATED ERROR and ISSUE with Word (or Windows configuration), and not a single person at Microsoft has a clue why.

Hi Sukie

Thank you for your response. On checking the GPO location provided in the link I can confirm they are all set to default 'Not configured'. You advice does offer an interesting insight into the  management mechanism of Dictate.

On further testing with a wider user group I have determined it is a web proxy filter blocking it. I use Forcepoint Web Security. When the endpoint is removed from a computer Dictate works, reapply is and it's blocked again. I have raised a support case with Forcepoint and Whilst I appreciate this is a non-Microsoft product, do you have any insight as to what exceptions maybe required to allow Dictate to bypass web proxies? For the sake of this post this might be useful is anyone else faces a similar issue.

Best regards

Lee

Exact same problem, started a few days ago. Dictation works fine in Word, just not outlook. Works fine on a second computer on the next desk. Both running 365 and Win 10.

Interestingly, the WindowsKey+H works as a workaround. I can start that in outlook and it works fine. So obviously this has nothing to do with the quality of the internet connection.

Interestingly, the computer that dictation won't work in was used by me at a hotel last week, on the hotel's wifi. I wonder if somehow that computer has it in its head that the internet connection isn't right.

(Obviously I have tried rebooting, etc.; no help)

I can't understand how a huge company like MS lets this kind of nonsense happen!

I have been having intermittent problems with Dictation in Word (I have a personal M365 subscription and am on the preview channel: Build 13530.20264). Sometimes it works, other times it doesn't. I would say the split is 80% of the time it is not working and 20% of the time it is working. However, Dictation works in both Outlook (desktop app) and PowerPoint all the time. 

When it doesn't work, I get the error saying "you need Internet connection." After further testing, I've learned that the way I use Word appears to be contributing to the problem. What I do is open a blank file in Word without saving it. I then dictate text into the blank Word file and then cut and paste it into documents I am editing (Word, Outlook emails, Excel, etc.). I should note that I've been using Word this way for at least a year and have only run into this problem in the last month or two.

I can avoid the error by saving the empty Word file to my personal OneDrive account. This turns on AutoSave and Dictation works.

I've sent in feedback reports so hopefully this will get fixed. I just wanted to document my fix in case it helps someone else.

Im on 2102 and still have the same issue as everyone else here.