Word Dictate keeps inserting the word 'open'

Anonymous
2022-10-20T18:57:38+00:00

A few days ago, Microsoft Word started randomly inserting the word ‘open’ into what I speak. I never say that word, it just automatically appears. I've looked through all the threads about similar issues in the past with words like ‘hey’ and have followed every single suggestion in those threads, including reinstalling Word. Nothing has worked. Most of the threads were from 2020 but I never saw if there was a final resolution. I've been using dictate and this version of Word for over a year now and have not had any issues until a few days ago. Please advise.

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | Other | Windows

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Anonymous
2023-01-04T20:00:37+00:00

Hi CKGhostwriter!

Sorry for the delayed response.

We've just deployed a change that should fix the "open" issue. If you are still using the product, it would be great if you could use the dictation feature again to see that it fixed your problem. (Although deployment sometimes takes a few days).

If within the next week, you still don't see a fix, please report the issue through the office app with Help>Feedback. If you include the word "dictation" in your feedback, someone on the team should be reviewing your feedback in a timely manner.

This goes for anyone else reading this with the same issue.

Sorry about the experience. We are working hard to make it better for everyone!

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  1. Charles Kenyon 171.1K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2022-12-05T03:59:44+00:00

    To all of those experiencing this headache of a problem,

    I came up with a temporary work-around for this problem. It seems to me that the microphone is picking up on some ambient sound nearby (typing, flipping a page, etc.) and interpreting it by default as the word open. The trick is to change the hotkey that engages the dictation to something easy for you to reach. Then it can be toggled on and off rapidly during any pauses in speech, I know this is a bit of an arduous work-around, and it may not work with all workflows, but it works for me while transcribing audio dialogue.

    P.S.

    Microsoft, please fix this soon. It is wildly annoying.

    For me, an external headset microphone works.

    Generally I do not dictate, though. My typing is faster and less prone to error. I sometimes do use the transcription for recorded voice.

    Note, this is not the place to get any changes made in Word nor the attention of developers at Microsoft. This is an independent user-to-user support forum. MS does not see anything you post here. The way to get their attention is through the feedback mechanisms.

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  2. Anonymous
    2022-11-26T22:04:28+00:00

    I called Microsoft support. It is a known problem. They want me to reset my web mail application password. I have not done that yet. They found I had some corrupted files which were removed I have this problem in both Outlook and Word. The problem is unresolved. I suggest you call Microsoft support if you have an Office 365 subscription. I will continue working on the problem until it is resolved.

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  3. Anonymous
    2022-11-22T14:50:36+00:00

    I also have this issue when I speak and it puts the word "OPEN" in the middle of my sentence. Slight background noise does this as well whether its a keystroke or phone ring the word OPEN is inserted.

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  4. Anonymous
    2022-11-05T14:56:02+00:00

    I see that there's been no resolution. Shocker. Anyhow, in addition to the "open" issue, Microsoft Word is now randomly inserting the word "YouTube" into my documents as well... which I find absolutely hysterical, considering YouTube is owned by Google/Alphabet.

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