Dictation is Blocked When All Conditions are Met

Amnon Shomlo 0 Reputation points
2026-07-06T22:18:22.6466667+00:00

Windows + H opens the toolbar and indicates that it is listening, however it is not dictating anything onto the page. My microphone works fine, Privacy permission is on for microphone, and I try to dictate text in an accepted application, but something is preventing or blocking the voice transfer. I am on a laptop with Windows 10, Home edition, and using Avast Browser. I would appreciate tech help resolving this issue.

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Input and language
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  1. CrazyKats 19,595 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2026-07-06T23:17:30.31+00:00

    Hi Amnon,

    Do you have the cursor in the text

    box that you are trying to dictate to?

    Please explain further.

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  2. Hendrix-V 19,035 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2026-07-08T06:47:44.4433333+00:00

    Hi Amnon Shomlo,

    Thank you for providing the details. Since Windows + H opens the Dictation toolbar and shows that it is listening, the microphone and basic Dictation service appear to be starting correctly. One possibility is that the issue is related to the speech-language components or to a specific application rather than the microphone itself.

    You may want to try the following checks:

    1, Test Dictation in another app

    • Open Notepad and try Dictation there.
    • If it works in Notepad but not in Avast Browser, the issue may be isolated to the browser or webpage.

    2, Verify Speech Language Features

    • Go to Settings > Time & Language > Language.
    • Ensure the active language pack includes the required Speech features.

    3, Refresh Speech Components

    • Sign out of Windows and sign back in.
    • Test Dictation again after logging in.

    4, Run Built-in Troubleshooters

    • Go to Settings > Update & Security > Troubleshoot.
    • Run the Recording Audio and Speech troubleshooters if available.

    Let me know if you need further assistance, feel free to ask me by clicking "Add Comment" or "Add Answer" if you cannot add comment so your response will be visible. Thanks for your effort.


    Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.

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