Microsoft is giving Office Insiders a chance to test out the latest accessibility feature to hit the productivity suite: voice dictation. Insiders on the Fast ring will now be able to use speech recognition built into Word, PowerPoint, OneNote and Outlook to write documents, populate slides, compose emails, and take notes.
Getting started with dictation is fairly straightforward. Within whichever Office app you're using, a new Dictate button will appear on the Home tab. If you have a microphone connected to your PC, you can simply click the Dictate button to begin, and the icon will turn red to indicate you can start speaking. As you speak, the text will appear in your document, email, slide, or page.
According to Microsoft, the feature works best if you speak conversationally; the app will pick up on pauses and insert punctuation automatically. If you need to add specific punctuation, you can do so by saying its name. So, for example, you can add a question mark simply by saying "question mark."
Last year, Microsoft Garage launched a dictation add-in for Office which essentially did the same thing. However, baking it directly into Office is likely to make the feature much more accessible to everyone.
If you're an Office 365 subscriber on the Insider Fast ring, you can check out voice dictation now. Be aware that, at least for now, the feature only works for the English language in the U.S. You also must be connected to the internet to use dictation.
We may earn a commission for purchases using our links. Learn more.

We're going to see tons of game delays this year and that's OK
We'll be seeing a lot of games delayed throughout 2021, more than were delayed in 2020. Right now, you should only depend on playing things that were originally supposed to release last year. Here's why that's OK.

AMD's Radeon RX 6000 GPUs have arrived. Here's where to find them.
AMD's Radeon RX 6000 GPUs aren't easy to find, and you might be wondering which models are available where. Check out the retailers and models you can expect to buy when stock normalizes.

These are the biggest PC announcements from CES 2021
CES 2021 was different in that it wasn't held at a physical location. Instead, companies relied on press kits and virtual presentations to showcase all the new products. We've rounded up the best PC-related announcements in case you happened to miss the show.

Get off WhatsApp with these other secure messenger apps
Don't agree with the new terms of service WhatsApp has recently laid out? Don't want Facebook snooping around your business? There are other intuitive messenger services that uphold your privacy, and they're collected right here.