Offline dictation on Windows: Win+H, Voice Access or an app

Which Windows dictation works without the internet?

Voice Access works without the internet and voice typing does not. That is what Microsoft’s support pages say, checked on 3 October 2026: voice typing, the one you start with the Windows key plus H, uses online speech recognition, and Voice Access recognises speech on the PC itself. An on-device dictation app needs the internet once, to download its speech model, and not after that.

We took this from Microsoft’s own pages. Each is linked so you can read it yourself, and the date is there because support pages get rewritten.

Does Win+H voice typing work offline?

No. Voice typing is the dictation built into Windows 11 and Windows 10. You start it with Windows key + H on a hardware keyboard, or the microphone button on the touch keyboard, and it types into the text field you are in. Microsoft’s voice typing page is plain about where the recognition happens:

The same page says you must be connected to the internet to use it. With the network off, voice typing cannot work, and it does not meet a rule that audio must stay on the PC. If you need to know what happens to speech sent for online recognition, the document to read is the Microsoft Privacy Statement.

Where being online is fine, voice typing is already on your PC and costs nothing extra. Microsoft also lists a long set of languages for it on Windows 11, which matters if you dictate in a language other than English, since Dictate Safe is English only. For a quick reply in Teams or an email, when you are online and nothing forbids sending audio out, we would use voice typing and install nothing.

Does Voice Access need the internet?

No, according to Microsoft. Its Voice Access page says the feature “uses modern, on-device speech recognition” and “works even without the internet.” Voice Access is available in Windows 11, version 22H2 and later, and the page says that on those versions it replaces the older Windows Speech Recognition, starting September 2024.

Voice Access does more than voice typing. It lets you control the PC by voice, opening and switching between apps, browsing the web and reading and writing email, as well as writing text. If you want to keep your hands off the keyboard and mouse for long stretches, it is the tool to learn, and nothing we sell replaces it.

Where does an on-device dictation app fit?

Dictate Safe, a dictation app for Windows and macOS, runs speech recognition on your own computer. You hold a key (F9 by default on Windows, changeable in Settings), speak, and it types into whichever field has focus. It needs the internet once, to download a speech model: about 150 MB for Base, the default, or about 490 MB for Small. After that it dictates with no connection, and you do not need an account to dictate. You pay for it once.

Voice typing and Voice Access come with Windows. A paid app makes sense in these cases:

• You are on Windows 10. Dictate Safe runs on the 64-bit edition, and Microsoft lists Voice Access for Windows 11, version 22H2 and later only.
• The same names and terms come up every day. A vocabulary list teaches the app how to spell them.
• Code is part of what you dictate. Code Mode, off by default, turns spoken names into symbols, so saying “open paren” types (.
• A record would help. Every dictation goes into a searchable history on the PC, and you can delete any of them.
• Your other computer is a Mac, where the same app runs on macOS 12 or newer.

If you work under a rule that nothing leaves the PC, look at Offline Lock, one switch that stops the app making any outbound connection, our own update checks included. There is also an optional cloud mode that uses your own Groq key for speech (cleanup can use Groq or OpenAI). It stays off unless you turn it on, and while cloud speech is on, your recording goes to Groq. Our offline page sets out what runs on the PC and what can reach the network.

The app is the wrong pick if you dictate in a language other than English, or if you want to open and switch apps by voice, which Voice Access does and Dictate Safe does not. If voice typing already does what you need and nothing stops you sending audio online, keep using it. We have not compared how well these tools recognise speech, so this post makes no claim about that either way.

How can you check that a tool works offline?

A test on your own PC is better evidence than any web page, this one included, and the short version takes about 30 seconds. Set the tool up while you are online, so any speech model or language files are already downloaded. Then switch on Airplane mode from the network icon on the taskbar. If the PC is on a network cable, unplug it as well, because Airplane mode turns off wireless connections and leaves a cable alone. Open Notepad and dictate a sentence. If the words appear, the recognition ran on your PC. Going by Microsoft’s page, voice typing should not work in the same test.

A sentence in Notepad shows that the speech recognition can run without a network. The full offline test has more checks, for when you need firmer evidence than that. For the background on which kinds of tool upload audio, read Does dictation software send your voice to the cloud?

Which should you use?

Your Windows version and whether audio may leave the PC decide most of it.

• For a few sentences at a time, online, with no rule against sending audio out, use voice typing. Press Windows key + H and talk.
• On Windows 11, version 22H2 or later, when you need to dictate offline or audio must stay on the PC, try Voice Access first, once you have checked that your language works offline.
• Windows 10 with an offline requirement rules out Voice Access, so an on-device app such as Dictate Safe is the option we can speak for (it is on the download page). We have not checked what else Windows 10 includes for offline speech, so we make no claim about it.
• When you dictate code, or you move between a Mac and a PC, an app with Code Mode and a Mac version is the better fit.
• In a language other than English, use voice typing if you can be online, or check which languages Voice Access handles offline. Dictate Safe is English only.