Dictate / Windows
Offline dictation for Windows 11 and 10
Hold Right Ctrl, speak, let go: Dictate types what you said wherever your cursor is, in any app. The speech model runs on your PC, so it works without an internet connection and nothing you say leaves it.
Free in the Microsoft Store as “Offline Dictation” · 7 days free, then $49 once, lifetime license, no subscription · Windows 10 (22H2) or 11 · 64-bit PC
How it works
- Hold your key. Right Ctrl by default, or any key you choose; each keyboard can have its own.
- Speak. A small indicator shows Dictate is listening. Pause, think, carry on.
- Let go. The text is pasted at your cursor: an email, a document, a chat, a terminal. Fillers like “um” and stuttered repeats are removed, and your own substitutions fix names it mishears.
What stays on your PC
Everything you say. Audio is held in memory while you speak, transcribed on your PC by NVIDIA's Parakeet model, then discarded; it is never written to disk. The pasted text is kept out of Windows clipboard history and cloud clipboard sync. Your licence is checked on your PC too, so dictation never waits on a server. The privacy page has the details.
Offline speech to text on Windows, compared
From each product's published information, October 2026.
| Dictate | Windows voice typing | Voice access | Wispr Flow | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Works without internet | Yes | No | Yes, after setup | No |
| Where speech is processed | On your PC (Parakeet) | Online, by Azure Speech services | On-device, after a one-time language download | Cloud — audio is sent to their servers |
| Made for | Typing by voice in any app | Typing by voice in any app | Controlling the whole PC by voice | Typing by voice, with AI rewriting |
| Windows versions | 10 (22H2) and 11 | 10 and 11 | 11 (22H2+) | Windows app |
| Price | $49 once, lifetime license, no subscription | Free, built into Windows | Free, built into Windows 11 | $15/month, or $144/year |
Microsoft: “Use voice typing to talk instead of type on your PC” and “Set up voice access”; Wispr Flow: wisprflow.ai/pricing and its help centre.
More detail: does Windows voice typing work offline? · a Wispr Flow alternative for Windows · voice access vs voice typing, and when neither fits · a Dragon alternative for Windows · dictating into Word without Microsoft 365.
Mac or Windows
Dictate for Mac
Apple Silicon Mac · macOS 14 Sonoma or later. Download the app, open it, and it fetches its speech model once. Updates install themselves.
v1.12.2 · Hold Right Option, or any key you choose
Dictate for Windows
Windows 10 (22H2) or 11 · 64-bit PC. From the Microsoft Store, listed as “Offline Dictation”. The speech model comes with the app, so it works offline from the first launch.
v1.0.2 · Hold Right Ctrl, or any key you choose
One price on both: 7 days free, then $49 once, lifetime license, no subscription. Your key works on your Mac and your PC; buy once.
Questions
Is there dictation software for Windows that works offline?
Yes. Dictate transcribes on your PC with no internet connection: the speech model comes with the app from the Microsoft Store, so it works offline from the first launch. Windows' own voice typing (Windows logo key + H) uses online speech recognition; Windows 11's Voice access runs on-device in English, Spanish, German, French, Italian, Chinese and Japanese (15 language variants), but it is built for controlling the whole PC by voice.
How do I dictate offline on Windows 11?
Use voice access or a dictation app with its own speech model; voice typing (Windows logo key + H) needs the internet. Voice access recognises speech on the PC after a one-time language download and is built for controlling Windows by voice. Dictate installs from the Microsoft Store with its model included: hold Right Ctrl, speak, release, and the text is typed in any app, offline.
Does it work on Windows 10?
Yes, on Windows 10 version 22H2, 64-bit. Windows 10 has no voice access, and its built-in dictation needs an internet connection, so an app like Dictate is the way to dictate offline there.
Does Dictate for Windows send anything over the internet?
No. The Windows app makes no network connections: no model download, no update check (the Microsoft Store updates it), no analytics. Nothing you dictate leaves your PC.
Why is it called “Offline Dictation” in the Microsoft Store?
Because the name “Dictate” was already taken in the Store. “Offline Dictation” by cphtech.dk is Dictate: the same app, the same licence, and it calls itself Dictate once installed.
Can I install it with winget?
Yes: winget install 9N1DM9QT7CS6 installs it from the Microsoft Store source, the same signed package as the Store, and winget upgrade updates it.
Which PCs does it run on?
PCs running Windows 10 22H2 or Windows 11 (x64). Speech is transcribed on the processor, so it is fastest on recent ones; we test against Windows 11's own processor list: Intel 8th generation or AMD Ryzen 2000 or newer, with 4 cores or more.
How much does Dictate for Windows cost?
The app is free in the Microsoft Store with a 7-day trial; after that, a licence costs $49, once, with no subscription. It is the same licence as on the Mac: one key covers every future update, for life, on all your computers.
Which languages does it understand?
21 European languages: English, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish. It detects the language each time you speak, so you can switch from English to German without changing a setting.