Microsoft Word dictation commands
In Word's Dictate, say punctuation by name ("period", "comma", "new line"). Say "delete that" or "scratch that" to remove your last phrase, and "stop dictation" to finish. Formatting commands like "bold that" work in English.
Dictate is part of a Microsoft 365 subscription. These are Microsoft's documented English commands. Word for the web adds some extra navigation, table and font commands.
Punctuation
| Say |
You get |
| "period" or "full stop" |
. |
| "comma" |
, |
| "question mark" |
? |
| "exclamation mark" or "exclamation point" |
! |
| "colon" / "semicolon" |
: / ; |
| "hyphen" |
- |
| "ellipsis" or "dot dot dot" |
... |
| "apostrophe-s" |
's |
| "open quotes" / "close quotes" |
" " |
| "open single quote" / "close single quote" |
' ' |
| "open parentheses" / "close parentheses" |
( ) |
| "open bracket" / "close bracket" |
[ ] |
| "open brace" / "close brace" |
{ } |
| "new line" |
A new line |
Symbols such as "m-dash", "n-dash", "ampersand", "at sign", "copyright sign", "degree symbol", "dollar sign", "euro sign", "plus sign", "division sign", "smiley face" and "heart emoji" also work.
Deleting and undoing
| Say |
Does |
| "delete" |
Deletes the last word or punctuation mark |
| "delete that", "scratch that" or "erase" |
Deletes the last thing you said |
| "delete [word or phrase]" |
Deletes that text |
| "delete last [1–100] words" |
Deletes that many words |
| "backspace [1–100]" |
Presses Backspace that many times |
| "delete from [word] to [word]" |
Deletes a range |
| "undo" |
Undoes the last action |
| "insert space" |
Adds a space |
Selecting
"select [word or phrase]", "select that", "select word", "select sentence", "select paragraph", "select from [word] to [word]"
| Say |
Does |
| "bold", "italics", "underline", "strikethrough" |
Formats, followed by "that", a word or phrase, or "last [number] words" |
| "uppercase", "lowercase", "capitalize" |
Changes capitals, with the same targets |
| "subscript", "superscript" |
Formats |
| "align left", "align center", "align right" |
Aligns the paragraph |
| "increase indent", "decrease indent" |
Indents |
| "clear formatting" |
Removes formatting |
| Say |
Does |
| "create bullet list", "create numbered list" |
Starts a list |
| "next bullet", "exit list" |
Continues or ends a list |
| "add comment [your comment]" |
Adds a comment |
Controlling Dictate
| Say |
Does |
| "pause dictation" |
Pauses |
| "stop dictation" or "exit dictation" |
Stops |
| "show commands" |
Shows the list of commands |