Speech to Text - Free Voice Transcription Online

How to use this tool

1. Choose your language from the dropdown.
2. Click "Start Listening" and allow microphone access.
3. Speak clearly. Interim results appear in grey; confirmed text turns black.
4. Click "Stop" when done, edit any mistakes in the transcript, then copy or download it.

How does browser speech recognition work?

This tool uses the Web Speech API built into your browser. In Chrome and Edge, audio is sent to Google's or Microsoft's speech recognition service. In Firefox and Safari, support varies by version.

Tips for accuracy

• Use a good microphone in a quiet environment for best results.
• Speak at a natural, clear pace.
• Punctuation is not always recognised - you may need to add it manually.

Privacy note

Chrome and Edge typically send microphone audio to Google's or Microsoft's speech services for recognition. Other browser providers and offline behavior vary. The transcript stays in this page and is not uploaded to Toolcroft.

Language and dialect support

This tool offers exactly ten locale choices: en-US (English, US), en-GB (English, UK), fr-FR (French), de-DE (German), es-ES (Spanish, Spain), pt-BR (Portuguese, Brazil), it-IT (Italian), ja-JP (Japanese), zh-CN (Chinese, Simplified), and ko-KR (Korean). The selected locale is passed directly to the browser's speech recognition engine; an unlisted locale does not fall back to the browser's default language. Browser and provider support and accuracy vary.

Punctuation commands (Chrome)

In Chrome on supported languages, you can speak punctuation by name:

• "period" or "full stop" -> .
• "comma" -> ,
• "question mark" -> ?
• "exclamation mark" -> !
• "new line" or "new paragraph" -> line break

Support varies by language and Chrome version. If spoken punctuation doesn't work, add punctuation manually after dictation.

Limitations

• Not continuous real-time transcription: the Web Speech API processes audio in utterances, not a continuous stream. A pause in speech ends the current utterance and triggers a recognition result.
• Silence timeout: after several seconds of silence, the API typically stops listening and requires restarting. This varies by browser and OS.
• Background noise: the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) significantly affects accuracy. In noisy environments, use a close-microphone headset rather than a built-in laptop mic.