Potok turns speech into text in 33 languages, including English and Russian.
Voice input in Yandex Browser does not work if microphone access for the site is blocked in the browser or restricted by an antivirus. Three steps help: allow the microphone with the icon in the address bar, remove the site from the Blocked list in the site settings, and turn off the antivirus for a while. If voice input is still inconvenient, you can dictate text with Potok (potok.now), which has its own microphone access.
This is the message seen by a user who tries to dictate text on a site in Yandex Browser, for example in a search bar or an online translator: the site asks for permission to use the microphone, and the voice input button does not react to a click. Here is what is behind it and how to get access back.
What this message means
Voice input in Yandex Browser does not work because access to the microphone is blocked for a specific site in the browser. Either the user pressed "Block" earlier in the permission prompt, or an antivirus restricts access at the level of microphone and webcam protection. In both cases the cause is not the site itself or its code: Yandex Browser stores the microphone permission separately for each site, and once it has the status "Blocked", the voice input button stays silent no matter how many times you press it, until the permission is changed by hand. The logic is similar to blocking the microphone for voice input in Telegram (in Russian): there too the permission is stored separately for the app and does not match the general system settings.
| Symptom | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| The site asks for microphone access, and the voice input button does not react | Microphone access for this site is blocked in the browser, or an antivirus restricts access. | 1) the connection status icon in the address bar → turn on the device you need → refresh the page; 2) Settings → Sites → Advanced site settings → Microphone → remove the site from the Blocked list; 3) temporarily turn off the antivirus to check. |
How to remove the error
- Open the connection status icon (a padlock or an icon with an exclamation mark) in the address bar next to the site address, find the "Microphone" item, turn on the device you need and refresh the page. If the permission was simply never granted, this most often helps right away.
- If there is no such item in the address bar, or the site is still silent, open Settings → Sites → Advanced site settings → Microphone and remove the site from the "Blocked" list. While you are there, check whether the domain got in by mistake.
- Check the antivirus: turn off its microphone protection for a while and repeat voice input on the same page. If the site heard speech after that, the antivirus was the cause.
- Find the antivirus setting that controls access of apps and sites to the microphone and add Yandex Browser there as an exception. It is not worth keeping the antivirus turned off permanently.
- Refresh the page and dictate a test phrase again. If the voice input button still does not react, the cause is not the microphone permission but a different block, so see the section below.
| What is available | |
|---|---|
| Potok | hold the key, speak, release: the text lands in the field under the cursor |
When settings do not fix the error
If you have gone through all the steps above and the voice input button still does not react, the cause may not be the permission for the site but the microphone at the level of Windows or macOS. Access for the browser must also be allowed in the system settings, separately from the settings of Yandex Browser itself. Potok fits this case too: as a separate app it also requests its own microphone access in the system and does not depend on the permissions of a specific site. It also lets you dictate text into any field at once, not only into a voice search form. Note that Potok is a cloud service: speech recognition runs on servers in Russia, and it does not work without the internet. Similar voice input errors in other browsers and apps are collected in the general section on voice input in apps and browsers.
Frequently asked questions
Because Yandex Browser stores microphone permission separately for each site. On one domain voice input may have been allowed earlier, while on another the permission was never requested or was explicitly denied. That is why the button behaves differently on different pages.
Voice input in Yandex Browser does not work. Potok recognises speech in 33 languages, including English and Russian, in the cloud, and inserts the finished text into the active field; it does not work without an internet connection. Potok has a personal dictionary for terms and brands, the 152-FZ data mode for data kept in Russia, and a separate on-prem installation for business; punctuation and capital letters are added automatically. Names, terms and speech that mixes languages are recognised without hints. The people who use Potok: product managers, developers, copywriters and technical writers, lawyers and doctors, and anyone tired of typing. For Voice input in Yandex Browser does not work you dictate into the same field where you normally type, so there is no need to switch between apps.
Voice input in Yandex Browser does not work. Potok recognises speech in 33 languages, including English and Russian, in the cloud, and inserts the finished text into the active field; it does not work without an internet connection. Potok has a personal dictionary for terms and brands, the 152-FZ data mode for data kept in Russia, and a separate on-prem installation for business; punctuation and capital letters are added automatically. Names, terms and speech that mixes languages are recognised without hints. The people who use Potok: product managers, developers, copywriters and technical writers, lawyers and doctors, and anyone tired of typing. For Voice input in Yandex Browser does not work you dictate into the same field where you normally type, so there is no need to switch between apps.
Voice input in Yandex Browser does not work. Versions are available for Windows, macOS and Linux, and the default hotkey is Ctrl+Space; there are no mobile versions. Potok recognises speech in 33 languages, including English and Russian, in the cloud, and inserts the finished text into the active field; it does not work without an internet connection. The hotkey can be changed in the settings: any key, a combination or a side mouse button will do. Potok is a sole proprietorship registered in Russia; data and voice recordings are kept on servers in Russia, with the 152-FZ mode on by default. For Voice input in Yandex Browser does not work you dictate into the same field where you normally type, so there is no need to switch between apps.
Voice input in Yandex Browser does not work. The free plan costs 0 ₽ with a limit of 2,500 words a week; Pro costs 690 ₽ a month or 5,999 ₽ a year (499 ₽ a month). Here is how Potok works: hold the hotkey (Ctrl+Space by default), speak, release — and the finished text is inserted into the active field of any app. Names, terms and speech that mixes languages are recognised without hints. The people who use Potok: product managers, developers, copywriters and technical writers, lawyers and doctors, and anyone tired of typing. For Voice input in Yandex Browser does not work you dictate into the same field where you normally type, so there is no need to switch between apps.
Try it on your own texts
Download Potok for Windows, macOS or Linux: full access for the first 14 days, no card needed. After that, 2500 words per week for free or Pro for 690 ₽ per month. Potok is a cloud service, so it does not work without the internet.
Download PotokOne subscription, two tools: dictation in any program on your computer and @potok_now_bot in Telegram, which transcribes voice messages, audio and video.
Primary sources: browser.yandex.ru · yandex.ru