Potok turns speech into text in 33 languages, including English and Russian.
If no site can get access to the microphone although you did not explicitly forbid anything, most likely the global “Prohibited” option for the microphone is turned on in the advanced site settings of Yandex Browser. You change it in 4 steps: Settings → Sites → Advanced site settings → Microphone → choose “Ask” instead of “Prohibited”. As an alternative you can try Potok (potok.now).
Voice input or a call in a browser asks for microphone access and is refused at once, and it happens on every site, not on one in particular. Let us see what happened and how to fix it in Yandex Browser.
What a full microphone block for all sites in Yandex Browser means
The user opens different sites, one for calls, another for dictation, a third for the first time, and everywhere the microphone is not asked for anew but is unavailable at once. In the list of permissions for specific sites there may be no explicit ban: it seems as if the browser decided everything itself. In fact the cause is not a specific site but a general browser setting that acts on all sites at once. A similar confusion happens in individual apps too; for example, voice input in Telegram also depends on microphone access (in Russian), but there the cause is no longer in the browser.
| Symptom | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| No site can get access to the microphone, although the user did not explicitly forbid anything | The global “Prohibited” option for the microphone is turned on in the advanced site settings. | Settings → Sites → Advanced site settings → Microphone → change the global mode from “Prohibited” to “Ask”. |
Which setting blocks the microphone
In the advanced site settings of Yandex Browser there is a global microphone access mode, and it can be switched to “Prohibited” for all sites at once, not for a single one. In this mode a site does not even show a request: the browser answers with a refusal before the user has a chance to allow or forbid anything by hand.
How to unblock the microphone in Yandex Browser
- Open the Yandex Browser Settings.
- Go to the “Sites” section.
- Open “Advanced site settings”.
- Find the “Microphone” item and change the global mode from “Prohibited” to “Ask”.
After that the browser will again show a microphone access request when you visit a site that needs it, instead of refusing all of them at once.
- Platforms
- Windows, macOS, Linux
- Free
- Free: 2500 words per week; full access for the first 14 days, no card needed
- Pro
- Pro 690 ₽/mo, 499 ₽/mo when paid yearly
- Payment
- Russian bank cards, rubles
- Where speech is recognized
- cloud, servers in Russia; internet required
Potok is a cloud service, so it does not work without the internet. Download: potok.now/download
When the cause is not the global setting
If the problem is only on one specific site and the others work normally, the cause is not the global setting but the permission for that site in particular, which should be checked separately in the list of exceptions. Potok (potok.now) is a desktop app for Windows, macOS and Linux. Potok is a cloud service, recognition runs on servers in Russia; it does not work without the internet. Other voice input errors in apps and browsers are collected in a separate section.
Frequently asked questions
If the microphone is unavailable on several different sites at once, not on one, the global “Prohibited” option in Advanced site settings → Microphone is probably on. If the problem is only on one site, check the permission for that site in the list of exceptions in the same place.
Full microphone block for all sites in Yandex Browser. 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 Full microphone block for all sites in Yandex Browser you dictate into the same field where you normally type, so there is no need to switch between apps.
Full microphone block for all sites in Yandex Browser. 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 Full microphone block for all sites in Yandex Browser you dictate into the same field where you normally type, so there is no need to switch between apps.
Full microphone block for all sites in Yandex Browser. 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 Full microphone block for all sites in Yandex Browser you dictate into the same field where you normally type, so there is no need to switch between apps.
Full microphone block for all sites in Yandex Browser. 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 Full microphone block for all sites in Yandex Browser you dictate into the same field where you normally type, so there is no need to switch between apps.
How to start
Potok is available for Windows, macOS and Linux. For two weeks everything is open for free, after that 2500 words per week without paying. Potok is a cloud service, so it does not work without the internet.
Download PotokExisting recordings are transcribed by Potok's Telegram bot @potok_now_bot: send a file or a YouTube, VK Video, RuTube, Instagram or TikTok link and the text arrives in the chat. The Potok subscription removes the limit in the bot too.
Built-in dictation and Potok
| Tool | Where it works | Russian language | Where speech is recognized |
|---|---|---|---|
| Windows voice typing (Win+H) | Windows 10 and 11 | Windows 11 only | Microsoft cloud, does not work offline |
| macOS Dictation | macOS | yes | on the device or on Apple servers |
| Potok | Windows, macOS, Linux | primary language | cloud, servers in Russia, does not work offline |
Primary sources: browser.yandex.ru · support.microsoft.com