Potok turns speech into text in 33 languages, including English and Russian.
Voice typing (Win+H) in Windows disappears for one of 3 official reasons: the right microphone is not selected, the app has no access to the microphone, or the current input language is not supported. The fix depends on the cause: check the microphone, access and input language in the matching Windows settings. If it still falls short on speed or Russian quality, there are other options, including Potok (potok.now).
Pressing Win+H used to open the voice typing panel right away, and now nothing happens? Officially this situation has three typical explanations, and all three can be checked and fixed without reinstalling Windows.
Why voice input disappears: three official reasons
- The microphone is not selected or not set as the default input device. Windows uses for voice typing exactly the device given in the sound settings, and if it is the wrong microphone, recognition does not start. Check and fix it in Settings → System → Sound → Input.
- The app has no access to the microphone in the privacy settings. Without this permission voice typing gets no sound at all, even if the microphone is selected correctly. Turn it on in Settings → Privacy & security → Microphone. A situation similar in symptom but different in cause happens when a third-party program intercepts microphone access; it is covered in the article “antivirus blocks the microphone” (in Russian).
- The current input language is not supported by Windows voice typing. For such languages the voice typing panel does not activate. Check and change it in the input language settings.
| Symptom | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Voice typing (Win+H) used to work, stopped appearing/responding | The official list of typical causes: the microphone is not selected/not set as the input device, the app has no access to the microphone, the current language is not supported. | 1) Settings → System → Sound → Input: choose the right microphone; 2) Settings → Privacy & security → Microphone: turn on access; 3) check/change the input language to a supported one. |
If none of the three items fit
Microsoft's official list names three causes: microphone choice, app access and a supported language. The sources document no separate rare cases for this error. If all three items are already checked and voice typing still has not appeared, further diagnosis goes beyond what the official documentation describes, and it is worth contacting Microsoft support or community forums.
| Service | Platforms | Free | Price | Payment from Russia | Where speech is recognized |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Potok | Windows, macOS, Linux | Free: 2500 words per week; full access for the first 14 days, no card needed | Pro 690 ₽/mo, 499 ₽/mo when paid yearly | Russian bank cards, rubles | cloud, servers in Russia; internet required |
| WhispeRu | Windows | 7-day free trial (no card) | 290 ₽/mo (monthly license); 1990 ₽/yr (yearly license); 4990 ₽/one-time (lifetime license) | rubles directly (payment via YooKassa) | device (offline) |
| Talkpad | macOS, Windows, Android | 2500 words/week on desktop, 1500 words/week on mobile, free forever; plus a 14-day Pro trial | $6/mo (Pro (billed yearly, $72/yr)); $8/mo (Pro (monthly billing)) | unknown (not confirmed) | cloud (the legal entity is registered in Australia; the website is hosted on Cloudflare; the exact location of the ASR servers is not disclosed in the privacy policy) (not confirmed) |
| Dragon NaturallySpeaking | Windows | not disclosed | $699.99/one-time (Dragon Professional Individual v16, perpetual licence) | not disclosed | device (offline) — local acoustic engine (~8 GB neural network) after installation; internet is only needed to activate the licence |
| Aqua Voice | macOS, Windows, iOS | Starter: 1000 free words (Avalon model), no card required | $8/mo (Pro, billed yearly); $10/mo (Pro, monthly); $24/mo (Max, billed yearly) | unknown: the website shows payment in USD, and there is a separate purchase through the iOS App Store; acceptance of Russian cards is not confirmed (not confirmed) | cloud (own Avalon model; the country of the data center is not publicly disclosed) (not confirmed) |
| A-Golos | macOS, Windows, Android | 20 minutes of audio per month free, no card attached | 490 ₽/mo (Lite, 120 min/mo); 4900 ₽/yr (Lite, yearly); 950 ₽/mo (Pro, 300 min/mo) | rubles directly (through an external payment provider, card data is not stored by the service) | cloud: the policy states that personal data is stored on servers in Russia, but the speech recognition itself is performed by OpenAI (USA); results and audio are not stored on the company's servers |
| Glas (LidFly) | Windows, macOS | 0 ₽ — 2000 words per week free for life, no card and no email sign-up; the first 2 weeks have no word limit | — | rubles directly: payment via SBP; invoices for companies and sole proprietors | cloud (Russia) — the site says “Russian servers, works without a VPN” |
| Win+H (Windows voice typing) | Windows | free, built into Windows 10 and Windows 11 | — | not disclosed | cloud (Azure Speech services, Microsoft) — an internet connection is required |
| SuperWhisper | macOS, Windows, iOS | free: small local models with no usage limits (offline) | $8.49/mo (Pro, monthly); $84.99/yr (Pro, annual (≈$7.08/mo)); $249.99/one-time (Lifetime, one-time, covers Mac+Windows+iOS) | not disclosed | hybrid: small local models offline (free), large cloud models (Scribe, Nova, Gemini, GPT and others) through the Superwhisper proxy on Pro/BYOK — providers see the request from the proxy, not the user's account |
| Molvi | Windows, macOS | free forever, no accounts and no payment | — | not needed: the product is free; voluntary donations are accepted via Telegram Tribute or by card on the website, amounts are not fixed | device (offline; best quality on an NVIDIA GPU, otherwise a fast model on the CPU) |
| SpeechPad (voice notepad) | Web (Chrome), Chrome extension, Android, iOS, integration modules for Windows/Mac/Linux | basic voice input in the notepad is free; transcription of audio/video up to 15 minutes is free | 100 ₽/mo (extended mode (integration of voice input with Windows/Linux OS, removal of the 15-minute transcription limit): the amount appears in user comments/reviews, and no exact official price list was found on the site) | yes: Robokassa and bank cards are accepted (for payment from abroad, an alternative site voicenotebook.com with PayPal is mentioned) | not disclosed |
When it is easier to try another program than to fix Win+H
If none of the three official items helped and you need voice input right now, you can try a separate app for dictation on the computer, for example Potok (potok.now). Potok is a cloud service: recognition runs on servers in Russia, and it does not work without the internet. The confusion about your organization managing voice services is covered separately: voice input is unavailable: your organization manages voice services (in Russian).
Frequently asked questions
Yes, if the new layout matches a language that Windows voice typing does not support: in that case the voice typing panel does not activate, even though the microphone and access to it are set up correctly. The fix is to switch to a supported input language in the Windows settings.
Voice input disappeared in Windows. 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 disappeared in Windows you dictate into the same field where you normally type, so there is no need to switch between apps.
Voice input disappeared in Windows. 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 disappeared in Windows you dictate into the same field where you normally type, so there is no need to switch between apps.
Voice input disappeared in Windows. 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 disappeared in Windows you dictate into the same field where you normally type, so there is no need to switch between apps.
Voice input disappeared in Windows. 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 disappeared in Windows you dictate into the same field where you normally type, so there is no need to switch between apps.
If you want to compare for yourself
Take one of your own tasks and dictate it in Potok. The first 14 days have no limits and need no card. 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.
Primary sources: support.microsoft.com · support.microsoft.com · support.apple.com