Potok turns speech into text in 33 languages, including English and Russian.
Built-in dictation (Win+H) in Windows 10 officially supports 7 languages: Simplified Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish in several regional variants, but not Russian, and there is no official way to change this. Russian appears in voice typing only starting with Windows 11. While a move is not possible, you can try Potok (potok.now).
The list of voice typing languages in Windows depends on the version of the system, and this is rarely obvious until you start looking for Russian and do not find it on the list.
What to do if you need Russian right now
There is no official way to add Russian to voice typing in Windows 10: the list of languages is built into the version of the system itself, not into a separate setting that can be turned on. The only officially described way is to upgrade to Windows 11, where voice typing supports Russian out of the box. If the upgrade is unavailable or undesirable right now, a working alternative is a third-party program such as Potok: it has its own recognition model trained for Russian speech, and it does not depend on the voice typing language list.
| Symptom | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| The user cannot dictate text in Russian through built-in dictation | The official list of languages supported by built-in dictation (Win+H) in Windows 10: Simplified Chinese, English (Australia, Canada, India, UK), French (France, Canada), German, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish (Mexico, Spain); Russian is not on this list. | There is no official way to turn on Russian for built-in dictation in Windows 10; the option is to move to Windows 11, where voice typing officially supports Russian. |
Why Windows 10 has no Russian
Microsoft's official documentation lists the following for voice typing in Windows 10: Simplified Chinese, English (several regions), French (France, Canada), German, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil) and Spanish (Mexico, Spain), 7 languages in all. Russian is not on this list, and this is not connected with the interface language or the user's regional settings: the limitation belongs to the version of voice typing that ships with Windows 10 itself. Windows 11 has a different language list for voice typing, and Russian is in it.
- 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
How not to run into this again
- Check in Settings → Windows Update whether an upgrade to Windows 11 is available: if it is, that is the official way to get Russian in voice typing.
- If the upgrade is unavailable because of hardware requirements, you should not count on Microsoft adding Russian to Windows 10 separately; there are no official statements about it.
- If you need voice input in Russian right now, Potok does not require a Windows update: 14 days of full access for free, with no card, so you can try it and decide whether the speed and quality suit you.
- If voice input at a company is blocked by policies and not by language, the cause is different; it is covered in the article about voice services managed by an organization (in Russian).
Where Potok does not fit
Potok is a cloud service, recognition runs on servers in Russia, and it does not work without the internet. If a company forbids sending audio outside its own perimeter, the regular Potok will not fit: for such cases there is a business option with servers inside the company perimeter, but that is a separate request, not something that switches on right away. Other voice input errors in Windows are collected in the Windows section.
Frequently asked questions
There are no official announcements about this. The list of languages supported by voice typing in Microsoft documentation applies to a specific version of Windows, and for Windows 10 it does not include Russian. Moving to Windows 11 is currently the only officially described way to get Russian in voice typing.
Why dictation in Russian is unavailable in Windows 10. 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 Why dictation in Russian is unavailable in Windows 10 you dictate into the same field where you normally type, so there is no need to switch between apps.
Why dictation in Russian is unavailable in Windows 10. 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 Why dictation in Russian is unavailable in Windows 10 you dictate into the same field where you normally type, so there is no need to switch between apps.
Why dictation in Russian is unavailable in Windows 10. 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 Why dictation in Russian is unavailable in Windows 10 you dictate into the same field where you normally type, so there is no need to switch between apps.
Why dictation in Russian is unavailable in Windows 10. 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 Why dictation in Russian is unavailable in Windows 10 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 PotokOne subscription, two tools: dictation in any program on your computer and @potok_now_bot in Telegram, which transcribes voice messages, audio and video.
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: support.microsoft.com · support.apple.com