Potok turns speech into text in 33 languages, including English and Russian.
In Windows 10, voice input is turned on with the Win+H combination in a text field: Windows opens the dictation panel. The function works only over the internet, and Windows 10 dictation has no Russian; it appeared only in Windows 11. For dictation in Russian on Windows 10, a separate program such as Potok (potok.now) will do: it recognizes Russian speech and starts with a held key.
The voice input panel in Windows appears with the same key combination on any version of the system, but the set of languages differs between Windows 10 and Windows 11, and for dictation in Russian this difference is fundamental. Other ways to dictate text without a keyboard are collected in the article all ways of voice text input.
How to turn on voice input in Windows 10: step by step
You can turn on voice input in Windows 10 without installing programs: it is a built-in function.
- Place the cursor in the text field where the text should go: Win+H inserts the result only where the cursor blinks.
- Press the Win+H key combination: the Windows voice input panel opens.
- Start speaking: the recognized text will appear right in the field.
- Speak in one of the supported languages, for example English: according to Microsoft's help, Windows 10 dictation has no Russian, and voice commands there are only in English (US).
- The editing commands are English too: for example, “delete that” or “strike that” remove the last dictation result. Russian commands exist only in Windows 11 voice input.
Besides English (US), Microsoft's help names the languages in which you can dictate text, letters and numbers in Windows 10: Chinese, English of other countries, French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish. Russian is not among them.
If voice input did not work
Microsoft's help names two conditions, and they are worth checking: the computer is connected to the internet (voice input recognizes speech in the Microsoft cloud) and a text field is selected before you press Win+H. If the panel opened and is listening but Russian speech is not recognized, the reason is not the settings: Windows 10 dictation has no Russian, while Windows 11 has it. Whether you can get this ability on Windows 10 is covered separately: can you install voice input from Windows 11 on Windows 10.
Who this way will not suit
Potok is a cloud service, recognition runs on servers in Russia; it does not work without the internet. It has no offline mode, no apps for Android and iPhone, no transcription of already recorded files and no translation between languages: it only dictates new text by voice. It has no voice commands for editing text: Potok places punctuation and capital letters itself and writes numbers as digits. The free limit of 2500 words per week is enough for short notes, while dictating all working day needs Pro with no limit. For companies that are forbidden to send data to an external cloud, only the business option with servers inside the company perimeter will do.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. Microsoft's help for Windows 10 says directly that an internet connection is required for dictation: Win+H recognizes speech in the Microsoft cloud, and without a network voice input does not work.
How to turn on voice input 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 How to turn on voice input in Windows 10 you dictate into the same field where you normally type, so there is no need to switch between apps.
How to turn on voice input 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 How to turn on voice input in Windows 10 you dictate into the same field where you normally type, so there is no need to switch between apps.
How to turn on voice input 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 How to turn on voice input in Windows 10 you dictate into the same field where you normally type, so there is no need to switch between apps.
How to turn on voice input 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 How to turn on voice input in Windows 10 you dictate into the same field where you normally type, so there is no need to switch between apps.
Check it in one evening
Install Potok, dictate what you usually type and compare. 14 days of full access, no card needed. 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 |
| Potok | Windows, macOS, Linux | primary language | cloud, servers in Russia, does not work offline |
| Task | Characters | Typing (200 chars/min) | Voice (900 chars/min) |
|---|---|---|---|
| chat reply | 300 | 2 min | 0.5 min |
| 1500 | 8 min | 1.7 min | |
| post or meeting minutes | 4000 | 20 min | 4.4 min |
| article | 10000 | 50 min | 11.1 min |
Primary sources: support.microsoft.com · support.microsoft.com · support.apple.com