How to Dictate Offline on Windows 11

You can't dictate offline with the voice typing built into Windows 11. Win+H sends your speech to Microsoft's online speech recognition, so it stops working the moment you lose your connection. To dictate offline, you need an app that runs the speech recognition on your own computer, and there are now several free ones that do.

This guide explains why Windows needs the internet for this, which apps work without it, and how to go from installing one to your first dictated sentence.

Does Windows 11 voice typing work offline?

No. Microsoft is plain about it. Its voice typing support page says that voice typing "uses online speech recognition, which is powered by Azure Speech services", and that to use it you need to be connected to the internet, have a working microphone, and have your cursor in a text box.

So the audio leaves your PC. On a train, on a plane, in a building with patchy Wi-Fi, or on a network that blocks cloud services, voice typing simply won't start.

There is one partial exception worth knowing about. On Copilot+ PCs, Microsoft has added Fluid dictation, which tidies grammar, punctuation, and filler words using small language models that run on the device. That clean-up step is local; the voice typing it sits on top of is still described as online speech recognition. It doesn't make Win+H an offline tool.

Why does Microsoft do it this way?

Accurate speech recognition used to need far more computing power than a typical laptop had. Sending audio to a data centre was the practical answer, and it still lets Microsoft support dozens of languages without asking you to download anything.

That changed when open speech models such as Whisper arrived. A modern Windows PC can now turn speech into text on its own, quickly enough for everyday dictation. The trade-off moved: you no longer have to choose between accuracy and keeping your voice on your machine.

Which dictation apps work offline on Windows?

Three free options run speech recognition locally. Each takes a slightly different approach.

Prices and features as of October 2026, from each product's own site.

Handy is a free, open-source app. Its GitHub page describes it as speech-to-text "that works completely offline", and it runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux. If you like open-source tools and want something minimal, it's a good choice.

Superwhisper offers unlimited dictation on its free plan using local Whisper models; its plans page says that on the free plan "nothing you dictate leaves your device". Pro costs $8.49 a month, $84.99 a year, or $249.99 once, as of October 2026, and adds cloud models and AI modes. Superwhisper also has phone apps, which Murmr does not.

Murmr is the app I make. Dictation is free for life with no word cap, and the speech recognition, built on Whisper, runs on your computer, so your voice isn't sent to a cloud service. Press a key, speak, and the text appears wherever your cursor is, in any app. The free version also includes a Style Picker (Raw, Polished, Casual, Formal, Concise, or Emojis), a searchable memory of everything you've dictated, and export to .txt and .docx.

How to dictate offline with Murmr

From download to your first sentence takes a few minutes.

1. Go to the Murmr download page and get the Windows installer.
2. Run the installer and open Murmr. You need the internet only to download Murmr; after that, dictation runs fully offline, and Pro needs a connection once to verify your key.
3. Check that Windows is using the right microphone: Start > Settings > System > Sound, then choose your device under Input.
4. Click into any text box: an email, a Word document, a chat window, or a browser field.
5. Press Murmr's dictation shortcut, which the app shows you, and speak naturally.
6. Press the shortcut again to finish. Your words appear where the cursor was.

Then switch off your Wi-Fi and do it again. That is the simplest test of any app that claims to work offline, and it takes ten seconds.

If you want extra tools around dictation, such as a personal dictionary for names and jargon, media transcription and subtitles, or Ask AI from any app, Murmr Pro is $29.99 once, with no subscription, as of October 2026. None of it is needed to dictate.

Is offline dictation as accurate as online?

There is no single answer. Accuracy depends on the model, your microphone, your accent, and the noise around you. The best test is your own voice: dictate a paragraph you'd normally type, in the place you'd normally type it, and compare.

The privacy difference, by contrast, is not a matter of degree. With online voice typing, your audio goes to a server. With local dictation, it stays on your PC.

If you write in places where the Wi-Fi drops, or simply prefer your voice to stay on your own computer, download Murmr and try that ten-second Wi-Fi test for yourself.