How to Use Speech to Text in Notion - 7 Simple Steps

Table of contents

• 1. Ensure that Notion can access your microphone
• 2. Create a new Notion page or open an existing one
• 3. Start Notion dictation
• 4. Select a microphone
• 5. Choose your language
• 6. Use Notion speech to text
• 7. Stop recording and edit the text
• FAQs
• Does Notion have speech to text?
• How to enable voice typing in Notion?
• Why doesn’t your Notion speech to text work?
• Is Notion speech to text free?
• Is it possible to access other Notion pages during dictation?

Let’s discuss these steps in detail.

1. Ensure that Notion can access your microphone

Notion needs to access your microphone to record your voice before transcribing it. To grant access, open the ‘System Settings’ screen in your device and look for the microphone.

Turn on the toggle for the pertinent browser or app to grant it access. In our example, we turned the toggle on for ‘Google Chrome’ as we are using Notion in that browser.

If you are unable to see the Notion app or the preferred browser in your list of apps, simply proceed to the next steps. Notion will send a request for microphone access when you access the speech to text option. You can approve access right from the browser screen.

But if you rejected the access prompt by mistake, go back to the settings screen and turn on the toggle.

2. Create a new Notion page or open an existing one

We created a new Notion page for demonstration purposes but you can use the voice notes feature in existing pages as well.

If you’re working with an existing page, remember that unless you reposition your cursor, Notion will start inserting dictated text towards the end of the page.

3. Start Notion dictation

Use any of these three methods to start taking voice notes in Notion:

1. Click the ‘Microphone’ icon towards the bottom of your new Notion page. This icon won’t appear if there is already text on your page.

2. Click the three-dots icon at the top-right of your Notion page and click the ‘Dictate’ option

3. Use the CMD/CTRL + O keyboard shortcut to dictate text in Notion

Selecting any of the three methods will turn on the microphone and Notion will start listening to what you say, ready to turn your speech into text.

Here are some tell-tale signs of Notion voice recording in progress.

You will notice:

1. A blue ‘Microphone’ icon next to your address bar. Clicking on it reveals the fact that the device’s default microphone is in use by the browser.

2. A red stop button with an audio graph next to it that undulates as you speak based on your voice’s volume and pitch.

3. The Notion AI icon appears in place of the cursor on the page

4. Select a microphone

To switch to an external mic, click the tiny arrow next to the audio graph, and select the preferred microphone.

5. Choose your language

Notion supports 16 languages. You can choose your language by clicking the current default language, English, in our example, and selecting another one from the list.

This is an important step if you plan to write in the non-default language because Notion auto-translates everything to the default language.

Now with your mic set and language selected, you are all set to turn voice to text in Notion.

6. Use Notion speech to text

Start speaking into your microphone. Notion will turn your words into text in real time. While you may experience a slight lag, Notion does a great job at adjusting misheard text based on context.

7. Stop recording and edit the text

Click the red-colored record button to stop recording your voice. Notion now has transcribed text available to edit.

You might need to get in an fix some misheard words and fine-tune content to make it tighter.

FAQs

Does Notion have speech to text?

Yes, the Notion speech to text feature is available to users on any of Notion’s paid plans. Free Notion users do not have access to this capability.

How to enable voice typing in Notion?

Voice typing is auto-enabled for Notion users on any of its paid plans. Simply use the CMD/CTRL + O shortcut to start dictating.

Why doesn’t your Notion speech to text work?

Notion voice to text fails if:

1. You are not on a paid Notion plan. Notion’s dictate feature is unavailable to free users.

2. Your selected microphone is dysfunctional.

Is Notion speech to text free?

No. The Notion speech to text feature is available to users on a paid plan. Notion paid plans start at $10 per month when paid annually.

Is it possible to access other Notion pages during dictation?

You can access other Notion pages in the middle of a dictation session but you can’t dictate on multiple pages at once.

Notion automatically pauses the old session and starts a new one on another page.