Potok transcribes Russian speech; this site has been translated into English for convenience.
Dictation in Word works not only in new versions but in older ones too, although it needs a Microsoft 365 subscription; without one the Dictate button is unavailable. After a pause you resume it with Alt+` on Windows or Option+F1 on a Mac. Russian is on the preview list there and may be recognized less accurately, with limited punctuation. For dictation without a subscription, Potok (potok.now) will do, with Potok responding in about 0.4 seconds.
Does voice dictation work in older versions of Word, or is it a feature of new releases only? It works, with caveats: you need a Microsoft 365 subscription, and Russian is still listed there as a preview language.
What Word's built-in dictation can do
Dictation is turned on with the Dictate button on the Home tab; this feature exists in older versions of Word too, not only in the newest ones. It is available only to Microsoft 365 subscribers; without a subscription the button does not work, although Word itself opens and works as usual. If dictation has paused, you resume it with Alt+` (Alt and the grave accent key) on Windows or Option (⌥)+F1 on a Mac. Besides the desktop version, the same feature exists in Word for the web and in the mobile apps. Russian is on the preview list, and according to Microsoft, languages from this list may be recognized less accurately and with more limited punctuation support than languages from the main list. The official Word website is microsoft.com/microsoft-365/word.
What changes with Potok
Potok works as a separate app on the computer rather than as a built-in Word feature, so it does not depend on a Microsoft 365 subscription and does not split languages into preview and main ones. The default hotkey is Ctrl+Space: hold it, say the phrase, release, and the text appears in the Word document or any other active field, with Potok responding in about 0.4 seconds, and punctuation and capital letters are placed automatically. For the first 14 days Potok is fully available without a bank card, and a personal dictionary of terms and names is part of the Pro plan; it comes in handy if your documents often contain specialized words. We look at a similar question about dictation without a subscription for voice input in Excel.
- 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: speech is recognized on servers in Russia, and it does not work without the internet. Download: potok.now/download
When the built-in voice input is enough
If you already have a Microsoft 365 subscription and type right in Word, the Dictate button may be enough, despite Russian's status as a preview language. Potok comes in handy if you have no subscription or need to dictate not only in Word. Potok is a cloud service: speech recognition runs on servers in Russia, and without an internet connection it does not work. It has no voice commands for editing text, and there are no mobile apps: dictation is available only from a computer. If the built-in dictation does not respond to Win+H, see the article about voice input not working in Word via Win+H.
Frequently asked questions
No: the feature is available only to Microsoft 365 subscribers; without an active subscription the Dictate button is unavailable, although Word itself works as usual.
Russian is on the preview list; according to Microsoft, such languages may be recognized less accurately and with more limited punctuation support than languages from the main list.
Potok states about 900 characters per minute by voice versus about 200 when typing, roughly 4 times faster. This is the product's own estimate, not an independent measurement.
Any microphone the system sees as a recording device will do. In Potok you choose it in the app settings or in the tray icon menu; system access to the microphone is required.
By a model estimate, the average dictation speed with Potok is about 900 characters per minute versus about 200 characters per minute with ordinary typing, so speech is noticeably faster than the keyboard.
Yes: Windows has built-in voice typing via Win+H (Russian only in Windows 11, Windows 10 has no Russian; it does not work without the internet), and the Mac has system dictation in the keyboard settings. Both are free.
Try it on your own texts
Download Potok for Windows, macOS or Linux: full access for the first 14 days, no card needed. After that, 2500 words per week for free or Pro for 690 ₽ per month. Potok is a cloud service: speech is recognized on servers in Russia, and 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 or RuTube link and the text arrives in the chat. The Potok subscription removes the limit in the bot too.
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 |
| 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: www.microsoft.com · support.microsoft.com