Potok transcribes Russian speech; this site has been translated into English for convenience.
Voice input stops hearing speech inside a virtual machine when the computer's physical microphone is not passed through to the guest system. This happens in VirtualBox, VMware and Hyper-V, 3 popular hypervisors. The message "Voice input does not work in a virtual machine" means exactly this. Potok (potok.now) will not hear speech in this situation either: the cause is not the program but the sound passthrough settings of the virtual machine.
This is not a fault of Windows or of the dictation program itself: by default a virtual machine works with its own set of virtual hardware, and the computer's physical microphone is not part of that set until it is connected separately.
What this message means
Voice input, whether the built-in Win+H or a separate dictation program, recognizes speech from a microphone that the operating system sees. Inside a virtual machine (VirtualBox, VMware or Hyper-V), the guest operating system does not see the computer's physical hardware directly but the virtual devices that the hypervisor provides to it. The message "Voice input does not work in a virtual machine" appears precisely because the host's physical microphone is not among these virtual devices: by default, virtual machines often have no passthrough of the host's microphone into the guest system set up.
Because of this the symptom is the same in different hypervisors: Win+H and other voice input tools simply do not hear speech, although the microphone works fine on the host computer itself. The problem is not speech recognition as such, but that the sound physically does not reach the guest system.
| Symptom | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Win+H does not hear speech when working inside a virtual machine (VirtualBox, VMware, Hyper-V) | By default, virtual machines often have no passthrough of the host's physical microphone into the guest system set up | Turn on audio device/microphone passthrough in the virtual machine settings (Settings → Audio) in the hypervisor in use |
How to fix the error
- Determine which hypervisor the virtual machine runs in, VirtualBox, VMware or Hyper-V, because in each the setting is in its own section.
- Open the virtual machine settings (Settings → Audio for most hypervisors) and find the item responsible for the microphone or the audio input device.
- Enable passthrough of the host's physical microphone into the guest system: this is the parameter that is often off or not configured by default.
- Restart the virtual machine and check in the guest system whether it sees the host's microphone as a sound recording device.
- Try voice input again: if the microphone has appeared in the list of recording devices of the guest system, recognition should work the same way as on a physical computer.
| What is available | |
|---|---|
| Potok | hold the key, speak, release: the text lands in the field under the cursor |
When the error cannot be fixed with settings
If microphone passthrough into the virtual machine is set up correctly and voice input still does not work, check internet access: Potok is a cloud service, recognition runs on servers in Russia, and it does not work without an internet connection, while virtual machines in isolated corporate networks sometimes have no outside access at all. Microphone passthrough and internet access are two different conditions, and both must be met at the same time. If none of these points helps, the likely cause is in the hypervisor itself or its version, and not in the voice input settings; other Windows voice input errors are collected in the section Windows voice input errors.
Frequently asked questions
No. Without passing the host's physical microphone into the guest system, the virtual machine does not see sound at all, and no speech recognition tool inside it will work until passthrough is enabled in the hypervisor settings.
Any microphone that 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 through Potok is about 900 characters per minute against about 200 characters per minute when typing normally, so speech is noticeably faster than a keyboard.
Potok states about 900 characters per minute by voice against about 200 when typing, roughly 4 times faster. This is the product's own estimate, not an independent measurement.
Dictation pays off most for long texts written off the cuff: draft emails, notes, replies in messengers, lecture notes, and also when your hands are busy or tired (for example with RSI). For short precise edits (one-word commands, code) typing is often faster.
Yes: Windows has built-in voice input on Win+H (Russian only in Windows 11, there is no Russian in Windows 10; it does not work without the internet), and on a Mac there is system dictation in the keyboard settings. Both are free.
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: 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.
Primary sources: learn.microsoft.com · support.microsoft.com