Voice typing punctuation commands for Windows

The short answer

In English, the three tools below all understand the same core words: comma, period (or full stop), question mark, exclamation point, new line and new paragraph. Beyond that they differ, by tool and by language. The lists below are taken from each tool's own help page or command list, not paraphrased from memory.

Windows voice typing (Win+H)

Put your cursor in a text box and press Windows key + H. Wait for “Listening…” and speak. Microsoft says voice typing uses online speech recognition, powered by Azure Speech services, so you need an internet connection and a working microphone.

For English, Microsoft lists these punctuation words, among others:

• comma → ,
• period or full stop → .
• question mark → ?
• exclamation mark or exclamation point → !
• colon → : and semicolon → ;
• ellipsis or dot dot dot → ...
• open quotes and close quotes → " "
• open parentheses and close parentheses → ( )
• hyphen → - and m-dash → —
• new line (or next line) and new paragraph

Some editing commands for English (United States): “delete that”, “erase that” or “scratch that” removes the last thing you said, “undo that” undoes the last change, “press Enter” presses Enter, and “stop listening” stops voice typing. The English (United Kingdom) list has “ignore that” where the US list has “scratch that”.

Prefer not to say punctuation at all? Open the gear icon in the voice typing menu and turn on Automatic punctuation. On Copilot+ PCs, Microsoft describes Fluid dictation, which corrects grammar, punctuation and filler words as you speak.

Other languages have their own words. Microsoft's page has a drop-down with the punctuation list per language. In Estonian, for example, a full stop is “punkt” and a question mark is “küsimärk”. On Windows 10, Microsoft notes that dictation commands are available in US English only.

Source: Microsoft Support, “Use voice typing to talk instead of type on your PC”, checked 23 Oct 2026.

If Win+H does nothing at all, work through our 8 fixes for voice typing that is not working.

Google Docs voice typing

In Google Docs, open Tools > Voice typing and click the microphone. Google says it works in the latest versions of Chrome, Edge and Safari. For punctuation, Google lists these commands:

• Period
• Comma
• Exclamation point
• Question mark
• New line
• New paragraph

Two limits from the same page: voice commands are available only in English, with both the account language and the document language set to English, and punctuation might not be available in every language. If a command shows up as text, Google suggests speaking slowly and pausing before and after the command.

Source: Google Docs Editors Help, “Type & edit with your voice”, checked 23 Oct 2026.

Writing an email instead? See how to voice type in Gmail and Chrome on Windows.

VoltType's voice commands

VoltType has its own list of spoken commands. They are applied as the last step before the text is typed, in whichever app your cursor is in, both in the cloud and in Offline mode. In English you can say:

• comma, full stop or period, question mark, exclamation mark or exclamation point, colon, semicolon
• new line and new paragraph
• bullet point starts a bulleted line, sub bullet an indented one
• number one, number two and so on, up to number twelve, make a numbered list
• scratch that, delete that or undo that removes what you just said

Two examples from VoltType's own test cases. “buy number one apples number two pears” becomes a short numbered list: 1. apples, 2. pears. “we meet on Monday scratch that we meet on Tuesday” becomes “we meet on Tuesday”. Everyday phrases that contain a command word, such as “grace period” or “notice period”, stay as words.

Commands in other languages

VoltType has command words in 26 languages, English included. The English commands work alongside your language, except where an English command is a normal word in that language: “comma” is switched off in Italian, for instance. Here is the first phrase the app lists for some of them (new line, new paragraph, comma, full stop, question mark, delete):

• German: neue Zeile · neuer Absatz · Komma · Punkt · Fragezeichen · streich das
• French: nouvelle ligne · nouveau paragraphe · virgule · point final · point d'interrogation · efface ça
• Spanish: nueva línea · nuevo párrafo · coma · punto y seguido · signo de interrogación · borra eso
• Italian: nuova riga · nuovo paragrafo · virgola · punto fermo · punto interrogativo · cancella quello
• Dutch: nieuwe regel · nieuwe alinea · komma · punt · vraagteken · wis dat
• Danish: ny linje · nyt afsnit · komma · punktum · spørgsmålstegn · slet det
• Swedish: ny rad · nytt stycke · kommatecken · punkt · frågetecken · stryk det
• Polish: nowa linia · nowy akapit · przecinek · kropka · znak zapytania · usuń to

Some full-stop words are also everyday nouns, so they only count at the end of a sentence: “punt” in Dutch, “punkt” in Swedish, and a plain “point” in French or “punto” in Spanish. The full list for your language is under Voice commands in the app.

Hold Ctrl + Space to talk, or press Ctrl + Shift + D to start and stop. Win+H keeps working next to it. In the cloud, your voice is sent over the internet to be transcribed. On Pro, in Offline mode, your voice is transcribed on your PC. More on that in on-device vs cloud speech recognition, and on the pricing page.

Sources

• Microsoft Support, “Use voice typing to talk instead of type on your PC”: support.microsoft.com, checked 23 Oct 2026.
• Google Docs Editors Help, “Type & edit with your voice”: support.google.com, checked 23 Oct 2026.

Frequently asked questions

How do I add a full stop with Windows voice typing?

Say “period” or “full stop”. You can also turn on Automatic punctuation in the voice typing settings (the gear icon), so Windows adds punctuation for you.

How do I start a new line by voice?

Say “new line”. Say “new paragraph” for a blank line between paragraphs. Windows voice typing, Google Docs voice typing and VoltType all list both commands in English.

Do Google Docs voice commands work in other languages?

Google says voice commands are available only in English, and both the account language and the document language must be English. Punctuation might not be available in every language.

Does VoltType have punctuation commands in other languages?

Yes. VoltType has command words in 26 languages, English included, and the English commands work alongside them. The app shows the list for your language under Voice commands.