Windows 11 has many built-in accessibility features that make using Windows easy no matter who you are. One such feature is the Voice Access. By enabling it, you can control and use your PC with your voice. For instance, you can open or close apps, you can click and scroll, edit text, dictate text, control your mouse & keyboard, interact with apps, etc.
In this tutorial, I will guide you through the steps to enable Voice Access and how to use it to control your PC with voice.
Before You Begin
- Make sure you plug in the microphone (mic) before proceeding.
Steps to Enable Voice Access & Control Your PC With Voice in Windows 11
- Use “Windows key + I” to open Settings.
- Go to the “Accessibility” tab on the sidebar.
- Click on “Speech” under the “Interaction” section.
- Turn ON the “Voice Access” toggle.
- (Optional) Select the “Start voice access before you sign in to your PC” checkbox.
- (Optional) Select the “Start voice access after you sign in to your PC” checkbox.
- Click the “Download” button on the top Voice Access command bar.
- With that, Voice Access is enabled and you can now control and use your PC with voice commands.
Detailed Steps (With Screenshots)
First, open the Settings window by pressing the “Windows key + I” shortcut. Once it opens, go to the “Accessibility” tab on the sidebar, scroll down to the “Interaction” section on the right page, and click the “Speech” option.
On this page, turn ON the “Voice Access” toggle.
Optionally, select the two checkboxes under it: “Start voice access before you sign in to your PC” & “Start voice access after you sign in to your PC“. These options allow you to control your PC before and after logging in.
Using Voice Access to Control Your PC
As soon as you enable voice access, you will see the voice command bar appear at the top. If you see a download prompt, click the “Download” button so that Windows can download relevant files for Voice Access to work.
To start controlling your PC using voice, either say “voice access wake up” into your microphone (mic) or press the mic icon on the top left corner. Once the microphone is activated, say the voice command.
There are several built-in voice commands that you can use to interact with your PC. To see all the available commands, click the Question mark icon on the top-right corner and click the “View all commands” option.
This shows the list of voice commands you can say to interact and control your PC. For example, to open the Edge browser, you can simply say “Open Microsoft Edge“.
To exit voice access, click the Gear icon and select the “Turn off voice access” option.
Wrapping Up — Enabling and Using Voice Access in Windows 11
As you can see if you or someone you know needs to control the PC using voice, the Voice Access feature in Windows 11 is pretty helpful. Just follow the above steps to quickly turn on the feature and learn the voice commands to interact with your computer with your voice.
If you have any questions or need help, comment below. I’ll be happy to assist.
Image credit: Flaticon
