Troubleshooting Guide

This guide covers common issues you might encounter while using Voice In.

  1. Voice In Not Working - No live transcript

  2. Voice In Not Working - Live transcript shows what I speak, but no text is inserted

  3. No Voice In Icon

  4. Not Working on Local Files (e.g. local PDFs)

  5. Additional Steps for Dictation in Google Apps

1. Not Working - No live transcript when I speak

Step 1: Internet Check

  • Ensure your internet is working properly.

  • If you are using a VPN or firewall, disable it and check if Voice In starts working.

  • If the issue persists, continue to Step 2.

Step 2: Microphone Check

One of the most common reasons Voice In doesn’t work is that no audio input is detected from your microphone. This can happen if:

  • You have multiple microphones connected, and the wrong microphone is selected.

  • The microphone is muted.

  • A wireless headset (e.g., AirPods) is being used on another device.

Check Microphone Settings on Windows:

  1. Open Sound Settings:

    • Click the Start menu and select Settings.

    • Navigate to System → Sound.

  2. Select the Correct Microphone:

    • Under Input, ensure the correct microphone is selected.

    • Check if the microphone is muted:

      • If you see a microphone icon with a slash, click it to unmute.

    Microphone muted example

    • Speak into the microphone and check if the input level indicator moves. This means your microphone is working correctly.

Checking microphone on Windows 11

Check Microphone Settings on macOS:

  1. Open Sound Preferences:

    • Click the Apple menu and go to System Settings.

    • Select Sound.

  2. Select the Correct Microphone:

    • In the Input tab, choose your microphone.

  3. Test the Microphone:

    • Speak into the microphone.

    • If the input level indicator moves, your microphone is working.

Step 3: Check Voice In Microphone Selection

After verifying the correct microphone is selected at the system level, verify that Voice In is using the same microphone.

  1. Open the Voice In Options page.

    1. Go to the Voice In Options page

    2. Under the General section, look for the line starting with “Current Microphone:”.

    3. If no microphone is listed, Voice In cannot access a microphone.

    4. Ensure a microphone is plugged in and recheck your system’s sound settings.

  1. Verify Microphone Selection in Chrome:

    1. Open a new Chrome tab and enter:

      chrome://settings/content/microphone

    2. Ensure the correct microphone is selected at the top.

  2. Test Your Microphone Online:

    1. Use an online mic test to test.

    2. The line there should move when you speak.

If your microphone is working but Voice In still doesn’t function, proceed to Step 4.

Step 4: Speech To Text Check

Go to the standalone dictation test page. Click on the microphone icon at the top-right corner of the text area and dictate. If the speech recognition doesn't work on the standalone page, the issue is with the browser's speech-to-text API. This might be a temporary issue, try again in a few hours. If it still doesn't work, look at the Hard Reset section.

If you can dictate on the standalone page, Voice In should work. Open the Voice In Notepad. Start Voice In. Make sure Voice In is activated.

Activated

Deactivated

The extension icon should be red. If you don't see the icon, see the No Icon section below. Try dictating into the notepad. If Voice In doesn't work on this page, please contact us.

Note: Voice In doesn't work on some pages like Chrome Web Store, the default new tab page, and other extensions pages for security reasons.

2. Not Working - Live transcript shows what I speak, but no text is inserted

Make sure you have placed the cursor in the textbox. Voice In requires an active cursor to insert text.

Some sites like Salesforce, Zendesk, SimplePractice, etc. require the Voice In Plus upgrade in order to work. You can check the list of sites that need the Plus upgrade at https://dictanote.co/voicein/apps/

Upgrade to Voice In Plus at https://dictanote.co/voicein/plus/

Last case scenario - hard reset

Sometimes, you want to start from scratch. Here are a few things to try in order of increasing destructiveness. If you have no problem losing all your settings, and being logged out you can skip right ahead to "B".

A. Restart Google Chrome. There is usually no need to reboot your computer unless you have a microphone driver issue.

B. Uninstall and reinstall Voice In. Consider this a last resort.

3. No Voice In Icon

Extension icons start out hidden. You need to Pin the extension icon to see it in the toolbar. Here's how you can have the Voice In microphone icon show in the toolbar again:

  1. Click to the right of the address bar.

  2. Click next to Voice In.

This will add the Voice In button ( icon) to the address bar.

See the Getting Started page's Pin Voice In section for a demo video.

4. Not Working on Local Files (e.g. locally saved PDFs)

To use Voice In on a locally saved file (PDF or HTML), you first must grant an additional permission.

Steps

  1. Go to chrome://extensions

  2. Click "details" under Voice In.

  3. Enable "Allow access to file URLs".

5. Additional Steps for Dictation in Google Apps (Gmail, Sheets, Slides, etc.)

Due to a bug in Chrome, dictation might not fully work on Google Apps such as Gmail, Sheets, Slides, and Docs.

Steps

  1. Go to chrome://apps in your address bar.

  2. Right-click and click "Remove from Chrome" for the following apps:

    • Gmail

    • Slides

    • Docs

    • Sheets

    • Drive

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