Troubleshooting Guide

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

1. Not Working

a. No live transcript when I speak

Internet Check Make sure your internet is working. If you are behind a VPN or firewall, exit the VPN/firewall and check to see if Voice In works. If it still doesn't work, go to Step 2.
Microphone Check The number one cause of Voice In not working is no audio input from the microphone. This can happen because you have multiple microphones and the wrong microphone is selected or if you are using a wireless headset/AirPods and the microphone is active on another system. To check if your microphone is working correctly:
For Windows:
1. Open Sound Settings:
  - Click the Start menu and select 'Settings'.
  - Go to 'System' and then 'Sound'.
2. Select the Correct Microphone:
  - Under 'Input', ensure the correct microphone is selected.
  - Speak into the microphone and check if the input level indicator moves. This means your microphone is working correctly.
For macOS:
1. Open Sound Preferences:
  - Click the Apple menu and select 'System Settings'.
  - Click on 'Sound'.
2. Select the Correct Microphone:
  - Go to the 'Input' tab and select your microphone.
  - Speak into the microphone and check if the input level indicator moves. This means your microphone is working correctly.
Once you have verified that the right microphone is selected and the system is getting audio input, go to the Voice In Options page. In the General section, you should see the microphone being used:
If you do not see lines starting with a "Current Microphone:", the extension can't select a microphone. Ensure you have a microphone plugged in and check the Windows/Mac sound settings again. You can verify the microphone being used and the choice of microphones by going to the Chrome settings page. Paste this into your address bar (in a new tab): chrome://settings/content/microphone?search=microphone Verify that the correct microphone is selected at the top. Ensure your microphone is working, not muted, and has sufficient volume in Google Chrome. Use an online mic test to test (the line there should move when you speak). If your microphone is healthy and it still doesn't work, go to step 3.
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.

b. 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/

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.

2. 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:

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

3. 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

Go to chrome://extensions
Click "details" under Voice In.
Enable "Allow access to file URLs".

4. 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

Go to chrome://apps in your address bar.
Right-click and click "Remove from Chrome" for the following apps:
- Gmail
- Slides
- Docs
- Sheets
- Drive

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Last updated 2 months ago

1. Not Working

a. No live transcript when I speak

Internet Check Make sure your internet is working. If you are behind a VPN or firewall, exit the VPN/firewall and check to see if Voice In works. If it still doesn't work, go to Step 2.

Microphone Check The number one cause of Voice In not working is no audio input from the microphone. This can happen because you have multiple microphones and the wrong microphone is selected or if you are using a wireless headset/AirPods and the microphone is active on another system. To check if your microphone is working correctly:

For Windows:

Open Sound Settings:
- Click the Start menu and select 'Settings'.
- Go to 'System' and then 'Sound'.
Select the Correct Microphone:
- Under 'Input', ensure the correct microphone is selected.
- Speak into the microphone and check if the input level indicator moves. This means your microphone is working correctly.

For macOS:

Open Sound Preferences:
- Click the Apple menu and select 'System Settings'.
- Click on 'Sound'.
Select the Correct Microphone:
- Go to the 'Input' tab and select your microphone.
- Speak into the microphone and check if the input level indicator moves. This means your microphone is working correctly.

Once you have verified that the right microphone is selected and the system is getting audio input, go to the Voice In Options page. In the General section, you should see the microphone being used:

If you do not see lines starting with a "Current Microphone:", the extension can't select a microphone. Ensure you have a microphone plugged in and check the Windows/Mac sound settings again. You can verify the microphone being used and the choice of microphones by going to the Chrome settings page. Paste this into your address bar (in a new tab): chrome://settings/content/microphone?search=microphone Verify that the correct microphone is selected at the top. Ensure your microphone is working, not muted, and has sufficient volume in Google Chrome. Use an online mic test to test (the line there should move when you speak). If your microphone is healthy and it still doesn't work, go to step 3.

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.