Online speech recognition is a feature in Windows 11 that uses the cloud to understand your voice. It helps your computer better recognize your commands, dictation, and app usage.
Why use it? It is much more accurate than the basic recognition built directly into your computer.
What happens when done? Your computer will either send your voice data to Microsoft servers to improve accuracy or stick to simple, offline recognition if you turn it off.
Note: If you turn this off, Windows will still use basic recognition like the Narrator app.
How to turn Online Speech Recognition on or off in Settings
1. Open the Windows Settings app.
2. Select Privacy & security on the left menu.
3. Click the Speech tile on the right.
4. Toggle the switch to On to enable it, or Off to disable it.
How to manage settings using Group Policy
Note: This method requires admin privileges.
1. Search for “Edit group policy” in the Start menu and open it.
2. Go to this path: Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Control Panel > Regional and Language Options.
3. Double-click Allow users to enable online speech recognition services.
4. Choose Enabled, Disabled, or Not Configured. Click OK to save.
How to use the Registry Editor
Note: This method requires admin privileges.
1. Open the Windows Registry editor via the Windows Registry.
2. Go to this path: Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\InputPersonalization
3. Double-click the AllowInputPersonalization item. Set the value to 0 to disable it.
4. If the item does not exist, right-click, create a new DWORD (32-bit) value, name it AllowInputPersonalization, and set it to 0.
5. Restart your computer for the changes to take effect.
Summary
You can control online speech recognition to balance between better accuracy and your personal privacy. Whether you use the Settings app for a quick change or the Group Policy/Registry Editor for deeper control, you can easily toggle these features to suit your needs.
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