Speak your email.
Let Gmail type it.
A purple microphone lives in every Gmail compose window. Click it, talk, and the recognized text lands in your draft. 60 languages. No servers in the middle.
Opens the Chrome Web Store · works in full-screen, split, inline reply, and pop-up compose.
How to dictate in Gmail
Your keyboard is the slowest part of your inbox. Dictation for Gmail drops a purple microphone into every compose window — you talk, Gmail types. No second app, no copy-paste, no notepad on the side. It’s voice typing in Gmail that lives exactly where you already write, so you can Gmail dictate a reply and hit send before you’d have finished the first line by hand.
- Add the extension. Install Dictation for Gmail from the Chrome Web Store. One click, no account, nothing to download to your computer.
- Open a compose window. A new email or a reply — full-screen, split, or pop-up. It works in all of them.
- Click the purple mic. It sits right next to Send. Press it and start talking.
- Watch the words land. The text appears in your draft as you speak. Pause, fix a word, keep going.
- Say “send.” Or click Send yourself. Either way, you never touched the keyboard.
What you can do
Gmail dictate — replies, new mail, long threads
Click the mic and talk. The Dictation for Gmail extension types every word into the compose box in real time. That reply you’ve been putting off? Say it out loud and it’s written.
Best for clearing a backlog between meetings.
Format with your voice
Say “new paragraph,” “comma,” “colon,” or “new line” and the punctuation shows up. Say “send” to ship it. Fully hands free — you write the whole email by voice.
Voice commands localized for 17 languages on day one.
Dictate in 60 languages
English (US / UK / IN / AU / CA), Português (BR / PT), Español, Русский, हिन्दी, 中文, 日本語 and 50-plus more. Pick your language in the popup and dictate in Gmail the way you actually talk.
Two ways to start
Click the purple mic, or press Ctrl+Shift+. — or hold a push-to-talk key and let go when you’re done. Whichever is faster for you.
Works in every compose window
Full-screen, split, inline reply, pop-up. Voice typing in Gmail behaves the same on every tab you open — no dead spots, no surprises.
Nothing to set up
No login, no account, no menu of settings. It’s a lightweight speech to text extension: install it and the mic is just there, next to Send.
Get cleaner text, faster
- Talk in full sentences. The recognizer reads context, so a whole thought beats one word at a time.
- Say the punctuation. “Comma,” “period,” “question mark” — that’s what keeps an email readable instead of one long run-on.
- Draft by voice, polish by keyboard. Fastest route to a long reply: dump the whole thing out loud, then fix two words.
- A quiet room helps. Your laptop mic is plenty — you don’t need a headset to dictate email in Gmail.
What we do not collect
- Your microphone audio. It goes straight from Chrome to Google’s Web Speech API; we never see it.
- The recognized text. It lands in Gmail and we forget it.
- Email addresses, contact names, or subjects.
We do log anonymous usage events (which feature you used, in what language) and crash reports. The full policy ships with the v1.0 launch.
FAQ
How do I dictate in Gmail?
Install Dictation for Gmail, open a compose window, and click the purple mic next to Send. Start talking and your speech turns into text in the draft. That’s dictation in Gmail with nothing else to open.
Does Gmail have built-in dictation or voice typing?
Gmail on the web has none. Google’s voice typing lives in Docs, not your inbox. This extension adds Gmail dictation straight to the compose window, so you don’t have to leave your mail.
How do I turn on speech to text in Gmail?
There’s no switch hidden inside Gmail. Add the speech to text extension, reload Gmail, and the mic button appears next to Send. Click it and you’re dictating.
Can I dictate an email without typing?
Yes. Talk to write the message, say “new paragraph” and “comma” to format it, and say “send” to ship it. You can write an email by voice from the first word to the last — completely hands free.
Is there a dictation Chrome extension for Gmail?
This is it. Dictation for Gmail is a Chrome extension — it also runs on Edge, Brave, Opera, and Arc — that adds voice typing in Gmail. Nothing installs on your computer; it lives in the browser.
What’s the best way to do voice to text in Gmail?
Keep it inside the inbox. Bouncing to a separate voice to text app means copy-paste and broken formatting. A voice to text Gmail extension drops the words straight into your draft where you want them.
What languages can I dictate in?
Sixty, including English variants, Português, Español, Русский, Hindi, Mandarin, and Japanese. The full list is in the popup.
Does it work offline?
No. It uses your browser’s Web Speech engine, which needs an internet connection to reach Google’s recognition service.
Which browsers are supported?
Chrome and Chromium browsers that ship Web Speech — Edge, Brave, Opera, Arc. Safari and Firefox are not supported.
Is my voice private?
Your audio goes straight from Chrome to Google’s Web Speech API and is never stored by us. We don’t see your microphone audio or the recognized text — see what we don’t collect above.
Does it work in Google Docs?
Not yet. v1.0 is built for Gmail. Google Docs isn’t supported right now.