How to Dictate an Email in Gmail, Outlook and on Your Phone

Priya has nine minutes between a client workshop and a train, and four emails to answer. She taps the keyboard microphone and starts talking. The first email comes out as one long sentence with no periods and the client's name spelled three ways. (Priya is a composite, not a real person.)

Knowing how to dictate an email is less about the microphone than about three small things: which button to press in which app, which words make a comma or a new paragraph, and how to talk so the result reads like an email.

This guide covers Outlook, Gmail, iPhone and Android, with the steps from Microsoft, Apple and Google's own help pages (checked October 16, 2026), plus a four-line script, a command cheat sheet and a 30-second edit. If you're choosing a dedicated app rather than the built-in tools, our roundup of the best dictation app for each job covers that.

Before you speak: the four-line email script

Most dictated emails go wrong before the first word: people start talking while still deciding what to say. Decide four things first, then say them in order:

1. Who and why. "Hi Marta, following up on Tuesday's site visit."
2. The one point. "The revised quote is attached and comes in under the budget you mentioned."
3. The ask. "Can you confirm the start date with your facilities team?"
4. The deadline and sign-off. "If I hear back by Friday, we can hold the crew for the 14th. Thanks, Priya."

Four sentences cover most work emails. Say "new paragraph" between them and the email arrives laid out. If it needs more than four lines, it probably needs a draft built from your notes (more on that below).

Want the long version handled for you? Try ParrotNotes free: talk through what happened, and it gives you a transcript, a summary and a drafted email to edit.

How to dictate an email in Outlook

Outlook has a built-in Dictate button. Microsoft's Outlook dictation help page lists it for Outlook for Microsoft 365 on Windows and Mac, Outlook 2024, the new Outlook for Windows, Outlook.com and Outlook on the web. It's a feature for Microsoft 365 subscribers, and it needs a microphone and an internet connection.

On Windows (new or classic Outlook) and on the web:

1. Start a new email or a reply.
2. Click inside the body of the message.
3. Go to the Message tab and select Dictate.
4. Wait for the button to switch on, then start speaking.
5. Select Dictate again to stop. In the new Outlook, Alt + ` resumes dictation.

On a Mac: the same steps, or press Option + F1 to start.

Microsoft lists 15 fully supported dictation languages plus 36 in preview, which it warns "may have lower accuracy or limited punctuation support." There's an Auto Punctuation setting in the dictation settings (the gear icon) for languages that support it.

On your phone: Microsoft retired the Dictate button from Outlook Mobile. Its Outlook Mobile page says the feature "will be retired from Outlook Mobile starting in September 2024." In the Outlook app, use your phone keyboard's microphone instead (steps below).

How to dictate an email in Gmail

Gmail's compose window on the web has no dictation button of its own, so you borrow dictation from your phone or computer.

In the Gmail app on a phone: tap the message body, then tap the microphone on your keyboard. The iPhone and Android steps are in the next section.

In Gmail on a Windows PC: click in the message body and press Windows key + H. Microsoft's voice typing page says it works on Windows 11 and Windows 10, needs an internet connection and starts listening as soon as it opens. Say "stop listening" to end.

In Gmail on a Mac: turn on Dictation once in System Settings > Keyboard > Dictation. Then click in the message body and press the Microphone key (if your keyboard has one), use the Dictation shortcut or choose Edit > Start Dictation. Apple's Mac dictation guide says you can dictate text of any length without a timeout; it stops after 30 seconds of silence, or when you press Esc.

No microphone setup at hand? Our free online dictation tool runs in the browser: speak, then copy the text into Gmail.

How to dictate an email on iPhone and Android

On a phone, the keyboard's microphone works in every mail app: Gmail, Outlook, Apple Mail and the rest.

On iPhone:

1. Open a new email and fill in the To and Subject lines.
2. Tap in the body, then tap the microphone on the keyboard. If you don't see it, go to Settings > General > Keyboard and turn on Enable Dictation.
3. Speak. Apple's iPhone dictation guide says dictation is processed on the iPhone in many languages with no internet connection required, and it adds commas, periods and question marks on its own in supported languages.
4. To stop, tap the microphone, say "stop dictation" or stay silent for 30 seconds.

On Android (Gboard):

1. Open the email in Gmail or any mail app and tap the body.
2. At the top of the keyboard, tap the microphone.
3. When you see "Speak now," start talking. Google's Gboard voice typing page lists the punctuation you can say (see the cheat sheet below).
4. To swap a wrong word, touch and hold it, tap the microphone and say the new word.

Want more than the keyboard mic on iPhone? Our guide to the dictation app for iPhone compares the options.

Where you write, what you press

Sources: Microsoft, Apple and Google support pages linked above, checked October 16, 2026.

Dictation commands for punctuation and editing

Say the punctuation as a word, in a normal voice, without a long pause before it. These are the commands the three vendors document:

Sources: Microsoft's Outlook dictation page, Apple's iPhone dictation commands and Google's Gboard page, checked October 16, 2026. "Not listed" means the vendor's page doesn't document it, not that it never works.

iPhone has the most editing commands. Apple lists "select" or "delete" followed by a phrase, "change tea to T-E-E" to fix a spelling, and spelling a name letter by letter ("Steven S-T-E-P-H-E-N"). The editing commands work in US English on iPhone 12 and later. Spelling out a name is worth learning for client names.

Two habits help everywhere: say email addresses slowly and check them by eye, and type numbers you can't afford to get wrong, such as account numbers.

Fix it before you send: the 30-second edit

Dictation gets most words right, but its errors are the expensive kind: a name, a number, a "can" that should be "can't." Give every dictated email one pass:

1. Names and numbers first. Check every proper noun, date, time and amount.
2. Negatives. Look for "can," "will," "do" and make sure the "not" survived.
3. Homophones. "Their" and "there," "to" and "two," "week" and "weak."
4. Cut the spoken filler. "So basically," "just wanted to," "I think maybe."
5. Read the first line aloud. If it doesn't say why you're writing, fix that line.

Here's what that looks like. Dan, a property manager, dictated this between viewings (Dan is a composite, not a real person):

Raw dictation: "hi Mr Okafor so basically just wanted to follow up on the leak in unit 4 the plumber can come Thursday at 2 the cost will be around 3:50 let me know if that works thanks Dan"

After the 30-second edit: "Hi Mr. Okafor, Following up on the leak in unit 4: the plumber can come Thursday at 2 p.m. The cost will be about $350. Does that time work for you? Thanks, Dan"

The fixes: punctuation, a dollar amount that had turned into a time, the filler cut and the ask turned into a question.

When the email follows a meeting, let ParrotNotes draft it

Keyboard dictation suits a two-line reply. It's the wrong tool for the email that sums up a 40-minute meeting, because you have to remember everything and then speak it in order.

That's the job ParrotNotes does differently. Record the in-person meeting on your phone, or after it, talk through what happened in your own words. ParrotNotes transcribes it, writes a summary and pulls out action items, then drafts the follow-up email from what was actually said. You edit the draft and paste it into Gmail or Outlook. Our guide to the follow-up email after a sales call shows the five prompts to talk through and eight templates for the result.

Aisha, a consultant, used to type workshop recaps at night from memory (Aisha is a composite, not a real person). Now she records the workshop with the room's consent, opens the drafted email in the taxi, fixes two names and sends it.

What it costs:

• Free: 100 minutes of recording a month, an AI summary on every recording, and 5 AI-powered recordings a month for email drafts, action items and chat.
• Pro: $19.99 a month, or $14.99 a month billed annually, with 3,000 minutes a month, all AI features on every recording and transcription in 99+ languages with translation.

ParrotNotes runs on iOS, Android and macOS. Recording works offline; transcription and the AI draft run once you're connected. For more on turning talk into usable text, see our guide to speech to text notes.

Download ParrotNotes free and let your next meeting write its own follow-up.

A word on dictating email in the car

Don't compose emails while driving. Even hands-free, writing an email takes your attention off the road, and many states ban handheld phone use behind the wheel. Our guide to taking notes while driving covers what the law says and a safer routine: at most a one-sentence spoken reminder while moving, then the real email once you've parked.

Dictate the short ones, record the long ones

Learning how to dictate an email comes down to three things: know where the microphone is, decide your four lines before you speak, and give every email a 30-second edit. For quick replies, the keyboard mic and Outlook's Dictate button are enough.

For the emails that follow meetings and client visits, skip the dictation. Try ParrotNotes free: record the conversation or talk it through once, and edit a drafted email instead of starting from a blank screen.