Voice typing in Gmail on Windows

Replies in the browser, in your own words.

Email is a good fit for dictation: you know what you want to say, and the typing is the slow part. Gmail runs in a browser tab, and VinPUT types into the focused field of whatever window you are in, so there is nothing to connect.

A reply, start to finish

Click into the message body, tap F1, say your answer and tap again. The text is in the box and nothing is sent. Read it, then send it the way you always do. I would leave F2 out of the body: Enter in a message body starts a new line, so F2 just adds a blank one. The search box at the top is a good place for it, since Enter runs the search.

The Email cleanup

Under Settings, Cleanup, you can choose Email for a key. Your dictation is rewritten as an email before it is typed. It is off until you choose it and needs a text model: Plus or Pro, or Gemma or Qwen on your PC. With Plus or Pro the text is sent to VinPUT's service in the EU to be rewritten and is not stored; with a model on your PC it never leaves.

Saved phrases

• A snippet such as "my signature" can type a longer saved text of up to 1000 characters. A dictation that is only a snippet is typed without a full stop.
• Add the names of the people you write to into the dictionary, so they are spelled the way you want.

How to

1. Install VinPUT and choose a model under Settings, Models.
2. Click into the Gmail message body.
3. Tap F1, speak, tap F1, read, send.

A browser started as administrator blocks typing.

Questions

Does VinPUT read my mail?

No. It only types what you say, into the field that has focus. It does not read the page.

Does it work in the subject line?

Yes, it is a text field. F1 types the words and leaves the rest to you.

Does my voice go to Google?

Not through VinPUT with a model on your PC. Gmail receives the typed text, like any other.

Related pages

• Voice typing in Slack When to use F1 and when F2 sends.
• Voice typing in Word Long documents, paragraphs and edits by voice.
• Voice typing in Notion Pages, meeting notes and comments.
• Voice typing on Windows 11 and Win+H What the built-in option does, and when it is enough.
• Offline speech to text What works with no connection, and what needs one.