Dictate in any app · Spreadsheets
Google Sheets has voice typing for comments only — not for cells, which surprises people. Typally puts your words into Google Sheets the moment you release the key, in whichever field you left the cursor.
We make Typally, so treat this as a vendor's guide. Where Google Sheets has a built-in option we say so, including when it is the better choice.Tools → Voice typing exists in Sheets but is scoped to comments, unlike Docs where it writes into the document body. It is also Chrome-only, like the Docs version.
The useful text in a spreadsheet is in the places the built-in tool does not reach: the notes column, the summary cell, the tab that explains the model. Those are the fields left blank because typing a paragraph into a cell is unpleasant.
In practice people use it for: Notes columns, review comments, documenting assumptions, and the read-me tab that explains what the sheet is for.
Typally runs in the background and types into whatever window has focus, so there is nothing to install inside Google Sheets:
One install, one sign-in. Nothing else to configure.
Put the cursor in the field you are about to fill — Google Sheets decides where the text lands, not Typally.
Hold, talk, release. Long passages are fine.
Enter commits the cell and moves down. Use the formula bar and click away rather than pressing return if your dictation adds one.
Typally reaches the places Sheets' own voice typing does not: cells, the formula bar, the summary tab. Google scopes its built-in feature to comments only, which is why so many people think Sheets has voice typing and then cannot find it. Use the formula bar for long text so you can read it back.
A team lead reviewing a budget leaves real comments instead of question marks — what looks off, which line to check, what he compared it against. The built-in voice typing covers comments in Sheets, but the notes column and the summary tab still need something that types wherever the cursor is.
Write long cell text in the formula bar. It behaves like a normal text field, so dictated text is easier to read back and fix before committing.
Enter commits the cell and moves down. Use the formula bar and click away rather than pressing return if your dictation adds one.
No. Sheets scopes its built-in voice typing to comments. Docs is the one that types into the document body.
It is a Chrome-only feature, and in Sheets it applies to comments. In another browser it will not appear at all.
Click the cell, then dictate into the formula bar rather than the cell itself — it is easier to read back before committing.
The free plan gives you 100 minutes a month without a card — enough to find out whether talking beats typing for you.
Also dictate in: Excel · Google Docs · Notion · see all apps