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Voice typing in Jupyter Notebook

A notebook without markdown cells is a script with extra steps. Typally types what you say straight into Jupyter Notebook — hold a key, talk, let go — so you can dictate anywhere Jupyter Notebook lets you type.

Disclosure: Typally is our product. We have tried to describe what Jupyter Notebook already does without talking you out of using it.
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In short

  • Jupyter Notebook's own dictation: None. Code and markdown cells are typed.
  • What Typally does instead: types into the focused window, so it works in Jupyter Notebook and everywhere else you write.
  • Best used for: markdown cells explaining each step

Does Jupyter Notebook have built-in dictation?

None. Code and markdown cells are typed.

Why dictate in Jupyter Notebook at all?

The entire point of a notebook is that the analysis is narrated alongside the code. In practice the markdown cells are empty, because writing them interrupts the flow of doing the analysis.

In practice people use it for: Markdown cells explaining each step, conclusions at the end, caveats about the data, and the summary someone else will read.

How to dictate in Jupyter Notebook

You do not configure anything in Jupyter Notebook. The hotkey works wherever your cursor happens to be:

1

Install Typally

Windows or macOS, then sign in. No card for the free tier.

2

Open Jupyter Notebook and click where you want the text

Text goes wherever Jupyter Notebook has focus. One click first saves undoing a paragraph in the wrong box.

3

Hold the hotkey and talk

Say the whole thought, then let go. No time limit.

4

Read it before you move on

Cells have edit and command modes. In command mode keystrokes are shortcuts, so dictating outside edit mode can delete or convert cells.

What Typally adds in Jupyter Notebook

Typally types into markdown cells, so narrating what each step does stops being the thing you skip. Press Enter to get into edit mode on the cell first: in command mode a stray letter is a shortcut, and pressing d twice deletes the cell rather than typing into it.

What this looks like in practice

An analyst narrates each step of a notebook as she goes: why this subset, what the outlier turned out to be, why the second model was abandoned. When the notebook is handed to a colleague it needs no walkthrough call.

One habit that makes it work better

Dictate the markdown cell before running the code below it. Saying what you expect to find is both documentation and a check on your own reasoning.

What to watch out for in Jupyter Notebook

Cells have edit and command modes. In command mode keystrokes are shortcuts, so dictating outside edit mode can delete or convert cells.

Frequently asked questions

Can I dictate into Jupyter markdown cells?

Yes. Press Enter to get into edit mode on the cell first.

Is dictation safe in Jupyter's command mode?

No. In command mode letters are shortcuts — d twice deletes a cell. Always be in edit mode.

Does this work in JupyterLab and VS Code notebooks?

Yes, both are text fields — the same mode caution applies.

Try it in Jupyter Notebook

Free plan: 100 minutes of dictation a month, no card. Pro is $7.99/month if you want more.

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Also dictate in: PyCharm · VS Code · Overleaf · see all apps