Dictate in any app · Writing

Voice typing in LibreOffice Writer

LibreOffice is free, which is why it runs on machines with no other software budget. Typally works at the keyboard level, so anywhere LibreOffice Writer accepts typing, it accepts your voice instead.

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

  • LibreOffice Writer's own dictation: None. The operating system's own dictation is the usual route.
  • What Typally does instead: covers LibreOffice Writer and every other program on the machine with one hotkey.
  • Best used for: reports

Does LibreOffice Writer have built-in dictation?

None. The operating system's own dictation is the usual route.

Why dictate in LibreOffice Writer at all?

LibreOffice is used by nonprofits, schools, public bodies and anyone avoiding subscriptions. Those are exactly the organisations with a lot of documents to produce and nobody to produce them.

In practice people use it for: Reports, grant applications, letters, meeting minutes, and policy documents.

How to dictate in LibreOffice Writer

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

1

Start with the install

Windows or macOS build, signed in once.

2

Focus the LibreOffice Writer field you want the words in

Text goes wherever LibreOffice Writer 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

LibreOffice's autocorrect is aggressive by default and will alter dictated text after it lands. Check names and technical terms.

What Typally adds in LibreOffice Writer

Typally types into Writer like a keyboard, with nothing to install into an office suite chosen precisely for having no subscriptions or dependencies. It suits grant applications especially: long, prose-heavy, deadline-driven writing produced by organisations with nobody to delegate it to.

What this looks like in practice

A volunteer writing a grant application for a small charity dictates the four narrative sections in an evening rather than across three weekends. The application goes in ahead of the deadline for the first time.

One habit that makes it work better

Dictate grant application narratives. They are long, they are prose, they are due on a deadline, and they are the single highest-value writing a small nonprofit does.

What to watch out for in LibreOffice Writer

LibreOffice's autocorrect is aggressive by default and will alter dictated text after it lands. Check names and technical terms.

Frequently asked questions

Does LibreOffice Writer have dictation?

Nothing built in. It relies on the operating system's dictation or a separate tool.

Can I dictate into LibreOffice on Linux?

That depends on the tool. Typally ships for Windows and macOS.

Will dictated text break my formatting?

It arrives as plain characters in whatever style the cursor is in, so existing formatting is inherited.

Try it in LibreOffice Writer

Start on the free plan (100 minutes a month, no card). Pro lifts the cap and adds meeting notes for $7.99/month.

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Also dictate in: Zoho Writer · Microsoft Word · Google Docs · Typora · see all apps