Windows Speech to Text Registry Path in Regedit

This guide outlines the specific Windows Registry paths that control speech-to-text, dictation, and speech recognition settings in Windows. In modern Windows operating systems, speech settings are divided between the legacy Speech API (SAPI) paths and the modern OneCore speech engine paths, located within both the HKEY_CURRENT_USER and HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE hives.

Modern Speech-to-Text and Dictation Registry Paths

Windows 10 and Windows 11 use the OneCore engine for dictation, voice typing, and modern speech recognition.

• User-Specific OneCore Speech Settings: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Speech_OneCore

• System-Wide OneCore Speech Engines and Voices: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Speech_OneCore

• Online Speech Recognition (Cloud Dictation Toggle): HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Speech_OneCore\Settings\OnlineSpeechPrivacy

  • Within this key, the HasAccepted DWORD value controls whether cloud-based speech recognition and dictation are enabled (1) or disabled (0).

Legacy Speech Recognition (SAPI) Registry Paths

The classic Windows Speech Recognition tool (found in the legacy Control Panel) stores its profile data and configuration under the standard Speech keys:

• User Profiles and Configuration: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Speech
  • ...\Speech\Recognizers: Contains preferences and available speech recognizers for the active user.
  • ...\Speech\CurrentUserLexicon: Contains customized user vocabulary and phonetic settings.
• System-Wide Recognizer Components: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Speech
  • ...\Speech\Recognizers\Tokens: Contains registry registrations for all installed speech recognition engines on the machine.

How to Access and Modify the Paths

1. Press Win + R to open the Run dialog.
2. Type regedit and press Enter to open the Registry Editor.
3. Paste any of the target paths above directly into the address bar at the top of the Registry Editor window and press Enter to jump straight to the speech configuration keys.