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Typing by voice when typing hurts

HoldToType was not written as an accessibility tool, and it does not control Windows by voice. What it does is narrower and useful: it turns speech into text at the caret in any program, with a single key or a toggle instead of a held chord, and it never sends your voice anywhere. Here is what that gives you, and what it does not.

Aktualisiert 9. September 2026 · Vitalii Yemets

What it can do for you

• One key instead of a chord. The shortcut is any combination you like, including a single key such as CapsLock or F9. Hold it, or switch to toggle mode: press once to start, once to stop, hands free in between.
• Text in any program. Mail, chat, a browser field, a document: the words go where the caret is, as a paste or as keystrokes.
• A plate you can read. While you speak, a small plate shows the state and, with Nemotron 3.5, the words as they arrive. It stays on top of other windows and never steals the focus.
• Voice commands you define. Say new line, get a new line; say a phrase, get the text you attached to it. Punctuation comes from the model or from post-processing.
• Your words. Names and terms in a dictionary, so you are not correcting the same word every day.
• Nothing leaves the computer. No account, no cloud, no telemetry, which matters when the words are medical or private.

What it does not do

• It does not move the mouse, click, open programs or read the screen aloud. For control by voice, Windows 11 has Voice Access, free and on-device in six languages; the two run side by side.
• It is not tested with screen readers. The settings window is an ordinary web page with labels and a main landmark, but nobody has walked it with NVDA or Narrator yet. If you do, an issue on GitHub with what you found is welcome.
• It does not correct by voice. You fix a word with the keyboard or the mouse, or you dictate the sentence again.

Setting it up to spare your hands

1. Install from the download section.
2. In Controls & behaviour switch the hotkey mode to toggle if holding is the problem; under Shortcuts set a single key you can reach.
3. Pick Nemotron 3.5 in the wizard for live text on the plate, or Parakeet for speed; the models page explains the choice.
4. Add the words that come up every day to the dictionary and define a few voice commands.
5. Turn on post-processing so punctuation and fillers are handled for you.

Honest limits

Recognition happens on your processor; on an old laptop pick a small model and expect a second of delay after you let go. Long dictation works, but the program is built around a sentence or a paragraph at a time. The builds are not code-signed yet, so Windows warns once before the first launch. And it is one person's program: if something in it stands in your way, say so on GitHub, and it will most likely be fixed.

Questions

Try it with one key

Install, set CapsLock or a function key under Shortcuts, and dictate a sentence.

Download HoldToType