Talk to the Computer: How to Search Google Chrome with Your Voice

Earlier this week Google announced a few minor improvements to its Chrome browser for desktops, the most exciting of which is the ability to search for things with your voice.  It’s a helpful feature, whether you need to look up cooking instructions mid-soufflé or want to give your mouse-clicking muscles a break.

Here’s how to do it:

First, you’ll need to make sure your browser is up-to-date. You can do that by clicking the three-bar symbol in the right-hand corner of your browser and clicking on About Google Chrome.

From there, you’ll be brought to a page that’ll tell you whether your browser is up to date. You’ll know it is if the message looks like this:

After that, you’ll have to make sure your computer’s microphone is on, and connected to Google Chrome. If you’re on a Mac, you can do that by going to your computer’s System Preferences and selecting the Sound category. Windows PC owneres can go to the Start button, click Control Panel, click Ease of Access, and then select Speech Recognition. (That path might vary according to what version of Windows you’re using.