Coming from Voice Access
If you already use Windows Voice Access, most of the words you know also work in Wheelhouse. This page covers the few habits you'll need to change, and what Wheelhouse can do that Voice Access can't.
Most of your commands still work
You can select, delete, copy, and format text with the same words. Moving the cursor, scrolling, punctuation, "new line", "show numbers", and the mouse grid work the same way too. So do "type [words]" and "dictate [words]".
Pressing keys works the same, with a count too: "press down 5 times" or "press tab three times". "Click", "right click", "double click", and "triple click" act where the mouse pointer is.
A few commands need an extra word, and a few words do something different. Both are listed below.
Four things to learn first
1. Say the safety word before some commands
Voice Access acts on "click Save" or "close Word" as soon as it hears the words. In Wheelhouse, 15 commands need the safety word, "x-ray", first. Say "x-ray close Word". Clicking does not need it: say "click Save".
The safety word protects commands that could interrupt your work if they ran by accident while you dictate. Without it, a sentence that starts with "find" or "select", such as "find the report", would run the command.
These kinds of commands need the safety word:
- Going to or closing a program: "x-ray go to [program]", "x-ray close [program]"
- Closing a window or a tab: "x-ray close tab"
- Searching the web or Windows: "x-ray search on google for [words]"
- Selecting or finding words: "x-ray select [words]", "x-ray find [words]"
- Replacing all the text with what you copied: "x-ray replace all"
- Three of the AI text tools: "x-ray fix", "x-ray make formal", and "x-ray translate to [language]"
These commands need no safety word: "click [name]" or "click 3", "activate [program]", "switch to [program]", "show [program]", "minimize [program]", "maximize [program]", and "cancel fix". When one of them cannot do its job, Wheelhouse types your words as ordinary text. If you said the safety word first, it shows a notice that explains the failure and types nothing. "Right click [name]" and "double click [name]" show the notice without the safety word too. When "minimize" or "maximize" starts a program whose window does not come forward in time, Wheelhouse stops and types nothing.
You can change the safety word in the Pattern Manager. You can also choose there which commands need it: remove it from a command, or add it to one.
2. Say a command by itself
Wheelhouse has no separate command and dictation modes. Most commands run only when you say them on their own, with a short pause before and after. In the middle of a sentence, Wheelhouse types the same words instead. "Copy" copies your selection, but "copy the address below" is typed.
Punctuation, "new line", and "new paragraph" work anywhere in a sentence. To type words that are also a command, say "type" first, as you would in Voice Access.
3. Turn listening off and on
| Voice Access | Wheelhouse |
|---|---|
| "Voice access sleep" | "Stop listening", or click the floating button |
| "Voice access wake up" | "Computer", or click the floating button. In push-to-talk mode, hold the floating button instead. |
| No push-to-talk | "Push to talk mode": Wheelhouse listens only while you hold the floating button. "Click to talk mode" switches back. |
4. Find a command
Say "what can I say" or "show commands". Wheelhouse opens the Pattern Manager, which lists every command by the words you say. Say "help" to ask the Wheelhouse Assistant a question. The Voice Commands section of the User guide lists every command.
Words that do something different
| You say | Voice Access | Wheelhouse | Say this instead |
|---|---|---|---|
| "go home" | Shows the desktop | Moves the cursor to the start of the line | "show desktop" |
| "open [program]" | Opens the program | Types the words | "switch to [program]". It starts the program if it isn't open. |
| "delete that", "scratch that" | Deletes the selection or the words you just said | Types the words | Select the text, then say "delete" |
| "copy that", "bold that" | Acts on the selection or the words you just said | Acts on the selection only | Select the text first |
| "press alt and f4" | Presses Alt+F4 | Types the words | "press alt f4" or "press alt f 4" |
| "stop" | Stops scrolling | Types the word | "stop scrolling" |
| "cancel" | Removes the numbers or the grid | Types the word | "hide numbers" or "hide grid" |
What Wheelhouse adds
- Windows 10 too. Wheelhouse runs on 64-bit Windows 10 and Windows 11.
- Your choice of speech recognition. The default runs offline on your own computer. You can also choose an offline engine that uses an NVIDIA graphics card, or Google's cloud service.
- Your own commands. Build commands in the Pattern Manager. A command can take the words you say: "jira [words]" can open a search for those words.
- Your commands come first. If one of your commands uses the same words as a built-in command, yours runs. Delete yours to get the built-in command back.
- Push to talk. Wheelhouse listens only while you hold the floating button.
- Sound from your speakers isn't typed. If your microphone has no echo cancellation, Wheelhouse pauses listening while your computer plays sound. Words from a video or a screen reader aren't typed.
- Text tools for programmers and writers. "Title case", "snake case", and "camel case" change selected text. "Parentheses [words]" and "quotes [words]" wrap your words.
- Optional AI rewriting. "X-ray fix", "simplify", "shorten", "x-ray make formal", and "x-ray translate to [language]" change selected text. They use an AI server you choose, on your computer or online.
- Free and open source.
What Voice Access does that Wheelhouse doesn't
- Languages other than English
- Use on the sign-in screen and the lock screen
- Separate command and dictation modes
- Acting on the words you just dictated, as in "scratch that"
- Most editing by spoken words: "delete [words]", "select from [words] to [words]", "correct that", and "spell that". Wheelhouse can select the words you name: "x-ray select [words]".
- Moving the mouse pointer by direction, as in "move mouse left"
- Toggle, expand, and focus commands. "click [name]" does change a check box, a toggle button, a radio button, or a list item.
- Numbers on the whole screen. Wheelhouse numbers the front window and the taskbar.
- Holding a key down
- Narrator commands
- Fluid dictation and natural-language commands on Copilot+ PCs
If one of these matters to you, tell me. It helps me decide what to build next.
Voice Access facts checked on September 28, 2026 against Microsoft's command list.