Dragon Naturally Speaking Troubleshooting

Nuance Dragon Naturally Speaking Troubleshooting Guide

Are you looking for proper Dragon Naturally Speaking troubleshooting to resolve all issues related to it? Then you have landed on the right page. In this, we have covered all essential troubleshooting parts that users usually look for. Whether it’s poor recognition, missing menu bars, or other issues, you can handle them easily with this manual. Keep reading to know further.

Poor Recognition Issues

( If the dragon used to perform well before )

1. Ensure you have loaded the right profile

Dragon stores your voice training and vocabulary within a user profile. If you have selected the wrong profile by mistake, the accuracy will eventually drop.

Ways to check it:

• Click on the dragon menu icon.
• Pay attention to the recent profiles.
• Ensure your usual profile contains a check mark right next to it.
• If not, select the current profile.

2. Reduce background noise

The noise from fans, TVs, conversations, or traffic can affect speech recognition.

For this, try the following:

• Move to a quieter room.
• Speak clearly and with consistency.

3. Run the microphone setup again

Microphone setup supports the dragon in adjusting as per your voice and microphone.

Ways to do so:

• Click on the dragon menu icon.
• Select ” Improve recognition> ” Microphone setup.
• Adhere to the instructions on the screen.

4. Try with a different microphone

Using a faulty or low-quality microphone can easily reduce the recognition accuracy.

Look for the recommendation:

• Test with another microphone.
• If you are using an external microphone, try the computer’s internal microphone.

If Dragon Was Never Able To Recognize Your Speech Well

The problem is totally related to the poor audio quality.

Check for:

• Loose microphone connections.
• Low volume of the microphone.
• Background noise.
• Damaged hardware of the microphone.

If you have fixed the audio issues, try to improve recognition by:

• Speaking naturally.
• Using the right profile.
• Training the dragon to recognize your voice properly.

Facing trouble with a specific word?

If you are having trouble with recognition or specific words, you can train the dragon to understand how you pronounce all those words.

The Cursor Is Active At The Wrong Place

There are various kinds of applications in which typing or dictating in the same document causes Dragon to lose track of the cursor. In order to resolve the issue in the correct document, just say “cache document” to let the dragon read the contents of the document and learn about its current content.

If you want the best results, simply dictate into a fully supported application such as Word 2016, TextEdit, or Pages.

If the dragon is only responding to commands

If the dragon is only responding to commands and not to the dictation, there is a higher possibility of you being in the wrong recognition mode. Do check the recognition mode indicator in the status window. If you are in the Command mode, you will find the Command mode icon. In command mode, Dragon is only listening for the commands. When you are dictating text, you should prefer dictation mode.

If you are in the correct mode, ensure your cursor is active in a word processor or a text field. If your cursor is unable to blink:

1. Click on the application or text field that you want to dictate into

or

2. Say “activate <application>” to get the application in front.

Zero audio detection

If the dragon is unable to respond to any audio input, try the following steps:

1. First, check the microphone mode. Dragon is designed to hear the audio when the microphone button in the status window is green (Microphone on).
2. Ensure you are not in transcription mode. The dragon can not hear you when you are transcribing audio. If you are done with using transcription, just click switch to dictation.
3. Ensure your microphone is working properly.

Commands Are Not Working Properly

If you are facing this, you can follow the tips below:

1. Do check your recognition mode in the status window. In order to use commands, you must be in dictation mode or command mode.
2. If you are already in dictation mode, ensure you pause briefly before and after issuing a command. If you don’t pause, Dragon may transcribe the command as a dictated text.
3. Ensure the command you are trying to use is available within the current context.
4. If the command that you are relying on is not available in the context you are in, try to use a different type of command, such as menu walking, in order to get the result you need.

If the correction is not working

• If you are using an application that is not compatible with Dragon, you will not have access to features such as correction. Check the guidance window to get the information about what the dragon can do in your current application.
• Even if you are using an application that supports Dragon, be aware that corrections will not be available for transcription files. You can also edit transcribed text by voice, but Dragon does not provide access to the audio required to use corrections.
• If you have selected “always show correction window when dictating ” in the advanced preferences panel, the correction window will display a warning when the correction will not be available.

Dragon is unable to work with my web browser

Are you relying on Firefox or Safari?

If no:

• At the moment, Dragon offers a web extension only for Firefox and Safari. If you want to use a different browser, you can access some of the Dragon functions:
• You can easily dictate into most text fields, but you might not get access to correction or editing by choice. Do check the guidance window for information about what the dragon can do in the selected text field.
• You can also use menu-walking commands to access functionality built into the browser. Let’s take an example, say “click file menu” then again say “click new tab.”
• You are not allowed to use voice to access links, buttons, or other kinds of web pages features. If you are looking for access to these features, you can use Safari or Firefox instead.

If yes,

1. Ensure you have installed Dragon Web Extensions for your current browser.
2. Ensure you have the latest version of your browser.

If the Dragon menu is not showing in the menu bar

If you are working on a small screen and there are many items in the bar, Dragon can easily get squeezed out. Here are the things that you can do:

1. Set Dragon to launch at startup so that it can load earlier and appear close to the right of the menu bar.
2. If you have fast user switching on, just go to the System Preferences> Users & Groups and click on Login Options at the bottom of the left-hand panel. Set the show fast user switching menu to icon, or just turn it off entirely.
3. In the system preferences, simply turn off menu bar icons for Bluetooth, mirroring options (in the displays pane), or Time Machine.

If auto sleep is not working

• If no sound is detected for the set time (default: 1 minute), Dragon will automatically put the microphone into sleep mode.
• If your microphone is too sensitive, it will pick up background noise, preventing Dragon from entering sleep mode. Do run the microphone setup and adjust the microphone input level.

The dragon is not responding

If the dragon is not responding properly and you are unable to quit through the dragon menu:

1. Launch the activity monitor from the application/utilities folder on your Mac.
2. Go through the list or look for a dragon.
3. Choose a dragon in the list.
4. Click the Quit button at the top left.

Microphone Conflicts

Here are some of the issues and fixes related to microphone in dragon which are faced by users. Go through all of them: 

Turn Off Other Audio Inputs

There would be other apps or operating systems using a secondary microphone.

1. Press the Windows key+R, type mmsys.cpl, and then press Enter to open the classic sound menu.
2. Now, click on the recording menu.
3. Locate every microphone or recording device that isn’t your Dragon-approved headset.
4. Right-click on each secondary device and then select disable.
5. Right-click on your preferred headset and then select Set as default device.

Add A New Dragon User

If your microphone gets disconnected or Windows updates your audio drivers, Dragon might lose track of it.

1. Open Dragon and go to profile>open user profile.
2. Choose your current profile, click the source button, and then select new.
3. Now select your connected microphone from the dropdown list and follow the on-screen audio setup wizard.

Run Windows Audio Troubleshooter

System-wide audio conflicts can easily block speech recognition software.

1. Press the Windows key and type troubleshoot settings.
2. Locate the recording audio within the other troubleshooters section.
3. Run the tool to automatically detect and repair audio signal issues.

Check Exclusive Mode Settings

If another dictation app or VoIP tool, such as Zoom, tries to take exclusive control of your microphone, Dragon will automatically fail.

1. Open the sound control panel and head to the recording tab.
2. Now double-click on your microphone.
3. Navigate towards the advanced tab.
4. Just uncheck the boxes for ” Allow application to take exclusive control of this device.
5. Click apply and ok.

Re-check The Audio Setup

Adjust your microphone properly in the Dragon client to make sure the signal is not too weak or harsh.

1. Go to the dragon bar. 
2. Click settings>microphone> check microphone.
3. Adhere to the microphone setup wizard and read each prompt very clearly until the calibration is complete.

Microsoft Office Add-ins

Activate the Dragon Add-in In Office

If the add-in crashes, Office may have shifted it to the disabled list

1. Open the affected office app(e.g, word or outlook).
2. Navigate to file>options>add-ins.
3. Look for the managed dropdown box at the bottom, select disabled items, and then click go.
4. If you see dgnword.dll and dgnoutlook.dll in the list, highlight them and click Enable.
5. Close and reopen both the office application and Dragon in order to apply.

Verify COM Add In status

In many cases , the add-in is available but not selected.

1. Go to File> Options> Add-Ins again.
2. Change the manage dropdown to COM Add-ins and click Go.
3. Locate the NatSpeak Word/Outlook/Excel Add-In and make sure the box right next to it is checked.
4. If it has already been checked, uncheck it, click ok, restart the office, go back in, and re-check it to force a reload.

Clear Conflicting Add-Ins

If Dragon is not working properly in the office, another add-in , such as Grammarly or an antivirus plugin, might be interfering.

1. Open Com Add-Ins.
2. Uncheck all the other non-essential third-party add-ins to see if Dragon’s stability improves or not.

Run As Administrator

If the office is running at an elevated level but Dragon is not, they will totally fail to communicate.

1. Close both the dragon and the office.
2. Right-click the dragon shortcut on your desktop and select Run as Administrator.
3. Right-click the word or Outlook shortcut and select Run as administrator.
4. Test the dictation in order to see if the administrative privileges resolve the communication barrier.

Repair The Dragon Installation

If the add-in file dgnword.dll is corrupted, you will be required to repair the core software.

1. Close all the running applications.
2. Now open the Windows Control Panel and go to Programs and Features (or Apps and Features).
3. Choose Dragon Naturally Speaking from the list.
4. Now, click on uninstall/change and choose the repair option.
5. Adhere to the on-screen prompts and restart your computer once you are finished.

Anti-virus Interference

Whitelist Dragon Is Your Antivirus

As the dragon continues to monitor text fields and windows within the office, antivirus programs frequently misclassify it as a threat.

1. Open your antivirus or security software (such as Kaspersky, Windows Defender, or Norton).
2. Head to the exclusions, exceptions, or trusted files section.
3. Now add the Dragon Naturally Speaking installation folder to the exclusion list.
4. Also, add the Microsoft Office installation folder in order to prevent the antivirus from blocking Dragon’s integration with Office.

Re-enable The Natspeak Add-in

If your antivirus has disabled the add-in , just manually re-enable it in your office applications.

1. Open Microsoft Word or Outlook and click File> Options.
2. Click add-ins from the left-hand menu.
3. Right at the bottom of the window, within the managed drop-down, select disabled items and click go.
4. If dgnword.dll, or dgnexcel.dll is appearing, just select it and click enable.
5. Now close the disabled items box, go back to the menu drop-down , select COM Add-ins, and click Go.
6. Check the box right next to NatSpeak AddIn (for Word) or NatSpeak Outlook AddIn, click OK, and restart your office app.

Run As Administrator

If the add-in keeps falling, permission issues must be the culprit.

1. Right-click the Dragon shortcut on your desktop and select properties.
2. Now go to the compatibility tab.
3. Check the box for Run this program as an administrator.
4. Now repeat this step for your Microsoft Word or Outlook executable (winword.exe or outlook.exe).

Corrupted Voice Profile

Resolve The Corrupted Voice Profile

If your voice profile has been corrupted (causing freezing, poor accuracy, or SDAPI errors), resolve it with the following steps.

1. Close dragon naturally speaking.
2. Now navigate to your Dragon user profile directory.
3. Now locate your profile folder and look for the current and backup subfolders.
4. Rename your corrupted folder to (profilename)_corrupt, and rename the (backup) folder to current.
5. Relaunch the dragon and test the profile
6. If there is no backup available, you are just required to open the DragonBar, select NaturallySpeaking (or profile) >Manage users>New in order to train a fresh voice profile.

Troubleshoot Microsoft Office Add-ins

If the dragon is unable to type or function properly in Microsoft Word, Excel, or Outlook, the dgnword.dll  or NatSpeak Word Add-In has become disabled.

1. Open your Microsoft Office application (e.g., Word or Outlook).
2. Go to File>Options>Add-ins.
3. At the bottom of the window, change the ” Manage ” drop-down menu to disable the items and click Go.
4. Now look for any dragon-related items (such as dgnword.dll) or NatSpe Word AddIn. If you have found them , just highlight them and click enable.
5. Now return to the Manage drop-down menu, switch it to COM Add-ins, and click Go.
6. Make sure the box next to the NatSpeak Word Add-In is checked.
7. Click OK and properly restart both Dragon and your Microsoft Office application.

Conclusion! 

We have now reached the end of this dragon naturally speaking troubleshooting guide. By following the solutions outlined above, you can easily address many common issues, including poor speech recognition, microphone problems, office add-in errors, and more. This will not only help you resolve the issues but restore the dragon’s performance too. If the problem still remains the same even after trying all the tips given above, you can consider reaching out to Nuance Dragon support for further assistance.

FAQs

Q1. Why is Dragon Naturally Speaking only responding to commands and not to dictation?

A. The dragon might be in command mode instead of dictation mode. Switch to dictation mode and ensure your cursor is active in a text field before speaking.

Q2. How to fix Dragon Naturally Speaking if it keeps freezing?

A. Restart Dragon, repair the installation, check for trouble with Office add-ins, update your audio drivers, and ensure that your user profile is not corrupted.

Q3. How to stop other applications from interfering with Dragon?

A. First, disable unused recording devices, turn off exclusive microphone access, close all applications such as Zoom or Teams when required, and keep Dragon as the default speech recognition application.

Q4. Why does the dragon automatically enter sleep mode?

A. The dragon enters sleep mode when it does not detect any sound for the configured time. If it does not sleep, your microphone might be picking up your background noise. Adjust the microphone to fix the issue.