Onwords FAQs

What is Onwords? #

Onwords is a teleprompter for Windows that follows your voice. You paste in a script, and as you read it aloud the app tracks where you are and scrolls the text to keep your current line centred on screen.

How do I use it? #

1. Paste your script into the box and click Start Prompting.
2. Choose your microphone from the Mic dropdown in the toolbar.
3. Click Start Listening and begin reading.

The line you’re reading is highlighted and sits on the marker line across the middle of the screen. The word the app thinks you’ve just said is underlined.

What do I need to run it? #

Windows 10 or Windows 11, and a microphone. Nothing else: no account, no subscription key to enter, and no internet connection.

How much does it cost? #

[Pricing to confirm.]

Nothing happens when I speak and the highlight doesn’t move. What’s wrong? #

This is nearly always the microphone selection. Windows’ default recording device is often not the microphone you’re actually speaking into: it might be a webcam, a virtual audio device, or a built-in array pointed at the wrong thing, and the signal from it can be far too quiet for speech recognition to work with.

Open the Mic dropdown, pick your actual microphone by name, then click Start Listening again. If the “Heard” bar starts showing words, it’s working.

How does it know where I am in the script? #

The app listens through your microphone, converts your speech to text using Windows’ built-in speech recognition, and matches what it hears against your script. It looks at the last several words you’ve said and finds the place in the script that best explains them.

What happens if I stumble, or ad-lib something that isn’t in the script? #

Nothing breaks. The app needs only a few recognisable words to keep its place, so a fluffed line, a filler word or a short unscripted aside won’t throw it off. It holds position rather than guessing when it isn’t confident.

What if I skip a section? #

It will catch up. When what you’re saying stops matching the area it’s watching, the app searches your whole script and jumps to the section you’ve moved to. This usually takes a sentence or two.

The highlight lags slightly behind me. Is that a bug? #

No, that’s deliberate. The app waits until it’s reasonably confident before it moves, rather than leaping ahead on a single word it might have misheard. In practice the highlight sits a word or two behind your voice, which is what keeps it steady enough to read from.

The “Heard” bar shows the wrong words. Does that matter? #

Usually not. The live transcript at the top of the screen shows raw output from the Windows speech engine, and it frequently mangles names, jargon and technical terms. Tracking doesn’t need a perfect transcript, only enough recognisable words to locate you in the script. If the transcript looks rough but the highlight is following you correctly, everything is working as intended.

Can I improve recognition accuracy? #

Yes, several things help:

• Use a decent microphone positioned close to you, rather than a laptop or webcam mic.
• Record somewhere reasonably quiet.
• Train a Windows speech profile (Settings > Time & Language > Speech), which tunes the engine to your voice and accent.
• Speak at a natural, even pace rather than rushing.

Which languages does it support? #

Onwords uses whichever speech recogniser Windows has installed for your current language. English, French and German recognisers ship with Windows; others can be added through Settings > Time & Language > Language & region. [Confirm which languages you want to state support for.]

Which microphone does it use? #

Whichever you choose from the Mic dropdown in the toolbar. It defaults to your Windows default recording device.

Can I change microphone while I’m recording? #

Stop listening first, choose the new device, then start listening again. The dropdown is locked while the app is listening.

Is my script sent anywhere? #

No. Your script stays in the app on your own machine.

Where does the speech recognition happen? #

Entirely on your computer, using the speech engine built into Windows. Nothing is uploaded, no third-party service is involved, and no audio leaves your machine.

Does it work without an internet connection? #

Yes, completely. Onwords needs no connection at any point.

Is my audio recorded or stored? #

No. Audio is processed as it arrives and is not written to disk.

Can I use it with a teleprompter rig? #

Yes. Click Mirror to flip the text horizontally for beam-splitter glass.

Can I make the text bigger or smaller? #

Use the A- and A+ buttons to adjust text size for your distance from the screen.

Can I run it full screen on a second monitor? #

Yes. Drag the window to your second display and click Fullscreen (or use View > Toggle Full Screen).

Can I use it as a normal teleprompter, without voice tracking? #

Yes. Tick Auto-scroll for constant-speed scrolling, and set the pace with the slider next to it. Auto-scroll and voice tracking are alternatives: turning one on disables the other.

How do I start again from the top? #

Click Restart. This returns to the beginning of your script and clears the live transcript.

Can I correct its position manually? #

Yes. Use the up and down arrow keys to move the highlight a line at a time. You can also scroll with the mouse wheel at any point: manual scrolling always takes priority over automatic scrolling.

The highlight jumped to the wrong part of my script. #

Scripts that repeat a phrase in several places can occasionally cause this. Use the arrow keys to move the highlight back to the right line, or click Restart and carry on from the top. Continuing to read will normally also bring it back on its own.

The app isn’t hearing me at all. #

Work through these in order:

1. Check the Mic dropdown is set to the microphone you’re actually speaking into, not “System default”.
2. Check Windows can hear that microphone: Settings > System > Sound > Input, and watch the input level as you speak.
3. Confirm Windows lets desktop apps use your microphone: Settings > Privacy & security > Microphone.
4. Click Stop Listening, then Start Listening again.

Is my script saved when I close the app? #

No. Onwords doesn’t currently store scripts between sessions. Keep your script in your own document and paste it in each time.

Can I open a script from a file? #

Not currently. Scripts are pasted in.

I’ve found a bug, or something isn’t covered here. #

We’d love to hear from you. Please get in touch with us with your Windows version and, if you can, the steps that led to the problem.