Why is the microphone icon missing from my google keyboard so that I can speak my text messages?

[AC Question]

I want to use my speak to text feature but the microphone icon is missing, I was able to use it a few weeks ago and now its disappeared, how can I fix this problem

 

[Javier P]

Welcome to the forums. What device do you have? Try this. Go to settings - language & input - Gboard - preferences and make sure that 'voice input key' is enabled.

 

[anon(238680)]

Welcome to the forum. Clearing the data and cache for the keyboard app may help. Go to Settings, Apps, All. Find Google Keyboard and do a Force Stop. Then clear cache and clear data. Exit from Settings and reboot your phone. Let us know if that helped.

If you need additional help or have more questions or details to share, please join the site so you can reply in this thread. See this link for instructions on how to join Android Central.
https://forums.androidcentral.com/ask-question/409154-join-android-central-community.html

 

[Kevin Jarboe]

I want to use my speak to text feature but the microphone icon is missing, I was able to use it a few weeks ago and now its disappeared, how can I fix this problem

How come there is no voice input / microphone button on my android keyboard? I've had a look in the options screen, there's an option where you can enable / disable the voice input button on keyboard, but it's already enabled. Anyone knows how to fix it? I can press and hold the space bar and select Google voice input in the popup menu, but it's too inconvenient. I tried installing another keyboard (Hacker's keyboard), there I have the mic button.

View attachment 91039

YES!!! Oh my...this has been driving me bonkers. I def want to share my experiences here and how I fixed this - no one on here has suggested what my solution was to restoring the little microphone button at the top right of the keyboard that enables voice to text!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OK so...I need to talk this out (skip to the very end if your impatient) It will be like a therapy session for me. Maybe I will speak to my phone and it will input text for me - because it works now. So, if your reading this and miss talking to your phone - this could change your life. So get ready.

Versions:
Android 7.0 (whatever the Droid Z Force shipped with)
to
Android 7.1.2

Started when I got the Droid Z Force - I did a backup/restore from my HTC m9 to the Z - the feature was there but the phone was just running ...poorly. So I did a factory wipe and set it up as a new device and as I was customizing everything I noticed that the voice to text (V2T) feature was not showing up in Textra or FBmessenger (where I typically use the V2T feature). Everything was enabled under keyboard and input methods as it should. To further complicate things - I had just tore through my google privacy settings more or less disabling just about everything so I was confused...did I disable something somewhere? I gave up.

After being extremely disappointed with the Z force (poor battery life, despite an enormous battery and doze, lagging performance, unresponsive screen...ah but for a different thread) I decided to get a used google pixel. Holy ship - the feature is still missing....so it was NOT my phone. Did some DEEP googling...darkweb stuff. I saw some disturbing things but I found what I was looking for. Hands shaking, eyes watering, I reach for my phone go into settings, languates & input?, VIRTUAL KEYBOARD?, (OMG!!!), GBOARD (AHHHHH!). A wave of panic washes over me and I throw my phone into the wall - smashing it into pieces. That did not work. So I start over - do the whole hands shaking / eyes watering thing while mildly foaming at the mouth a bit this time. Now, when I reach for my phone instead of smashing it I simply go into the googleplay store and search for GBOARD. UNINSTALL GBOARD. The microphone returned.

I tried this on my old phone, the Z Force. Solved it there too. Clearing the caches did not work NOR DID A FACTORY RESET. When the phone would "update" after a factory reset one of the early downloads would be GBOARD - at least with my experiences.

This is too easy not to try before a factory reset....

IMPATIENT SOLUTION SECTION - GO INTO THE DAMN GOOGLEPLAY STORE AND UNINSTALL GBOARD. DONE! (Well, you are done if this solves your problem. If this does not solve your problem you are not done and your fingers will hate you)

Good luck everyone!

 

[JessieMaeZing]

Looked all over every forum I could find and could not find the answer that would work for my phone. Then, I looked at the G-board page in the play store and noticed that in the pictures, they show the microphone icon in the suggestion strip for text correction and realized that if I turned my suggestion strip back on, that I would probably get my voice typing button back and it worked. Why google would put it there is beyond me and why no forum contributors knew of this is baffling, but it is now fixed and I am happy with my phone again. Hopefully someone else finds this useful and it keeps them from spending as much time trying to fix it as I had to. Alcatel onetouch 5044r - Languages and Input > Virtual Keyboard > G-Board > Text Correction > Show Suggestion Strip - change to on. Microphone instantly restored.

 

[cdej]

no need to remove the google keyboard. It happened to me too but realized that was when I deactivated Text Correction. So if you don't mind keeping in your keyboard then.
Settings/System/Languages & Input/Virtual Keyboard/Gboard/Text Correction:
Make sure "Show suggestion strip" is ON. Without it, no microphone icon.

Hope that helps.

 

[Lorigibson43]

How do i git my google on the front screen? iits gone

 

[Mike Starkey]

Go into manage keyboards and turn the microphone back on

 

[Michael Ingli]

cdej's solution https://forums.androidcentral.com/showthread.php?t=804852&p=6162420&viewfull=1#post6162420 above works like a charm and is by far the simplest easiest way to get the microphone icon back on gboard!


Thank you! you are correct And Your Solution Works Perfectly!

 

[Michael Ingli]

no need to remove the google keyboard. It happened to me too but realized that was when I deactivated Text Correction. So if you don't mind keeping in your keyboard then.
Settings/System/Languages & Input/Virtual Keyboard/Gboard/Text Correction:
Make sure "Show suggestion strip" is ON. Without it, no microphone icon.

Hope that helps.

Thank you cdej your solution works flawlessly and is by far the simplest solution ive found yet!

 

[Mark Leiba]

My microphone icon is unusable to me right now.

 

[Elvenheart]

Took a bit of fiddling around and reading up. Install the Google app. It's needed for the microphone function to appear on the keyboard. I had deleted the app a short while ago. Problem solved!

 

[licclit]

no need to remove the google keyboard. It happened to me too but realized that was when I deactivated Text Correction. So if you don't mind keeping in your keyboard then.
Settings/System/Languages & Input/Virtual Keyboard/Gboard/Text Correction:
Make sure "Show suggestion strip" is ON. Without it, no microphone icon.

Hope that helps.

You were right on how to fix this . Thanks . Maybe you can solve my other problem : why from out of the blue did this happen ?

 

[Paul TMorro]

Welcome to the forums. What device do you have? Try this. Go to settings - language & input - Gboard - preferences and make sure that 'voice input key' is enabled.

Here is fix that worked for me after trying options below including the suggestion strip
Force stop Google app from settings/applications, check keyboard, mic should be there..re-enable Google app

 

[Rukbat]

Paul, when you force stop an app you don't have to re-enable it (except for a few, like email and text, which won't get incoming calls or texts until you do - or run them to make a call or send a test). If an app is called, it runs - force-stopping it isn't like disabling it.

 

[fodvapor]

looked all over every forum i could find and could not find the answer that would work for my phone. Then, i looked at the g-board page in the play store and noticed that in the pictures, they show the microphone icon in the suggestion strip for text correction and realized that if i turned my suggestion strip back on, that i would probably get my voice typing button back and it worked. Why google would put it there is beyond me and why no forum contributors knew of this is baffling, but it is now fixed and i am happy with my phone again. Hopefully someone else finds this useful and it keeps them from spending as much time trying to fix it as i had to. Alcatel onetouch 5044r - languages and input > virtual keyboard > g-board > text correction > show suggestion strip - change to on. Microphone instantly restored.

^ worked for me...thanks jessie !

 

[OttomanGuns]

Looked all over every forum I could find and could not find the answer that would work for my phone. Then, I looked at the G-board page in the play store and noticed that in the pictures, they show the microphone icon in the suggestion strip for text correction and realized that if I turned my suggestion strip back on, that I would probably get my voice typing button back and it worked. Why google would put it there is beyond me and why no forum contributors knew of this is baffling, but it is now fixed and I am happy with my phone again. Hopefully someone else finds this useful and it keeps them from spending as much time trying to fix it as I had to. Alcatel onetouch 5044r - Languages and Input > Virtual Keyboard > G-Board > Text Correction > Show Suggestion Strip - change to on. Microphone instantly restored.

I had to find this out by my self in painstaking 3 week process with multiple online sonim support technicians trying to figure out the problem 2 factory resets and countless hours of brain busting clearing catch unistalling and reinstalling gboard. Finally when i found the solution and was still in the process of shock of how simple of a problem it was and feeling the relief it was literally 3 minutes later i found your post if i read it 3 weeks earlier non of this would happen.

 

[Robin Rae]

cdej's solution https://forums.androidcentral.com/showthread.php?t=804852&p=6162420&viewfull=1#post6162420 above works like a charm and is by far the simplest easiest way to get the microphone icon back on gboard!


Thank you! you are correct And Your Solution Works Perfectly!

"Show suggestion strip" is ON. Without it, no microphone icon......I don't have this showing when I go in. ???? Where is this?

 

[Robin Rae]

I had to find this out by my self in painstaking 3 week process with multiple online sonim support technicians trying to figure out the problem 2 factory resets and countless hours of brain busting clearing catch unistalling and reinstalling gboard. Finally when i found the solution and was still in the process of shock of how simple of a problem it was and feeling the relief it was literally 3 minutes later i found your post if i read it 3 weeks earlier non of this would happen.

I tried this but still, no microphone.

 

[joe turkowski]

I want to use my speak to text feature but the microphone icon is missing, I was able to use it a few weeks ago and now its disappeared, how can I fix this problem