If dictation is restricted or disabled in a particular application

To provide its full dictation support in some applications, Dragon has compatibility modules, also known as application add-ins. Occasionally, an add-in may become disabled, and Dragon is unable to interact with an application normally. When this occurs, an error message appears.

You may notice this problem if:

  • You can't enter text in an application.
  • You can enter text, but Full Text Control is unavailable.

Restoring functionality may require manually registering the application compatibility module. To do this:

Step 1: Close all programs, including Dragon.

Step 2: Open the Run dialog box from Windows.

Windows 10 and 11:

  1. Press Windows key+X.
  2. Select Command Prompt (Admin) or Run.

Step 3: Execute the registration command for the desired application.

In the Run dialog box, type copy and paste the appropriate string, and then click OK.

For 32-bit operating systems, change C:\ Program Files (x86)\Nuance to C:\Program Files\Nuance.

Application: Command line string:
Microsoft Outlook regsvr32 "C:\Program Files (x86)\Nuance\NaturallySpeaking16\Program\dgnoutlook.dll"
Microsoft Word regsvr32 "C:\Program Files (x86)\Nuance\NaturallySpeaking16\Program\dgnword.dll"
Microsoft Excel regsvr32 "C:\Program Files (x86)\Nuance\NaturallySpeaking16\Program\dgnexcel.dll"
Corel WordPerfect regsvr32 "C:\Program Files (x86)\Nuance\NaturallySpeaking16\Program\dgnwp9.dll"

For more information, on the DragonBar, click the Help icon (Help icon) and then search on "compatibility mode".

Related procedures Additional information
Dictation basics About Full Text Control
To re-enable the NatSpeak Outlook Add-in (Office 2016):