How to Talk to Grok with Voice Mode (and Show It Your Camera)

The short version

Voice mode turns Grok into someone you can talk things through with, hands-free. xAI says you can “talk to Grok hands-free with voice”. It’s best for thinking out loud, practicing a conversation or getting help while your hands are busy, and it can look through your camera too.

Step by step

1. Start a voice conversation

In the Grok app, tap the voice button near the message box. Allow microphone access the first time. Button icons change between app versions; look for a sound-wave or microphone icon.

2. Talk normally

Speak the way you would to a person. You don’t need perfect sentences. If Grok goes off track, interrupt: “Stop, shorter please” or “No, I meant the other one.”

3. Show it something

xAI’s Grok 4 announcement said you can enable video during a voice chat: “Point your camera, speak right away” and Grok analyzes the scene. Use it for things like reading a label, identifying a plant or explaining a dashboard warning light.

4. End and review

When you’re done, end the conversation. Your chat may appear in your history, so you can go back to what was said.

Prompts to copy

Say these out loud.

Practice a hard conversation:

I need to ask my landlord to fix the heating for the second time this month.
Play the landlord, push back a little, and after three rounds tell me how I did.

Think something through:

I'm deciding whether to open my shop on Sundays. Ask me one question at a time
until you understand the situation, then give me your honest view.

With the camera on:

I'm pointing my camera at the back of this appliance. Read the model number
and tell me what the label says about voltage.

Language practice:

Let's practice Spanish at a beginner level. Speak slowly, keep sentences short,
and correct my mistakes gently at the end of each answer.

Example

You: are cooking and need to scale a recipe for 12 people.

You say: “This recipe serves four. I’m cooking for twelve. Read me the new amounts one ingredient at a time, and wait for me to say ‘next’.”

A good result: Grok reads each amount, waits for “next”, and answers side questions like “Can I swap butter for oil?” without losing its place.

Mistakes to avoid

• Saying private details out loud. Account numbers and health details don’t belong in any AI chat, spoken or typed.
• Camera on in a busy room. Other people, screens and documents can end up in frame.
• Relying on it for numbers you can’t check. Ask it to repeat important figures, or switch to text so you can read them.
• Using it while driving unless your car and local law allow hands-free use safely.

When not to use it

For long documents, careful edits or anything you’ll copy and paste, typing is faster and easier to check. Use voice for conversation, not for producing final text.

Good to know

xAI’s FAQ lists Voice as one of the products that draw from a paid plan’s weekly usage pool, alongside Chat and Imagine. You can see how much voice has used under Settings, Usage.

Related: how to use Grok and keep your data private in Grok.