Dicktation

How to use dictation on a Mac

Turn on Dictation in System Settings → Keyboard → Dictation. Then put your cursor where you want text and press the Microphone key, your Dictation keyboard shortcut, or choose Edit → Start Dictation, and speak.

Turn Dictation on

  1. Choose Apple menu → System Settings, then click Keyboard in the sidebar. You may need to scroll down.
  2. Go to Dictation, turn it on, and click Enable if asked.
  3. If you're asked about improving Siri and Dictation, choose Share Audio Recordings or Not Now. Dictation works either way.

Start and stop dictating

  1. Click where you want the text to go, in any app.
  2. Start Dictation with one of these:
    • Press the Microphone key in the top row of the keyboard, if your Mac has one. Press and release it, because holding it starts Siri instead.
    • Use your Dictation keyboard shortcut (see below).
    • Choose Edit → Start Dictation from the menu bar.
  3. When the cursor pulses or you hear a tone, speak.
  4. Stop with Esc, the Microphone key or the shortcut again. Dictation also stops by itself after 30 seconds of silence.

Choose your shortcut

In System Settings → Keyboard → Dictation, use the Shortcut menu to pick one, or choose Customize to set your own key combination. One option is Press fn (Function) key twice. On keyboards with a 🌐 key, you can also set Press 🌐 key to → Start Dictation in Keyboard settings.

Useful settings

All of these are in System Settings → Keyboard → Dictation:

  • Auto-punctuation adds commas, periods and question marks automatically in supported languages. Turn it off if you'd rather say every mark yourself.
  • Languages: click Edit to add more. While dictating, switch language with the language indicator next to the cursor or the 🌐 key.
  • Microphone source: choose which microphone to use, for example a headset instead of the built-in mic.
  • On-device processing: text under the Dictation setting tells you whether your dictation is processed on your Mac.

On Macs with Apple silicon you can keep typing while Dictation is on.

Fixing mistakes

Words Dictation wasn't sure about are underlined in blue. Click one to choose an alternative, or just type or dictate the fix. Standard Dictation doesn't have voice commands for editing. For full voice control of editing and the rest of your Mac, turn on Voice Control in System Settings → Accessibility. Its commands are listed on our Mac dictation commands page.

Punctuation and formatting

Say "period", "comma", "new paragraph" and so on. The full list, including symbols, capitals and emoji, is on the Mac dictation commands page.