How to dictate voice to text on a Mac
Every Mac has Dictation built in. Turn it on in System Settings > Keyboard, click into any text field, press the Dictation shortcut and talk. The text appears at the cursor in Mail, Pages, a browser, or any other app that accepts typing.
Turn Dictation on
- Open the Apple menu > System Settings.
- Click Keyboard in the sidebar.
- Under Dictation, turn it on.
- Choose your language, and pick a shortcut in the Shortcut pop-up menu. Pressing the Fn key twice is one of the choices.
The same section tells you whether dictation of general text is processed on your Mac or sent to Apple's servers. Apple's guide does not list which Macs and languages are handled on the device, so the settings pane is the place to check.
Dictate text
- Click where you want the text.
- Start Dictation in one of three ways: press the Microphone key if your keyboard has one, press your Dictation shortcut, or choose Edit > Start Dictation.
- Speak.
- To stop, press Escape, the Microphone key or the shortcut again.
Apple says you can dictate text of any length without a timeout. Dictation does stop automatically after 30 seconds without speech.
Punctuation and commands
In supported languages the Mac inserts punctuation as you speak. You can switch that off under Keyboard > Dictation > Auto-punctuation and say it yourself: "comma", "period", "question mark", "new line", "new paragraph". Emoji work by name. See the spoken commands guide.
Apple also describes an Apple Intelligence dictation model that improves accuracy. It is listed for English on Macs with an M3 chip or later and at least 12 GB of memory.
Where Mac Dictation falls short
Dictation is fine for a quick reply. People who write by voice for hours tend to run into the same four things:
- The 30-second rule. Pause to think and it switches off.
- A connection, for some languages. If your language is processed on Apple's servers, you need to be online, and your speech leaves the Mac.
- Literal output. "Um", "no wait" and repeated words are typed faithfully.
- No record. There is no list of what you dictated earlier.
Dictation apps for the Mac
A dictation app adds its own global shortcut and its own speech recognition. They fall into two groups, and the difference matters more than the feature list.
- Server-based apps send your audio to the developer's servers. That allows large models and heavy rewriting of what you said. It needs a connection, and your speech is processed outside your Mac.
- On-device apps run a speech model on the Mac itself. Dictation works offline and the audio stays on the computer. They usually need a recent Mac and a one-time model download.
Both kinds usually type at the cursor only if you grant the app the Accessibility permission in System Settings > Privacy & Security > Accessibility. Without it, a well-behaved app copies the text and lets you paste it.
When you compare apps, ask three questions: where is speech turned into text, does it work with Wi-Fi off, and is there a history of what you dictated?
Frequently asked questions
What is the shortcut for dictation on a Mac?
You choose it. In System Settings > Keyboard, under Dictation, the Shortcut pop-up menu offers options such as pressing the Fn key twice. Keyboards with a Microphone key can use that key, and Edit > Start Dictation works in most apps.
Does Mac Dictation work offline?
It depends on the language. Keyboard settings says whether your dictated text is processed on the Mac or sent to Apple's servers. The quick test is to turn Wi-Fi off and dictate a sentence.
Why does Mac Dictation keep turning off?
It stops automatically after 30 seconds without speech. Start it again with the shortcut. There is no limit on how long you can keep talking.
Is Dictation on a Mac free?
Yes. It is part of macOS and needs no subscription.
Sources
Last checked