Download SayWrite for Mac

Install in six steps

1. Download and unzip

   Click Download free to download SayWrite.zip straight from saywrite.app. Open the .zip, then drag the app into your Applications folder. Your 7-day free trial starts when you first open it.

2. Allow the microphone

   The first time you dictate, macOS asks whether SayWrite can use the microphone. Click Allow. Audio is transcribed on your Mac and deleted straight after. You can change this later in System Settings › Privacy & Security › Microphone.

3. Turn on Accessibility

   Open System Settings › Privacy & Security › Accessibility and switch SayWrite on. If it isn't listed, click + and choose it from Applications. Then quit and reopen SayWrite.

   Why it's needed: macOS only lets an app type into other apps, and notice the Fn key while you're working in another app, if you grant Accessibility. Without it, SayWrite copies your text to the clipboard instead, and the Fn trigger won't work (Control-Option-D still does).

4. Set the 🌐 key to “Do Nothing”

   Open System Settings › Keyboard and set “Press 🌐 key to” to “Do Nothing”. Otherwise macOS also opens the emoji picker, switches input source or starts Apple Dictation every time you tap Fn. SayWrite warns you if this isn't set, but never changes it for you. More in how to use the Fn key for dictation.

5. Download the speech model

   SayWrite asks you to download the files for its on-device speech engine. They're about 465 MB, come from Hugging Face (the model and its license are listed on the credits page), and download once. After that, dictation works without an internet connection. The first load prepares the model for your Mac's Neural Engine, which can take a minute or two; later loads take a fraction of a second.

6. Hold Fn and talk

   Click into any text field, hold fn, speak, and let go. Your words are typed where the cursor is, and SayWrite never presses Return. Tap space while holding fn to polish what you said. Explore everything else on the features page.