How to use voice to text on a Mac

What are the ways to do voice to text on a Mac?

There are three: Apple's built-in Dictation, which types what you say into the current text field; Apple's Voice Control, an accessibility feature for controlling the whole Mac by voice; and third-party dictation apps such as SayWrite, which add things like hold-to-talk, filler-word removal and AI cleanup. All three can work in any app with a text cursor.

How do I turn on Dictation on a Mac?

1. Open the Apple menu › System Settings, then click Keyboard in the sidebar.
2. Scroll to Dictation and turn it on. Confirm if macOS asks.
3. Choose a language, and a Shortcut to start dictating from the pop-up menu, or choose Customize and press the keys you want.
4. Optionally pick a Microphone source, or leave it on Automatic.

How do I start and stop dictating?

Click where you want the text, then press the Microphone key if your keyboard has one, use your Dictation shortcut, or choose Edit › Start Dictation (the Mac voice to text shortcut guide shows how to change it). Speak normally. Apple says you can dictate text of any length without a timeout, and that dictation stops automatically after 30 seconds without speech. To stop, press Escape, the Microphone key or your Dictation shortcut.

In supported languages, Dictation adds commas, periods and question marks for you. You can also say punctuation and formatting out loud, like “new paragraph” or “exclamation mark”. Our list of Mac dictation commands has the full set.

Is voice to text on a Mac private?

It can be. Apple says you can check Keyboard settings to see whether your voice input and transcripts for general dictation are processed on your device and not sent to Siri servers. On supported Macs and languages, it runs on-device. If you need to be sure, disconnect from every network and try it: if text still appears, recognition happened on your Mac. Our guide to dictating privately and offline covers this in more depth.

When should I use Voice Control instead?

Voice Control is for operating the Mac hands-free: opening apps, clicking buttons by name or number, scrolling and editing. It includes dictation, but its strength is navigation. If you need to avoid the keyboard and trackpad entirely, turn it on in System Settings › Accessibility › Voice Control. If you mainly want to write faster, plain Dictation or a dictation app is simpler.

When is a dictation app worth it?

Built-in Dictation is enough for occasional use. A dedicated app helps when you:

• Dictate all day and want to hold one key to talk, with no double-press and no silence timeout.
• Hate cleaning up um, uh and false starts afterwards.
• Want rewriting: turning a spoken ramble into a tidy email or message.
• Repeat yourself and want voice snippets and a personal dictionary.

SayWrite does these things on your Mac. Hold Fn, speak, and let go; the text appears at your cursor. Tap Space while holding Fn for AI Polish, which uses Apple Intelligence's on-device model or your own local model. It's English only and needs an Apple silicon Mac with macOS 15 or later. See SayWrite vs Apple Dictation for a side-by-side.

Tips for better results

• Use a headset or a good external microphone in noisy rooms, and keep the mic unobstructed.
• Speak in full phrases at a normal pace rather than word by word.
• Say punctuation only when automatic punctuation gets it wrong.
• If it stops working, work through Mac dictation not working.

What about recordings?

Dictation works live. To turn an existing recording into text, you need a transcription tool: Voice Memos can transcribe its own recordings on Apple silicon Macs with macOS 15, and apps like SayWrite and MacWhisper transcribe audio files. See how to transcribe audio on a Mac offline.