Learn · the built-in tool
Every Mac ships with dictation. It's free, it's off by default, and Apple's guide stops at "press the key and speak." This page goes further: turning it on, the shortcut, punctuation, and the limits you meet once you use it for more than a text message. At the end, an honest note on when a paid tool is worth $8.
Dictation switched on but misbehaving? Skip straight to Mac dictation not working.
Setup · once
Open System Settings, click Keyboard in the sidebar, and scroll to the Dictation section. Flip the toggle. macOS asks you to confirm, and may download a language file.
On macOS Monterey and earlier, the same switch lives in System Preferences > Keyboard, under the Dictation tab.
While you're there, check the language and which microphone it listens to. "Automatic" picks the built-in mic, which is usually right unless you use a headset.
The shortcut
Click wherever you want the text, then press the Dictation shortcut. Which key that is depends on your keyboard: MacBooks from 2021 on have a microphone key at F5; press it once. On other keyboards, press fn twice. Most apps also list Edit > Start Dictation in the menu bar.
A small microphone window appears near your cursor. Talk. Press the shortcut again, or hit esc, to stop. If the shortcut clashes with something else you use, change it in the same Dictation settings.
Speak the marks
Dictation types the punctuation you speak. "Period", "comma", "question mark", "new line" and "new paragraph" all do what they say, so "where are you question mark" comes out as "where are you?"
Newer macOS versions also punctuate automatically as you talk. It's decent for casual writing, and wrong often enough that you'll still speak the marks for anything formal. The full command list is longer than most people expect; we keep the whole thing in our Mac dictation commands cheat sheet.
Any text field, mostly
Anywhere you can type: Notes, Mail, Pages, Messages, text boxes in Safari. If the cursor blinks there, dictation will usually type there.
"Usually" is doing some work in that sentence. Some web editors and Electron apps handle the inserted text oddly, and behavior differs between apps in ways Apple doesn't document. Dictating something with structure, like a full letter with a greeting and a signoff? The app-by-app details are in how to dictate a letter on a Mac.
What the docs skip
Dictation stops on its own after about 30 seconds of silence, and no setting changes that. Pause to think mid-paragraph and you may come back to a closed session. On Apple Silicon Macs, supported languages run on the Mac itself with no fixed session cap; on Intel Macs the audio goes to Apple's servers and sessions run shorter.
Editing is the other cost. There's no practical way to fix a mistake by voice, so every correction sends you back to the keyboard. For a two-line message, fine. For a page of text it adds up.
And if dictation refuses to start at all (the shortcut does nothing, or the mic window hears nothing) that's usually a settings or microphone problem. Mac dictation not working walks through every fix.
The honest upgrade path
Apple Dictation is genuinely fine for short bursts. We'd tell you to use it for texts and search boxes, and we sell a competing product.
The friction shows up with volume: restarting timed-out sessions and saying "period" two hundred times a day. Then cleaning up the punctuation by hand. That's what Dictate exists for. Hold one key, talk, release, and the text lands where your cursor was, native apps, browsers, Electron apps, terminals. No models to choose, no API keys. You sign in and it works.
One caveat, stated plainly: Dictate transcribes on our servers, so it needs an internet connection. Audio goes over TLS, gets transcribed, and is discarded; history keeps the text, never the recording. It costs $8 a month, one plan. The full side-by-side is at Dictate vs Apple Dictation.
Setup, punctuation, and common limits.
On recent MacBooks, press the microphone key at F5. On other keyboards, press Fn (Globe) twice. Change it under System Settings > Keyboard > Dictation.
Apple Dictation stops after about 30 seconds without speech, and there is no setting to extend it. If it never starts, check the microphone and shortcut.
On Apple silicon, supported languages run on-device and work offline. Intel Macs send audio to Apple’s servers. Keyboard settings show whether your language runs on-device.
Say commands such as “period”, “comma”, “new line”, and “new paragraph”. macOS can also add punctuation automatically, though results vary.
Yes. It is built into macOS. Paid tools mainly address the silence timeout and transcript cleanup.
No. Dictation types into a text field; Voice Control operates the Mac by voice. Keyboard Dictation is unavailable while Voice Control is on, so turn Voice Control off to restore the shortcut.
$8/month flat. Cancel any time; unused subscriptions refunded in full.
