How to turn off Dictation on an iPhone

What changed: the screenshots are now our own iPhone 17e on iOS 27.0.1, dark mode, and the wording is checked against those screens.

howtosimply.com/guides/how-to-turn-off-dictation-on-an-iphone/ · Checked October 2026 · iPhone 17e · iOS 27.0.1

6 of 6 steps with real screenshots · 1 official source below

Device

iPhone

Shown on

iOS 27.0.1 (iPhone 17e)

App

Settings

Path

Settings › General › Keyboard

Real screenshots

6 of 6 steps

What we did

Performed: we made the change on our device and show the result

Checked

October 2026

Sources

1 official, linked below

Step by step

1. 

   Open Settings and tap General

   General is the first row of the group below Battery, after Airplane Mode, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

   Done

2. 

   Tap Keyboard

   It is just below Fonts, in the group that starts with AutoFill & Passwords.

   Done

3. 

   Scroll down and switch off Enable Dictation

   It is under the heading Dictation, near the bottom of the page. The first time we switched it off on our iPhone 17e, no confirmation appeared. The next time, a message did.

   Done

4. 

   If a message appears, tap Turn Off Dictation

   The message says: "The information Dictation uses to respond to your requests will be removed from Apple servers. If you want to use Dictation later, it will take some time to resend this information." Tap Turn Off Dictation, or Cancel to keep it.

   Done

5. 

   Check the keyboard

   The microphone key at the bottom right of the keyboard is gone.

   Done

6. 

   To turn it back on, tap Enable Dictation

   Switch Enable Dictation on again. A message says: "Dictation sends information like your voice input, contacts and location to Apple when necessary for processing your requests." Tap Enable Dictation, or Cancel to keep it off.

   Done

What changed: the screenshots are now our own iPhone 17e on iOS 27.0.1, dark mode, and the wording is checked against those screens.

If you do not see this option

• Dictation is not offered. Apple says Dictation may not be available in all languages or in all countries or regions, and features may vary. Source: Dictate text on iPhone
• You look for Auto-Punctuation. Apple's iOS 27 guide names an Auto-Punctuation switch for supported languages. On our iPhone 17e with English (US) and iOS 27.0.1, Enable Dictation was the only switch under Dictation. Source: Dictate text on iPhone

If this does not work

• You want to keep Dictation but share less. Tap About Dictation & Privacy below the switch. The note on our screen said: Dictation processes many voice inputs on iPhone. Information will be sent to Apple in some cases. Source: Dictate text on iPhone
• Dictated searches still leave the phone. Apple notes that text dictated into a search field may be sent to the search engine to process the search. Source: Dictate text on iPhone
• You use several keyboard languages. Apple says you can dictate in the language of each keyboard you added. Enable Dictation is one switch for all of them. Source: Dictate text on iPhone

About this guide

Dictation puts a microphone key on the keyboard, and it is easy to hit by accident. If you never dictate, you can switch the feature off. Apple notes that Dictation is processed on the iPhone in many languages and needs no internet connection.

The screenshots are our own, taken on an iPhone 17e running iOS 27.0.1, in dark mode.

Good to know

About Dictation & Privacy, the blue link below the switches, explains what is shared with Apple.

In short: Settings, General, Keyboard, Enable Dictation off.