How to use dictation on a Mac

howtosimply.com/guides/how-to-use-dictation-on-a-mac/ · Checked 3 October 2026 · MacBook Pro · macOS Tahoe 26

3 of 5 steps with real screenshots · 1 official source below

Device

Mac

Shown on

macOS Tahoe 26 (MacBook Pro)

App

System Settings

Real screenshots

3 of 5 steps

Checked

3 October 2026

Sources

1 official, linked below

Step by step

1. 

   Open System Settings and click Keyboard

   Click the Apple menu and choose System Settings.

   Done

2. 

   Switch on Dictation

   Scroll down to the Dictation section. Choose your language, and add others if you speak more than one.

   Done

3. 

   Check the shortcut

   The default is the microphone key on the F5 key of newer Mac keyboards, or pressing the Control key twice. You can change it in the Shortcut menu.

   Done

4. Click in a text field and start dictating

   Press the shortcut. A microphone icon appears at the cursor. Speak normally.

   Done

5. Stop

   Press the shortcut again, or press Escape.

   Done

What we saw on our device

• Click Enable: On our MacBook Neo the box also offers Dictation Privacy… and Cancel.
• Check the shortcut: On our MacBook Neo the menu offers Press 🎤 (ticked), Press Control Key Twice and Press 🌐 Twice, with an arrow at the bottom for more.
• Stop dictating: On our MacBook Neo, TextEdit showed "Hello" in Notes.txt.

About this guide

Dictation turns speech into text in any app where you can type. It adds punctuation automatically and can be faster than typing for emails and notes.

These steps are for recent versions of macOS, where the settings app is called System Settings. The pictures are either our own screenshots from macOS Tahoe 26 on a MacBook Pro or simplified diagrams of the screen.

Good to know

Say "new line" or "new paragraph" to move down. Punctuation is added by itself in most languages, and you can also say "comma" or "question mark".

On Macs with Apple silicon, dictation for many languages runs on the Mac without sending audio to Apple, and you can type while it is listening.

Dictation stops by itself after about 30 seconds of silence.

For controlling the whole Mac by voice, look at Voice Control under System Settings, Accessibility.

Want the Mac to read text back to you as well? How to make a Mac read selected text aloud.

The same on an iPhone: how to delete your Siri and dictation history on an iPhone covers what is stored.

In short: System Settings > Keyboard > Dictation switch on > Enable, then press 🎤 in any text field and speak.