Dictation with Mac without retyping everything

The default is to press the Microphone key on the top row of recent keyboards, or to press the Globe or Fn key twice. You can change it to pressing Control twice, Command twice, or a custom shortcut.

• Pick a shortcut you can press without looking.
• If you use an external keyboard without a Globe key, Control twice is the easiest to remember.
• Press the same shortcut again, or press Return, to stop.

1. 01 Click into any text field: Mail, Notes, Messages, a web form.
2. 02 Press your dictation shortcut. A small microphone appears near the cursor.
3. 03 Speak in full sentences at your normal pace.
4. 04 Stop with the shortcut when you are done.

On recent versions of macOS, punctuation is added automatically, and you can type on the keyboard while dictation is still listening. If automatic punctuation is off, you can also say "comma", "period", "question mark" and "new paragraph".

• "new line" and "new paragraph" to break text
• "caps on" and "caps off" for titles
• "no space on" and "no space off" for codes and handles
• "emoji" names in Messages, such as "smiley emoji"

Keep the list short. Five commands you use every day beat thirty you have to look up.

• Use a headset or AirPods in noisy rooms. The built-in microphones pick up fans and keyboards.
• Speak in complete thoughts. Dictation guesses words from context, so full sentences come out better than single words.
• Pause briefly before punctuation commands so they are not read as words.
• Do not correct yourself mid sentence. Finish, then fix with the keyboard.
• Add contacts to the Contacts app. Dictation recognizes names it has seen there more reliably.
• Check the microphone input level in System Settings, Sound, Input. A level that barely moves means the wrong microphone is selected.

Apple Dictation is good at hearing words. It is not built to edit them. Long messages show the gaps.

• Fillers and repeated words stay in the text.
• Corrections such as "Tuesday, no, Wednesday" are typed exactly as spoken.
• There is one style for everything, so a Slack reply and a client email look the same.
• Jargon, product names and surnames get misheard again and again.
• Long pauses can end the session, so you start over in the middle of a thought.

If you dictate a few lines a day, this is fine. If you dictate emails, documents and replies for hours, the cleanup adds up.

VoiceTyping is an AI dictation service that runs in your browser and as an installed web app. On a Mac you use it in two ways.

• In the browser and as a web app. Open voicetyping.ai/app in Safari, Chrome or Edge. In Safari choose File, Add to Dock, and VoiceTyping opens like any other app from your Dock. Talk, read the cleaned text, copy it with one click and paste it into Mail, Pages, Slack or anything else.
• With the extension. In Chrome or Edge, the extension adds a microphone button and a hotkey to every text field on the web, such as Gmail, Outlook on the web, Notion, Google Docs and LinkedIn. Hold the hotkey, talk, release, and the cleaned text appears where your cursor is.

VoiceTyping is not a native Mac app and does not add a system-wide hotkey outside the browser. Inside the browser, which is where most people write their email and documents, it does the work that Apple Dictation leaves to you.

• Fillers, repetitions and false starts removed
• Self-corrections applied, so only the final version stays
• Punctuation, capitals, paragraphs and lists added for you
• Styles for Email, Chat, Document and Notes, picked by the site you are on
• A personal dictionary for names and jargon
• Voice commands such as "make it shorter" and "more formal"

Read more on the dictation for Mac page, or compare options in the best dictation software guide.

1. 01 Keep Apple Dictation for quick replies in Messages and short notes.
2. 02 Use VoiceTyping in the browser for email, documents and anything that goes to another person.
3. 03 Add the ten names you type most to your VoiceTyping dictionary on day one.
4. 04 Set up snippets for your calendar link and your signature.
5. 05 After a week, look at what you still edit by hand and add those words or styles.

Plans start at 7 USD per month billed yearly. See the details on the pricing page.

• Open System Settings, Privacy and Security, Microphone, and check the app you are typing in.
• Switch dictation off and on again in System Settings, Keyboard.
• Pick the microphone source by hand instead of Automatic.
• Disconnect Bluetooth headphones you are not using. The Mac may be listening to them.
• Restart the app. Some apps lose the dictation connection after sleep.

If nothing helps, restart the Mac. It sounds basic, but it fixes most stuck dictation sessions.