How to Use Dictation on Mac

Turn on Dictation on Mac in System Settings > Keyboard > Dictation, pick your languages, set the shortcut, and dictate offline on Apple silicon.

1. Turn Dictation on in System Settings. Open System Settings and click Keyboard in the sidebar. Scroll to Dictation and turn the switch on. macOS shows a confirmation sheet describing how your audio is handled. Click Enable. The Mac then downloads the language assets if they are not already on disk.
2. Add the languages you actually dictate in. Click the Language pop-up menu inside the Dictation section. Choose Add Language and select each language you need. macOS lists only the languages it supports for dictation. With more than one language enabled, you can switch between them from the dictation indicator while you speak.
3. Set the shortcut from the dropdown. Click the Shortcut pop-up menu in the Dictation section. The list includes pressing the Control key twice, pressing a Command key twice, and a Customize option for a combination of your own. Pick one, then read it back from the menu. Whatever the menu shows is what your Mac listens for.
4. Dictate into any text field. Click into any text field and press your dictation shortcut. An indicator appears to show the Mac is listening. Speak normally. Press the shortcut again to stop. Text is inserted at the cursor, so this works in Mail, Notes, Messages, or a plain search box.
5. Speak the punctuation you want. Say the name of the mark and macOS inserts the symbol. Comma, period, question mark, exclamation point, colon, and semicolon all work. Say new line for a single break and new paragraph for a blank line and a break. Say quote and end quote to wrap a phrase.
6. Check what runs without a network. On Apple silicon Macs, Apple processes many dictation languages entirely on the device. Those languages keep working with Wi-Fi turned off. Languages that are not supported on device still need a connection, and macOS tells you when dictation is unavailable.