
Apple recommends no longer than 40-second dictations for best results.Ĥ. Once you tap the trigger shortcut, you should see a microphone icon, indicating that your Mac is ready to accept dictation. Double-tap the trigger key you set for Dictation, and in the two prompts that appear, hit Ok and Enable Dictation, respectively.ģ. Open the app/website/service where you want to enter text and place the cursor in the input field.Ģ. Once you have set the shortcut to trigger Dictation, in the previous point, you are ready to use the feature to dictate text.ġ. Set input microphone – tap on the dropdown button below the microphone (on the left) to select the input microphone. Alternatively, you can also set a custom key as the trigger for Dictation.ģ. Set shortcut to trigger Dictation – to set the trigger shortcut to initiate Dictate, tap the dropdown button next to Shortcut and select a trigger option from the list. In case you do not see your language in the list, tap the Add Language button to search and add the language.Ģ. Change input language – hit the dropdown button next to Language to choose your preferred input language. Most importantly, it is not to be confused with Voice Control, which is another Accessibility feature, which allows you to control your Mac using commands.ġ. You can use it anywhere on your Mac to enter your input using voice. What is Dictation and how does it work?Īs already mentioned, Dictation is an Accessibility feature on Mac that allows you to speak text and get an equivalent output for the same in the form of text across any input field. Since the feature can be used by anyone, for any of their use-cases, here’s a guide, with everything about the feature, including the steps on how to use Dictation (voice-to-text typing) on Mac. Thus, allowing you to type-in text, without having to, well, actually type text.

It allows you to speak text (instead of typing) and leverages the power of voice-to-text transcription to get the output in the form of text.

Dictation, again, is an Accessibility feature on Mac. If you have been a Mac user for some time, you would be aware (or might have stumbled upon) the Dictation feature. Since some of the Accessibility features on Mac, such as Voice Over, Zoom, Voice Control, and Speech can also come in handy for those looking to get more out of their actions, and in turn, their device. However, that is not to say that normal users cannot benefit from these features.

Accessibility features, essentially, are features that aid people with disabilities to better use certain functionalities to allow them to operate their devices independently. In case you are unaware, Apple provides a range of Accessibility features on Mac - especially with the recent versions of macOS.
