Voice typing on Mac, dictation setup that works in any app

By the end of this guide you will be able to talk instead of type on your Mac, in Mail, Slack, a browser, a code editor, or any other text field. You will set up Apple's built-in Dictation first, learn where it falls short, and then see how a global hotkey with on-device speech recognition fills the gaps.

What voice typing on a Mac actually involves

Voice typing sounds like one feature, but it is three decisions stacked on top of each other:

1. How you start and stop listening (a key you press, or a key you hold).
2. Where the speech is turned into text (on your Mac, or on a server).
3. Where the text ends up (typed at the cursor, or placed on the clipboard for you to paste).

Apple Dictation makes all three decisions for you. That is convenient, and for many people it is enough. The trouble starts when one of those defaults does not match how you work, so it helps to know what each one is before you commit to a setup.

Route 1: Apple Dictation, the built-in option

Every Mac ships with Dictation. It is free, it needs no install, and on a Mac with Apple Silicon it processes most supported languages on the device.

Step 1: Turn it on

1. Open System Settings from the Apple menu.
2. Choose Keyboard in the sidebar.
3. Scroll to the Dictation section and turn the switch on. The first time, macOS may ask you to confirm and may download language resources.
4. Pick your language in the Language menu. You can add more than one and switch between them while dictating.
5. Choose which microphone to use. Automatic is fine for a laptop; pick your headset explicitly if you use one.

Apple's own reference for this is the Use Dictation on Mac page in the macOS User Guide.

Step 2: Set the keyboard shortcut

In the same Dictation section there is a Shortcut menu. On recent keyboards the default is to press the Globe (Fn) key twice, or to press the dedicated microphone key if your keyboard has one. If you would rather use a different key, choose Customize and press the keys you want.

Pick something you will not hit by accident. Double-tapping a modifier key is popular because it never collides with an app shortcut.

Step 3: Dictate

Click into any text field, press the shortcut, and start talking. A small microphone indicator appears next to the cursor. Speak punctuation out loud ("comma", "period", "new paragraph") or turn on Auto-punctuation in the Dictation settings and let macOS insert most of it. Press the shortcut again, or press Escape, to stop.

Where Apple Dictation stops being enough

Dictation works, and it works for free. These are the limits people run into, stated plainly:

• Not every language runs on the device. Apple lets you check in Keyboard settings whether your dictated text is processed on your Mac or sent to Apple's servers. For a language that goes to the server, you need a connection and you are sending audio off the machine. If you dictate confidential material, check this before you rely on it.
• It stops on silence. Dictation ends on its own after about 30 seconds without speech, so if you pause to think, you will find yourself pressing the shortcut again.
• What you say is what you get. There is no step between the recognition and the text field. Filler words, false starts and "no wait, delete that" all land in the document. Cleaning up is a separate job that you do by hand or with another tool.
• One language at a time per session. Switching languages mid-sentence means switching the language menu first.
• No transcript history. Once the text is in the field, that is the only copy. If the app loses it, it is gone.

None of these are deal-breakers for a quick reply. They become tiring when dictation is how you write for hours a day.

Route 2: A global hotkey with on-device recognition

The second route is a dedicated voice typing app that listens on a global hotkey and runs a speech model locally. ThinkScribe for Mac works this way, and the rest of this guide uses it as the example. The setup takes a few minutes and does not touch your existing Dictation settings, so you can keep both.

Step 1: Install and download a model

Install ThinkScribe from the App Store. It needs macOS 26 or later on a Mac with Apple Silicon (M1 or later) and at least 16 GB of memory; Intel Macs are not supported. On first launch it downloads open-source model weights once. That download is the only time the app uses the network for speech, and after it finishes everything runs offline.

You can choose between Apple's on-device speech models, Whisper and Parakeet. If you are not sure which to pick, start with the default and change it later in Settings.

Step 2: Learn the hotkey

The default global hotkey is Option-Space. Press it once to start listening, press it again to stop, or press Escape to discard what you said. A floating voice bar shows that the microphone is live, and a menu bar item does the same from the top of the screen.

Both the hotkey and the mode can be changed in Settings if Option-Space collides with something you already use.

Step 3: Choose where the text goes

This is the decision that matters most, and it is worth understanding both options.

Clipboard mode (the default). When you stop, the transcribed text is placed on the clipboard. You press Command-V to paste it wherever the cursor is. This needs no extra permissions and works in every app, including ones that behave oddly with simulated typing. The cost is one extra keystroke.

Hands-free mode (optional). If you would rather have the text typed straight at the cursor, open System Settings, go to Privacy & Security, choose Accessibility, and enable ThinkScribe in the list. From then on the text appears where you were typing the moment you stop, with no paste step. Accessibility permission is optional; the app never requires it, and you can turn it off again at any time.

Many people start in clipboard mode, get used to the hotkey, and switch to hands-free once they trust it.

Step 4: Set a default language

You can set a default transcription language under Settings > Transcription, and the record bar follows it. If you work in one language most of the day, set it there and stop thinking about it. If you switch languages often, leave automatic detection on; it recognises 90 or more languages, and there is a picker with 28 explicitly supported ones for when you want to force a choice.

Step 5: Rewrite before you paste

The step Apple Dictation does not have. After you stop, you can have the dictated text rewritten on the device: cleaned up (filler removed, sentences tidied), shorter, more formal, or friendlier. The rewrite runs on a local language model, so it works with Wi-Fi off and nothing leaves the Mac. For a quick Slack message you will skip it; for an email to a client you will probably use it every time.

Which route should you use?

• You dictate occasionally, your language runs on-device, and you do not mind cleaning up by hand: stay with Apple Dictation. It is already installed.
• You dictate for long stretches, pause to think, or want the text tidied before it lands in the document: use a dedicated app with a hotkey and on-device rewriting.
• You handle confidential material: check the on-device status of your language in either case. With ThinkScribe nothing leaves the device, which removes the vendor-processing question for confidentiality reviews; confirm requirements with your own compliance advisor.

If you prefer an open-source stack to an app, you can build it yourself with whisper.cpp and a hotkey, and if you would rather skip the assembly, get started with ThinkScribe on Mac covers the first run. If you also want the same thing on your phone, the companion guide on offline dictation on iPhone covers the keyboard side. And if voice typing leads you toward recording and transcribing whole meetings, see the meeting transcription page.

If you'd rather not maintain this

Frequently asked questions

Does Mac dictation work offline?

Apple Dictation works offline for languages that are processed on the device, which covers most major languages on a Mac with Apple Silicon. You can check the status for your language in System Settings under Keyboard, and the practical test is to turn Wi-Fi off and try it. A dedicated app that runs its own speech model locally, such as ThinkScribe, works offline in every language it supports.

How do I dictate into any app on a Mac?

Apple Dictation already works in any standard text field: click into the field, press the Dictation shortcut, and speak. A global-hotkey app extends this in two ways: it can place the text on the clipboard so you paste it anywhere, including apps that reject simulated typing, or, with Accessibility permission, type it directly at the cursor in any app.

What is the keyboard shortcut for dictation on Mac?

By default it is a double press of the Globe (Fn) key on recent keyboards, or the microphone key on keyboards that have one. You can change it under System Settings > Keyboard > Dictation > Shortcut. ThinkScribe uses Option-Space by default and lets you change it to any combination, or to a single function key such as F5.

Why does dictation stop after a few seconds on my Mac?

Apple Dictation stops automatically when it hears no speech for about 30 seconds, so a long pause ends the session. It also ends if you press the shortcut or Escape by mistake. If you pause to think while writing, an app with push-to-talk or a hotkey you toggle yourself is less likely to cut you off.