How to use dictation on Mac: setup, punctuation and limits

Turn on Dictation in System Settings → Keyboard

Dictation is off by default. Turn it on like this:

1. Choose Apple menu → System Settings
2. Click Keyboard in the sidebar, then turn on Dictation near the bottom
3. If prompted, click Enable
4. If you're asked whether to improve Siri and Dictation, choose whether to share audio recordings with Apple. Sharing recordings is optional

The Dictation section of the Keyboard settings controls almost everything about dictation:

• The switch: turns Dictation on or off
• Languages: the languages you'll speak. Click Edit to choose more than one, such as English and Spanish
• Microphone source: which microphone to listen with. Choose it here if you use an external mic
• Shortcut: the key that starts dictation, such as pressing the right Command key twice
• Auto-punctuation: whether commas, periods and question marks are added automatically

Once it's on, you can dictate anywhere you can type.

Start dictating with the microphone key or a shortcut

To start, use any of these:

Pressing and releasing the Microphone key starts dictation; pressing and holding it starts Siri. If it doesn't hear you for about 30 seconds, dictation stops on its own.

In English, punctuation is added automatically

In supported languages, commas, periods and question marks are inserted for you. Apple's macOS Feature Availability page, as checked on 2026-10-23, lists English among them¹. Availability can differ by macOS version, Mac and region. If you'd rather not use automatic punctuation, turn off Auto-punctuation under Keyboard → Dictation.

For symbols that aren't added automatically, say their names. For example, say "exclamation mark" to get "!", and "new line" or "new paragraph" to break the line.

Add languages ahead of time, then switch while you talk

If you want to speak more than one language, add them under Keyboard → Dictation first. While dictating, click the language shown next to the cursor, or press the Globe key, to switch.

English can be processed on your Mac

In supported languages, your voice can be turned into text on your Mac itself. Apple's macOS Feature Availability page, as checked on 2026-10-23, lists English among the languages that can be processed locally¹. Local here means your audio is turned into text on your Mac instead of being sent over the internet; features such as formatting, sync or logs may still go online, so check each tool. You can check how your Mac handles it in the description under Keyboard → Dictation.

Local processing has real advantages: it works without a connection, and your audio stays on your Mac. On the other hand, recognition accuracy can vary with your Mac's hardware. We go into this in “Is local dictation safer?”

Read nextIs local AI dictation safer? Local vs cloud and their limitsProcessing your voice locally, so it never leaves your Mac, is a reassuring choice. But a Mac's computing power is limited, and that shows up in how well it hears you and how well it cleans up your text. And if you use a cloud tool, what should you check to use it with confidence? We lay out the limits of both.

By default, filler words and restarts don't disappear

The built-in dictation is a tool for turning speech into text. Apple's official description doesn't include cleaning up speech into text that's ready to send.

• Filler words like "um" and "uh" may end up in the text
• When you restart a sentence, both versions may remain
• In long dictation, punctuation is added, but you have to break paragraphs yourself

For short notes and searches, the built-in dictation is plenty. If you want to write email or chat messages by voice, tools that clean up spoken language are worth a look. See “12 voice dictation apps for Mac, compared”, which lines them up on the same points.

Read nextMac dictation apps: 12 compared and ranked (October 2026)You want what you say to come out as text you can send. If that's why you're choosing a dictation app for Mac, four things matter most. We checked those four points for 12 apps using only what each company's official pages say. This article does not compare how well they hear you or how well they clean up your speech.