Voice to text on a Mac: how to type with your voice in any app

Published 15 October 2026

Every Mac can turn speech into text without installing anything, and a few other tools build on that. Which one suits you depends on where you type, how much you dictate and whether you also want to control the Mac by voice.

Apple Dictation, built into macOS

Open Apple menu → System Settings, click Keyboard and scroll down to Dictation. Turn it on and click Enable. From then on you can dictate in any app where you can type: click where the text should go, then start Dictation with the Microphone key (if your keyboard has one), your Dictation shortcut or Edit → Start Dictation. When the cursor starts to pulse or you hear a tone, speak.

To stop, press Escape, the Microphone key or the shortcut. Apple says there's no limit on length, but Dictation stops by itself after 30 seconds without speech. On a Mac with Apple silicon you can keep typing while it listens, which is handy for fixing a word mid-sentence. Words it wasn't sure about get a blue underline. Click one to pick an alternative.

The Shortcut menu in the same Dictation section lets you choose how it starts, for example pressing fn twice, or set your own key combination with Customize.

Voice Control, when you want commands as well

Voice Control lives in System Settings → Accessibility → Voice Control. It does more than Dictation. You can open apps, click buttons and edit text by voice. In its default Dictation mode, anything you say that isn't a command is typed as text. Spelling mode enters text letter by letter, which Apple suggests for passwords and web addresses. Say "Show commands" to see what works in the app you're in.

There's a trade-off. While Voice Control is on, standard Dictation isn't available, and Voice Control handles all your text. If all you want is to dictate, Dictation is the simpler choice.

Voice typing inside one app

Some apps have their own speech-to-text. Google Docs has Tools → Voice typing, which Google lists as working in the latest Chrome, Edge and Safari. Outlook has a Dictate button on the Message tab, which Microsoft says is only for Microsoft 365 subscribers. Both are fine if you spend your day in that app. Neither helps when you switch to Slack or Notes.

Dictation apps that type into any app

Third-party dictation apps sit in the menu bar and start on a key. You talk, and the app pastes the text where your cursor is, in whatever app you're using. Many of them run OpenAI's Whisper model on the Mac. They usually need two permissions in System Settings → Privacy & Security: Microphone to hear you, and Accessibility to put text into other apps.

Reasons to pick one include a custom vocabulary for names and jargon, or a history of what you dictated. The free dictation apps compared lists what each one includes.

Saypad is one of them. Hold fn, speak, let go, and the text lands at the cursor. If your 🌐 key already does something, Saypad uses right ⌘ instead. For longer text, double-tap the key to go hands-free and tap again to stop. It's free with no word limit and no account. The 187 MB installer includes a small Whisper model, so it works offline right after you install it, and the more accurate large-v3-turbo model (874 MB) downloads in the background. It needs macOS 15 or later and an Apple Silicon Mac.

A setup that works day to day

Give each tool its own key. If Apple Dictation and a third-party app both listen to fn, you'll get one when you wanted the other. Test new settings in TextEdit or Notes first, where there's nothing else to go wrong. If nothing appears there, this checklist for when Mac dictation isn't working goes through the usual causes.

Talk in whole sentences rather than single words, since speech models use the surrounding words to decide what you said. Then read the text once at the end instead of correcting as you go. For emails, documents and long prompts, how to dictate long text on a Mac has more on keeping your train of thought.

Not sure which built-in feature you need? See Voice Control vs Dictation.

Questions

Is voice typing on a Mac free?

Apple Dictation and Voice Control come with macOS. Google Docs voice typing is part of Docs. Outlook's Dictate button is only for Microsoft 365 subscribers, according to Microsoft. Saypad is free, with no word limit and no account.

Does voice typing work in every app?

Apple says Dictation works in any app where you can type, and dictation apps that paste text work wherever the cursor is. Voice typing in Google Docs and Dictate in Outlook only work inside those apps.

What's the difference between Dictation and Voice Control?

Dictation turns speech into text. Voice Control also lets you click, scroll, open apps and edit text by voice. While Voice Control is on, standard Dictation isn't available, so pick one.

Can I type with my voice without internet?

With Apple Dictation, the text under Dictation in Keyboard settings tells you whether general dictation is processed on your Mac. Whisper-based apps that run locally work offline once the model is on your Mac. Saypad includes one in the installer.