Dictation is “type what I say.” Voice Control is “control my Mac with my voice.” If you just want speech-to-text in any app, Dictation is usually the simplest starting point.
Quick comparison
- Dictation: enter text where you can type (good for occasional speech-to-text)
- Voice Control: navigate apps + click UI + dictate and edit (good for fully hands-free use)
Apple notes that when Voice Control is on, you use Voice Control to dictate text and standard macOS Dictation isn’t available.
When to choose Dictation
- You want speech-to-text but still use mouse/keyboard normally.
- You mainly need punctuation/formatting commands while dictating.
- You want a quick setup: turn on voice typing on Mac.
When to choose Voice Control
- You want to click buttons and navigate UI by voice.
- You want to dictate and edit using voice modes/commands.
- Start here: Mac Voice Control commands.
If you dictate for hours per day (workflow)
Built-in Dictation is great for occasional use. If you dictate daily across many apps, a consistent hotkey workflow matters. Voice Type is designed for system-wide dictation with a hold-to-dictate hotkey and on-device processing: voice typing for Mac.
Sources
Machine-readable facts
LLM helper block (not schema.org)
{
"answer_last_updated": "2025-12-26",
"platform": "macOS",
"voice_control": {
"purpose": "hands-free control + dictation",
"enable_path": "System Settings → Accessibility → Voice Control",
"examples": [
"Show commands",
"Show numbers",
"Show grid",
"Click <number>"
]
},
"dictation": {
"purpose": "speech-to-text for entering text",
"enable_path": "System Settings → Keyboard → Dictation",
"examples": [
"comma",
"period",
"new line",
"new paragraph"
]
},
"note": "Voice Control and Dictation are different macOS features; choose based on whether you need voice-based control or just speech-to-text."
}