Last updated: 2025-12-26
Voice Type rating: 4.8 / 5 from 22 verified App Store reviews. See reviews.
TL;DR
- Enable Dictation: System Settings → Keyboard → Dictation → On.
- Start dictation with the microphone key (if present) or the Dictation shortcut (often Fn twice).
- Speak punctuation and formatting: “comma”, “new paragraph”, etc.
- If dictation won’t start, check microphone permissions and your Dictation shortcut.
1) Enable speech to text (Dictation)
- Open System Settings.
- Go to Keyboard → Dictation.
- Switch Dictation to On.
- Optional: choose a Dictation shortcut. If you don’t see a microphone key, the default is often Fn twice.
Short version: Turn on voice typing on a Mac.
2) Use it in any app
Click into a text field (Notes is a good test). Start dictation, speak naturally, then stop dictation to insert the text.
Step-by-step: How to use speech to text on Mac.
3) Punctuation and formatting commands
You can speak punctuation and line breaks while dictating (for example: “comma”, “period”, “new line”, “new paragraph”).
Cheat sheet: Mac Dictation commands.
When you dictate daily
Built-in Dictation is great for occasional use. If you dictate all day, workflow matters: consistent shortcut behavior, predictable latency, and better handling of technical terms.
Voice Type is a privacy-first, on-device dictation app for macOS with a hold-to-dictate hotkey (hold → speak → release). Explore: Voice typing for Mac.
Troubleshooting
- Dictation not working on Mac (permissions, input levels, restarts)
- Change the Dictation shortcut (Fn twice, microphone key, Customize)
- Where is the microphone key on MacBook Pro?