How to Turn On Dictation on a Mac (and Change the Shortcut)

Apple's built-in Dictation lets you talk instead of type, and it's already on your Mac — free, no download, no account. If you've been wondering how to turn on dictation on a Mac, it takes about thirty seconds. This guide walks you through enabling it, finding the keyboard shortcut, changing that shortcut to something comfier, and actually using it well. We'll also be honest about where Apple's version runs out of road.

How to enable dictation on Mac

Everything lives in one panel. To enable dictation on your Mac:

1. Open System Settings (the Apple menu in the top-left corner → System Settings).
2. Click Keyboard in the sidebar.
3. Scroll to the Dictation section.
4. Toggle Dictation to On.
5. If prompted, confirm you want to enable it. macOS may download a language pack the first time.

That's it — Dictation is now live system-wide. It works in any app with a text field: Notes, Mail, Messages, Safari, Slack, you name it.

While you're in that panel, set your Language. If your language supports on-device dictation, macOS downloads it so audio is processed locally and works offline. On Apple Silicon Macs this is the default for many languages, which is better for both privacy and speed.

The Mac dictation shortcut (and how to change it)

By default, the Mac dictation shortcut is press the fn (Globe) key twice. On some setups the default is press Control twice instead. Either way, a quick double-tap starts listening.

To change the dictation shortcut:

1. Go back to System Settings → Keyboard → Dictation.
2. Find the Shortcut dropdown.
3. Pick from the presets (Press fn twice, Press Right Command twice, Press Control twice, and so on), or choose Customise to record your own key combination.

Pick something you won't trigger by accident but can reach without looking. If you already use the Globe key for emoji or input switching, a double-tap of Control or Right Command often feels cleaner.

How to use it

The one rule people forget: your cursor has to be in a text field first. Dictation types wherever the cursor is blinking, so click into a document, message box, or search bar before you start.

1. Click into any text field.
2. Press your dictation shortcut (double-tap fn/Globe or whatever you set).
3. Start talking. Words appear as you speak.
4. Say punctuation out loud — "comma", "full stop", "new line", "question mark".
5. Press the shortcut again, or hit Escape, to stop.

Common gotchas

A few things trip people up:

• Nothing happens? Check the cursor is actually in a text field, and that Dictation is toggled on.
• It stops mid-sentence. Apple Dictation times out after a short pause or a fixed window — it's designed for quick bursts, not paragraphs.
• Wrong language. If it's transcribing gibberish, your selected language probably doesn't match what you're speaking. Change it in the Dictation panel.
• Globe key does something else. If fn is bound to emoji or input sources, either change that binding or pick a different dictation shortcut.

For a fuller walkthrough with screenshots, see our Dictation for Mac guide.

When Apple Dictation isn't enough

Apple's Dictation is free and genuinely fine for short bursts — a quick reply, a search, a sentence or two. But it wasn't built for long-form. It times out, it stops listening when you pause to think, and there's no hold-to-talk flow for firing off a paragraph in one go. If you find yourself fighting the timeout, we wrote about exactly that in when Apple Dictation keeps timing out.

That's the gap Dictately fills. It's a dedicated macOS dictation app (Apple Silicon and Intel) where you hold a key, talk for as long as you like, release, and your words land in whatever app you're using. It handles 99+ languages with automatic detection, so there's no fiddling with language settings mid-sentence. On Apple Silicon, English runs on-device — your audio never leaves your Mac. Other languages use the cloud, where audio is discarded after transcription and never stored. Setup is basically nil, and it's built in the UK.

It's £6.99/mo, with a free tier of 2,000 words a month if you want to try it without paying. Apple Dictation stays free and handy for quick jobs; Dictately is there for when you're actually writing.

Either way, you've now got dictation turned on — go and talk your way through your inbox.