Getting started with Dictately

Grab the app and open the installer. Download Dictately, then drag it into your Applications folder and launch it. The first launch walks you through a short setup.

macOS asks for a few permissions so Dictately can hear you and type for you. You'll be prompted for each — approve all three:

• • Microphone — to capture your voice.
• • Accessibility — to insert text into the app you're using.
• • Input Monitoring — to detect your activation key.

You can review or change these any time in System Settings → Privacy & Security.

During onboarding you choose the key you'll hold to talk. The default is Fn, and you can switch to a shortcut like Ctrl + Shift + Space if you prefer. Change it later in Settings.

Put your cursor wherever you want text — an email, a doc, your code editor, a chat box. Then:

Hold your key → talk → release.

Your words appear as clean, punctuated text right where the cursor is. Dictately adds capitalisation and punctuation automatically, so you can just speak naturally.

Personal dictionary— add names, brands, or jargon (e.g. a product name) so they're always spelled the way you want.

Snippets — map a short phrase to a longer block of text (signatures, boilerplate) and have it expanded as you dictate.

Languages — Dictately handles 99+ languages with automatic detection. Set your preferred language during onboarding; switch any time in Settings.