The other shortcut options include Press Fn Key Twice, Press Right Command Key Twice, Press Left Command Key Twice, Press Either Command Key Twice and Customize. Choose among six options, including Press Control Key Twice (a solid choice).

The second way to use Dictation is with a keyboard shortcut, but you must first enable it.

Once you're finished dictating, click Done.Ĭhoose a shortcut for Dictation in System Preferences.

You should also see text populating the area where your cursor is, after you speak.

As you speak, you'll see the volume control in the microphone go up and down, indicating the strength of your voice. As soon as you do, a small microphone icon next to your cursor will appear. Next, navigate to the menu bar and click Edit > Start Dictation.To start, open up your application of choice - such an email or word processor - and click anywhere where you want to input text.The first way to use Dictation is from the menu bar at the top of your screen. In this guide we'll show you two different ways to enable voice dictation on your Mac: from the menu bar at the top of your screen and with a keyboard shortcut of your choice. If you're always multitasking and need something to help you write up long emails or leave quick comments, use Dictation. Dictation works in pretty much any app or service on your Mac, meaning you could write an essay in Microsoft Word or leave a comment on YouTube in Safari - with only your voice. Siri works great with native applications such as Mail and Messages, but if third-party apps don't have support, you're out of luck. The tool, known as Dictation, lets you use your voice to type pretty much anywhere on your computer - which Siri can't do. Conveniently, Mac has another voice feature that fills in some of the holes that Siri leaves behind. With just my voice, I can search through my hundreds of documents for a certain file or check for free disk space if I'm running out of storage, but the intelligent personal assistant does have its limitations. I use Siri on my Mac more than I do on my iPhone or any of my other Apple devices.

Best voice dictation software for mac