The traditional, and arguably the easiest, way to write notes and emails is through your computer keyboard and mouse. However, if you are unable to use the keyboard or mouse for whatever reason, you can use another feature called Apple dictation. Dictation can come in rather handy in certain situations. For instance, if you’re busy doing something and you want to write an urgent note or email, then using the dictation feature instead of typing the note on your keyboard and clicking the mouse to send an email will allow you to multitask effectively.
How to Setup Dictation on Mac
The dictation feature is standard on Mac devices, but you will need to turn it on and set it up before you can start using it. To turn on the dictation feature, use these steps:
Download Voice Service Dictation for macOS 10.10 or later and enjoy it on your Mac. Don’t miss our new App in the Mac App Store! Convert text from any application into speech simply by selecting the text or by using a keyboard shortcut. The Best OCR Software On Mac In 2020; The Best Apps To Go Paperless On Your Mac; Other reasons to use dictation tools include: You can note down things hands free (for example when cooking, eating, doing the laundry etc). You think much faster than you can type which means you can get a lot more down on paper in half the time.
You will see a message warning you that using your Mac’s dictation option the way it’s currently set up will send your spoken text to Apple to be converted. Click Enable Dictation. Dragon dictate This free dictation software for Mac is a professional tool for recording and dictating. This software claims 99.5% accuracy and helps create reports, articles, books, eBooks and many others. It can be used to give commands to Mac as well. Here's how to set up and use the dictation feature on a Mac computer. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. Voice-to-text is a helpful feature for those who are often out and about. Not so with this app. Normally, when dictating to Mac OS, to signify a carriage return, you say the phrase 'new line.' Now if you were entering the values manually on the keyboard in Excel for Mac 2011, this is exactly how you would do it; hit the number keys, then hit return, and the curser would advance to the cell below and so on.
Navigate to System Preferences by clicking on the small Apple icon at the top left corner of your screen.
Click on Keyboard.
Click the Dictation tab.
Under the Dictation tab, you’ll be given several options. Make sure to select the On radio button.
Check the Use Enhanced Dictation box. Enhanced dictation allows you to use the feature even when your Mac is offline.
Select your preferred Language and Shortcut to turn on the feature whenever you need it. The shortcuts are a sequence of keys that you’ll need to type on your keyboard to turn on dictation when you need it. For example, typing the Fn button twice can be used to enable dictation.
After these, you would’ve pretty much set up the Mac dictation feature. There are other settings you can tweak, but the basic settings are enough to get you started.
How to Use the Dictation Feature on Mac
Apple’s dictation feature on Mac is straightforward, but you’ll need to get the hang of it and it may take some time. This is because you’ll need to memorize quite a few commands. In fact, there are over a hundred commands available but don’t worry because you can start with a few basic commands and learn the rest over time as you need it. However, it’s a good idea to take the time to review the available commands just to familiarize yourself with what’s available. It’s also important to take note of the commands that are specific to different applications. So, if you’re using dictation to write and send an email, there will be a different set of commands compared when writing and saving a note. When writing an email, you can also add the name of the recipient/s, subject, message, and then send the email without typing on the keyboard or using your mouse to click on commands.
If you want to start to maximize the feature, begin with something simple such as writing and sending an email. To do so, open the email application and then press your preferred shortcut to open dictation. A small box with a microphone icon will appear. To show the list of available commands for that application, simply say show commands. A pop-up window will appear to display the list of commands, such as click, switch, quit, and next field among others. Apple’s dictation feature will undoubtedly come in handy if you need to use your device entirely hands-free. But, remember that not all of Mac’s features can be controlled by dictation. Take the time to familiarize yourself with the available commands, so that you can use dictation effectively.
To ensure that the dictation feature works well whenever you need it, you’ll need to make sure that your Mac is in top condition at all times. Fortunately, optimizing your Mac isn’t as difficult as it would seem. Tweakbit MacRepair will help you maximize the RAM, storage, and other essential features on your device.
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If you have mobility or motor impairments, repetitive stress injuries, or you find typing on a keyboard difficult in any way, there's an alternative. Dictation lets you talk instead of type, and voice-to-text transcribes what you say into words on the screen. It's among the Mac's many accessibility features. All you have to do is set it up and get going.
How to enable and use Dictation
Basic dictation is essentially always enabled by default — you just need to activate it.
Click into a text area like a document or the address bar of your web browser.
Double-press the Fn key. A microphone will appear on your screen and if it's receiving audio, you'll see activity inside of it.
Speak the text you want to type. You can speak various punctuation and symbols, including brackets, percent signs, and more. You can also say phrases like 'caps on' to turn on capital letters.
Click Done under the microphone icon or press the Fn key once when you're finished dictating.
The more you use Dictation, the more it learns how you speak — like your accent and cadence. It may seem finicky at first, but as you use it more, it'll get better and better. Apple has a great starter guide on how to dictate punctuation and formatting, as well.
How to change your Dictation language
Did you know that you can dictate your text in multiple languages? Here's how.
Open System Preferences from your Dock or Applications folder.
Click Keyboard.
Click Dictation.
Click the drop-down next to Language.
Click Add Language…
Click the checkboxes next to languages that you wish to add.
Click OK.
What Mac Apps Accept Dictation App
To use those languages, you can switch to the default dictation option at any time by going to System Preferences > Keyboard > Dictation Language and selecting your current language from the dropdown menu.
How to enable and use Enhanced Dictation
Enhanced Dictation enables you to dictate without an internet connection, and dictate continuously; this means that your words will convert to text more quickly since they're being processed locally on your device.
Open System Preferences from your Dock or Applications folder.
Click Keyboard.
Click Dictation.
Click the checkbox next to Use Enhanced Dictation. Enhanced Dictation will take several minutes to download if you haven't done so already.
Once enabled, you can use Enhanced Dictation the same way you would regular dictation. Press the Fn key twice when your cursor is in a text field. If the microphone shows up, speak what you want to be typed and click Done or press the Fn key once.
How to change the Dictation keyboard shortcut
While the Fn key on your Mac's keyboard is the default trigger for dictation, you can change that in the Dictation section of the keyboard preference pane
Open System Preferences from your Dock or Applications folder.
Click Keyboard.
Click Dictation.
Click the drop-down menu next to Shortcut.
Click an option in the list or click Customize to create your own (seems like only the arrow keys work).
How to enable/disable Dictation Commands
Dictation Commands allow you to do things with your text just by speaking. For example, you can select a whole paragraph, go back to the beginning, or replace a phrase with another phrase.
You can only use Dictation Commands with Enhanced Dictation enabled.
Click the Apple menu button on the top left of your screen.
Click System Preferences.
Click Accessibility.
Click Dictation in the menu on the left. You'll have to scroll down a bit to find it.
Click Dictation Commands…
Click the checkbox next to each dictation command you'd like to disable. They're all enabled by default.
Click Done in the bottom right corner of the window.
Turn On Dictation Mac
Reading through the Dictation Commands list is a great way to learn all the things you can do with text just by speaking to your Mac. You can also click the checkbox next to Enable advanced commands, which will enable system commands.
How to enable the dictation keyword phrase
Want to feel like you're in a sci-fi movie? Enable the dictation keyword phrase and you'll be able to use dictation commands even when you're not dictating. So you can be all 'computer, replace 'boots' with 'cats',' and the phrase will be replaced in your text. It's a bit finicky, but when it works, it's so cool!
You have to have Enhanced Dictation enabled for this to work.
Click the Apple menu button on the top left of your screen.
Click System Preferences.
Click Accessibility.
Click Dictation in the menu on the left. You'll have to scroll down a bit to find it.
Click the checkbox next to Enable the dictation keyword phrase.
Enter a keyword phrase if you want to change it from 'Computer'. (But if you leave it as 'Computer', you sound like the captain of a spaceship!)
Now when your cursor is in a text field, you can just say the keyword phrase and your dictation command and it'll do it.
How to enable a sound when a command is recognized
You have to have Enhanced Dictation enabled for this to work.
Click the Apple menu button on the top left of your screen.
Click System Preferences.
Click Accessibility.
Click Dictation in the menu on the left. You'll have to scroll down a bit to find it.
Click the checkbox next to Play sound when command is recognized.
How to enable/disable output mute during dictation
If you accidentally open a website with an autoplay video or you're listening to music but want to dictate something quickly, you can mute audio output during dictation so that you don't have to manually fiddle around with volume.
You must have Enhanced Dictation enabled to use this feature.
Click the Apple menu button on the top left of your screen.
Click System Preferences.
Click Accessibility.
Click Dictation in the menu on the left. You'll have to scroll down a bit to find it.
Click the checkbox next to Mute audio output while dictating.
Dictation accessibility in macOS Catalina
In macOS Catalina, Apple has opted to change things up a bit regarding dictation and accessibility. While there was previously a section for accessibility options for dictation in System Preferences, those capabilities have been folded into the new Voice Control accessibility feature. Voice Control is a greatly expanded set of capabilities that allow you to control every aspect of your Mac, including text entry, with your voice.
Great accessories for your Mac
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Questions?
Dictation questions? Let us know in the comments below!
Updated July 2019: Updated instructions for macOS Mojave and added a section about what's happening with dictation accessibility in macOS Catalina.
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