While advanced voice control and dictation software exists for users who need more control of the process, there is a built-in voice keyboard dictation feature on Mac that you can use for free.Īccording to Apple, with this keyboard dictation, you can “dictate text anywhere you can type it. Today, we’re going to stick to simply turning it on. See Ray Kurzweil’s How To Create A Mind, for starters). (The history of the development of this technology is fascinating. The better examples allow more granular control of the text-creating-process (as opposed to the voice-to-text option available on most smartphones and tablets).

Voice dictation software like that which has been available from Dragon for years ( this, for example–affiliate link) depend on voice recognition developed by, among other tools, IBM’s Watson (named after IBM’s founder Thomas J Watson). Not all voice dictation is created equal, however. Voice dictation is simply voice-to-text–that is, the ability to use your voice to ‘type,’ letting the software turn your voice into words.Īs this technology improves, from voice search to voice dictation and voice control, its applications become more numerous and powerful. For more information on how to use ‌Siri‌ in macOS, click here.By TeachThought Staff What Is Voice Dictation? and then pressing the keys you wish to use.īe sure to check out the other options for ‌Siri‌ in the System Preferences pane, including language, voice, voice feedback, and mic input. You can also define your own custom shortcut by clicking Customize. The default options are Hold Command Space, Hold Option Space, and Press (fn) Function Space.

Click the Keyboard Shortcut dropdown menu.

Click the Siri icon in the preferences panel.

Click the Apple () symbol in the menu bar at the top-left corner of the screen and select System Preferences.

You can customize the keyboard shortcut assigned to ‌Siri‌ in the following way. If it's easier, you can also use a keyboard shortcut so that your fingers don't need to leave the keys. ‌Siri‌ on Mac can be invoked by clicking the ‌Siri‌ icon in the menu bar at the top of the screen.

It can also help you with common desktop tasks, like searching for images or changing your Mac's display settings. It can give you sports scores, tell you about the weather, schedule an event in your calendar, remind you what you need to get done today or even find movie times. ‌Siri‌ for Mac can do most of the same things ‌Siri‌ can do on iOS. Since macOS Sierra, Apple has included Siri on the Mac, enabling desktop users to ask the virtual assistant general queries and give it spoken commands.

Shortcut for voice typing mac