6 Tell Your Mac What to Type and Do with Dictation
Dictation on macOS allows you speak text and dictate commands to your Mac in over 40 different languages, when and where you’d otherwise have to type by hand.
You can carry-out basic and even advanced tasks using Dictation, like reply to an email, browse the web, or even “write” a monologue using just the sound of your voice, if you so desired.
Built on industry-leading voice-to-text software from Nuance Communications, Apple’s desktop and laptop Macs boast Dictation functionality straight out-of-the-box. To turn the feature on and test it for yourself, navigate to:
- ? > System Preferences from the macOS desktop
- Select Keyboard
- Select Dictation from the top row of menu options
- And finally, under Dictation, click On.
(Note: you’ll need a microphone to use these features, which are built-into most modern Macs except the Mac mini).
For even more advanced Dictations features, head back to:
- ? > System Preferences
- Select Accessibility
- Then scroll in the left-hand column, select Dictation. From here, you can pre-set and configure specific Dictation commands, and tweak related settings, accordingly.