Talk To Text For Mac

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  1. Talk To Text For Mac
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  4. Talk To Text For Mac
  5. Talk To Text For Mac
  6. Mac Text To Speech Voices
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Click on the Speech Recognition tab. Click on the 'Speakable Items:' On button, then click on the 'Open Speakable Items Folder' button. Speakable items comes with many automatic actions but will need to be customized to insert text into a document. System Preferences > Dictation & Speech > Text to Speech. Put a checkmark in the box beside 'Speak selected text when the key is pressed. Current key: Option + Esc' 2. Highlight the words and press option+esc keys. You can change the keys if you want.

Macs have voice dictation built-in, allowing you to talk instead of type. This feature functions more like voice dictation on a mobile operating system, and less like the more complicated Speech Recognition feature found in Windows.

OS X Mavericks contains an “Enhanced Dictation” feature. It lets you use Voice Dictation offline and displays text as you speak, so you can see exactly how your speech is being interpreted.

Set Up Enhanced Dictation

First, you’ll need to enable the Dictation feature. Click the Apple menu at the top of your screen and select System Preferences. Click the Dictation & Speech icon in the System Preferences pane and ensure Dictation is set to On.

Enable the Enhanced Dictation option and your Mac will download the appropriate dictionary from Apple’s servers. It will then be able to interpret your voice offline. If you don’t enable Enhanced Dictation, your speech will be sent to Apple’s servers an interpreted there.

You’re also free to customize your dictation shortcut and which microphone dictation uses from here. The purple microphone will light up as you speak if your Mac can hear you.

Using Voice Dictation

To use voice dictation in an application on your Mac, first select a text field in an application. Next, press the Fn (Function) key twice or click the Edit menu and select Start Dictation.

Speak to your Mac and the words you speak will start appearing in the text field. If you’ve set up Enhanced Dictation, they’ll appear immediately. If you haven’t, you’ll have to click Done or press the fn key again and your voice will be sent to Apple’s servers, where it’s interpreted and the text is filled into your application. You can only speak for up to 30 seconds each time if you haven’t set up Enhanced Dictation.

The purple indicator on the microphone should move as you speak. If it doesn’t, your Mac can’t hear you. You’ll need to reposition your microphone or configure which microphone is used from the Dictation pane.

When you’re done dictating, tap the fn key again or click Done to make your Mac stop listening to you.

Dictation Commands

Like on other operating systems, Voice Dictation won’t automatically fill in the appropriate punctuation marks as you speak a sentence normally. You’ll need to speak the punctuation marks you want to type. For example, to type “I’m doing well. How are you doing?”, you’d have to say “I’m doing well period how are you doing question mark.”

RELATED:Use Voice Dictation to Save Time on Android, iPhone, and iPad

Here’s a full list of voice dictation commands you can use, adapted from Apple’s help site. If you have an iPhone or iPad, note that these are identical to the voice commands used on Apple’s iOS.

  • Punctuation: Apostrophe (‘), open bracket ([) and close bracket (]), open parenthesis(() and close parenthesis ()) open brace ({) and close brace (}), open angle bracket(<) and close angle bracket (>), colon (:), comma (,), dash (-), ellipsis or dot dot dot(…), exclamation mark (!), hyphen (–), period or point or dot or full stop (.), question mark (?), quote and end quote (“), begin single quote and end single quote (‘),semicolon (;)
  • Typography: Ampersand (&), asterisk (*), at sign (@), backslash (), forward slash (/),caret (^), center dot (·), large center dot (•), degree sign (°), hashtag or pound sign(#), percent sign (%), underscore (_), vertical bar (|).
  • Currency: Dollar sign ($), cent sign (¢), pound sterling sign (£), euro sign (€), yen sign(¥)
  • Emoticons: Cross-eyed laughing face (XD), frowny face (:-(), smiley face (:-)), winky face (;-))
  • Intellectual property: Copyright sign (©), registered sign (®), trademark sign (™)
  • Math: Equals sign (=), greater than sign (>), less than sign (<), minus sign (-),multiplication sign (x), plus sign (+)
  • Line spacing: new line, new paragraph, tab key

You also have control over formatting and spacing:

  • Say numeral or roman numeral and speak a number. For example, if you say “eight,” it will appear as 8 or VIII.
  • Say no space on, say something, and then say no space off. For example, if you say “good day sir,” your words would appear as “gooddaysir”.
  • Say caps on, say something, and say caps off. The words you spoke will appear in Title Case.
  • Say all caps on, say something, and then say all caps off. The words you spoke will appear in ALL CAPS.
  • Say all caps and say a word — the next word you speak will appear in ALL CAPS

Whereas the Windows Speech Recognition feature is extremely powerful and can feel more like an accessibility tool than something intended for the masses, the Mac Voice Dictation feature is more streamlined and simplified. It’s easy to start using without a long training process and will feel familiar to people who’ve used voice dictation on smartphones and tablets. In fact, it’s extremely similar to the voice dictation feature on Apple’s iOS.

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Set up Dictation

Choose Apple () menu > System Preferences, click Keyboard, then click Dictation. Turn on Dictation and choose from these Dictation options:

  • Choose whether to use Enhanced Dictation, which lets you use dictation when you're not connected to the Internet.
  • Choose your language and dialect. Some languages, such as English, have multiple dialects.
  • Choose the keyboard shortcut you will use to start start dictating.
  • Choose your preferred microphone from the pop-up menu below the microphone icon.


In macOS Sierra, you can ask Siri to “turn on Dictation” for you. Siri isn't the same as Dictation, but you can ask Siri to compose short messages, such as email and text messages.

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Use Dictation

  1. Go to a document or other text field and place the insertion point where you want your dictated text to appear.
  2. Press the keyboard shortcut for starting dictation, or choose Edit > Start Dictation. The default shortcut is Fn Fn (press the Fn key twice).
    When your Mac is listening, it displays a microphone to the left or right of the page, aligned with the insertion point. If you turn on advanced dictation commands, the microphone appears in the lower-right corner of your screen, and you can drag it to another position. When your Mac can hear you, the input meter inside the microphone rises and falls as you speak.
  3. Speak the words that you want your Mac to type. Dictation learns the characteristics of your voice and adapts to your accent, so the more you use it, the better it understands you. If it doesn't understand you, learn what to do.
  4. To stop dictating, click Done below the microphone icon, press Fn once, or switch to another window.

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Speak the following words to enter punctuation or other characters. These may vary by language or dialect.

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  • apostrophe '
  • open bracket [
  • close bracket ]
  • open parenthesis (
  • close parenthesis )
  • open brace {
  • close brace }
  • open angle bracket <
  • close angle bracket >
  • colon :
  • comma ,
  • dash -
  • ellipsis …
  • exclamation mark !
  • hyphen -
  • period, point, dot, or full stop .
  • question mark ?
  • quote ”
  • end quote ”
  • begin single quote '
  • end single quote '
  • semicolon ;
  • ampersand &
  • asterisk *
  • at sign @
  • backslash
  • forward slash /
  • caret ^
  • center dot ·
  • large center dot •
  • degree sign °
  • hashtag or pound sign #
  • percent sign %
  • underscore _
  • vertical bar |
  • dollar sign $
  • cent sign ¢
  • pound sterling sign £
  • euro sign €
  • yen sign ¥
  • cross-eyed laughing face XD
  • frowny face :-(
  • smiley face :-)
  • winky face ;-)
  • copyright sign ©
  • registered sign ®
  • trademark sign ™
  • equals sign =
  • greater than sign >
  • less than sign <
  • minus sign -
  • multiplication sign x
  • plus sign +
  • caps on (formats next phrase in title case)
  • caps off (resumes default letter case)
  • all caps (formats next word in ALL CAPS)
  • all caps on (proceeds in ALL CAPS)
  • all caps off (resumes default letter case)
  • new line (adds line break)
  • numeral (formats next phrase as number)

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  • roman numeral (formats next phrase as Roman numeral)
  • new paragraph (adds paragraph break)
  • no space on (formats next phrase without spaces)
  • no space off (resumes default spacing)
  • tab key (advances cursor to the next tab stop)


If you turned on Enhanced Dictation, you can also use dictation commands to bold, italicize, underline, select, copy, delete, undo, and perform other actions.

About Enhanced Dictation

Enhanced Dictation is available in OS X Mavericks v10.9 or later. With Enhanced Dictation:

  • You can dictate continuously.
  • You can dictate without being connected to the Internet.
  • Your words might convert to text more quickly.
  • You can use dictation commands to tell your Mac what to do.

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Without Enhanced Dictation, your spoken words and certain other data are sent to Apple to be converted into text and help your Mac understand what you mean. As a result, your Mac must be connected to the Internet, your words might not convert to text as quickly, and you can speak for no more than 40 seconds at a time (30 seconds in OS X Yosemite or earlier).

If you're on a business or school network that uses a proxy server, Dictation might not be able to connect to the Internet. Have your network administrator refer to the list of network ports used by Apple software products.

About Dictation and privacy

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To learn about Dictation and privacy, choose Apple () menu > System Preferences, click Keyboard, click Dictation, then click the About Dictation & Privacy button. At all times, information collected by Apple is treated in accordance with Apple’s Privacy Policy.

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Learn more

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  • To use dictation on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, tap the microphone on the onscreen keyboard, then speak. Consult your iPhone or iPad user guide for details.
  • If the Slow Keys or Sticky Keys feature is turned on in the Accessibility pane of System Preferences, the default keyboard shortcuts for dictation might not work. If you need to use those accessibility features, create a custom dictation shortcut: Choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click Keyboard, click Dictation, then choose “Customize” from the Shortcut menu.