Use Siri To Dictate In Word For Mac

Remember MacSpeech Dictate and Dragon Dictate? Once they were the methods you had to use for dictation on your Mac. Now it’s something you can do with an Apple desktop or laptop right out of the box.

But first a little history. MacSpeech Dictate was a speech recognition program developed for Mac OS X (which is now, of course, simply macOS). The first version of MacSpeech Dictate was released in March 2008 after being showcased at the Macworld Conference & Expo (anyone remember those?) in 2008 and winning the Macworld 2008 Best Of Show award.

Here's an introductory guide to using your voice to control your Mac. Built on Siri's accurate voice recognition engine, it's been tweaked for. Dictation Apple provided in previous editions of Mac OS/macOS. You can also get more accurate in your word selections using phrases like “Move up two lines. Oct 21, 2019  Another neat trick to get “Hey Siri” functionality on your Mac is with Voice Control. You can use the command “Open Siri” or “Show Siri” then make your.

On September 20, 2010, Nuance Communications, which acquired MacSpeech in February 2010, released a new version of the product, renaming it “Dragon Dictate for Mac.”

Mac support for the product was dropped in October 2018 several years after Apple added “built-in” dictation capabilities for the platform via its own Dictation feature, which converts your spoken words into text.

Setting up Dictation

Setting up Dictation is easy. Choose Apple () menu > System Preferences, click Keyboard, then click Dictation. Turn on Dictation, then you must choose:

° Whether to use Enhanced Dictation, which lets you use dictation when you’re not connected to the Internet. More on that in a sec.

° Your language and dialect. Some languages, such as English, have multiple dialects such as my Southern accent.

° The keyboard shortcut you want to use to start start dictating.

° The microphone you wish to use; your choices will be shown from the pop-up menu below the microphone icon.

There’s also another, faster way. In macOS Sierra and higher, you can ask Siri to “turn on Dictation” for you. Don’t be confused. Siri isn’t the same as Dictation, but you can ask the personal digital assistant to compose short messages, such as email and text messages.

When you turn on Dictation, you can use your voice to enter text on your Mac. You can also use dictation commands to tell your Mac what to do, like ”undo that” or ”select the previous sentence.”

Most dictation commands turn on automatically when you turn on Enhanced Dictation. Turn on Dictation, then select “Use Enhanced Dictation.” You can now get a list of commands and select the ones that you want to use. There’s also another method:

A list of dictation commands opens. Use the checkboxes to turn commands on or off. Click a command to see which phrases work with that command. For example, “Undo that” works with several phrases, including “Undo this” and “Scratch that.”

Select “Enable advanced commands” to get additional commands.

How to use Dictation

To make your Mac listen for Dictation commands, press the keyboard shortcut for starting dictation. The default shortcut is “Fn Fn” (press the Fn key twice). Alternatively, you can turn on the option “Enable the dictation keyword phrase,” which is next to the Dictation Commands button. You can then speak the dictation keyword phrase to let your Mac know that the next thing you say after the keyword phrase will be a dictation command.

You can then speak any of the phrases that work with a dictation command. You can even say “Show commands” to open a window that shows you all the availableDictation commands.

Now that you’re ready to dictate, open a document or text field and put the insertion point at the spot where you want to dictate text. Press “Fn Fn” or choose “Edit > Start Dictation.”

You can tell if your Mac is listening if it’s showing a microphone in the left or right of the page, aligned with the insertion point. If you’ve enabled advanced dictation commands, the microphone appears in the lower-right corner of your screen, and you can drag it to another position.

Say the words that you want your Mac to type. The more you use the feature, the more it learns the characteristics of your voice and the better it works.

When you’re finished dictating, click “Done” below the microphone icon, press Fn once, or switch to another window.

Create your own commands

Once you become comfortable using Dictation, you may wish to create your own commands. Select “Enable advanced commands,” and a “+” Add button appears beneath the list of commands. Click it to add an “undefined command” to the list of commands.

Click the undefined command to select it, then configure these options:

° When I say: Enter the word or phrase that you want to speak to perform the action.

° While using: Choose whether your Mac performs the action only when you’re using a particular app.

° Perform: Choose the action to perform. You can open a Finder item, open a URL, paste text, paste data from the clipboard, press a keyboard shortcut, select a menu item, or run an Automator workflow.

There you go. Now you’re a regular Dictate-or on your Mac.

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.

1. Click into a text area like a document or the address bar of your web browser.
2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

1. Open System Preferences from your Dock or Applications folder.

2. Click Keyboard.

3. Click Dictation.

4. Click the drop-down next to Language.

5. Click Add Language…

6. Click the checkboxes next to languages that you wish to add.

7. Click OK.

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.

1. Open System Preferences from your Dock or Applications folder.

2. Click Keyboard.

3. Click Dictation.

4. 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

1. Open System Preferences from your Dock or Applications folder.

2. Click Keyboard.

3. Click Dictation.

4. Click the drop-down menu next to Shortcut.

5. 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.

1. Click the Apple menu button on the top left of your screen.
2. Click System Preferences.

3. Click Accessibility.

4. Click Dictation in the menu on the left. You'll have to scroll down a bit to find it.

5. Click Dictation Commands…

6. Click the checkbox next to each dictation command you'd like to disable. They're all enabled by default.

7. Click Done in the bottom right corner of the window.

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.

1. Click the Apple menu button on the top left of your screen.
2. Click System Preferences.

3. Click Accessibility.

4. Click Dictation in the menu on the left. You'll have to scroll down a bit to find it.
5. Click the checkbox next to Enable the dictation keyword phrase.

6. 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. Rta software mac.

How to enable a sound when a command is recognized

You have to have Enhanced Dictation enabled for this to work.

1. Click the Apple menu button on the top left of your screen.
2. Click System Preferences.

3. Click Accessibility.

4. Click Dictation in the menu on the left. You'll have to scroll down a bit to find it.

5. 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.

1. Click the Apple menu button on the top left of your screen.
2. Click System Preferences.

3. Click Accessibility.

4. Click Dictation in the menu on the left. You'll have to scroll down a bit to find it.

5. 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

Apple AirPods 2(From $159 at Apple)

The best Apple accessory has gotten betting with AirPods 2. Now offering a wireless charger case, the popular earbuds feature the new Apple H1 headphone chip that delivers a faster wireless connection to your devices, as well as support for 'Hey Siri.'

Bose Companion 20($250 at Amazon)

These beautiful speakers offer a balanced sound in a stylish package. With no knobs on the front, a small pod attached to the right speaker controls volume, which also holds the ports for your headphones or other audio devices.

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.

macOS Catalina

Main

We may earn a commission for purchases using our links. Learn more.

U.S. and Afghan forces successfully captured insurgents using an iPhone app

When their specialist kit failed, soldiers turned to an iPhone to get the job done.