Fix grammar in selected text with one Mac shortcut.
TL;DR
- macOS has no one-key grammar fix. Apple’s Proofread needs a right-click menu; a shortcut app gives you one key.
- In Noted, select text in any app and press ⌘ ⌥ H. The selection is replaced with a corrected version, and the same key again within 8 seconds puts your original back.
- That key is also macOS’s Hide Others. You can rebind it in Noted’s Settings.
- Noted sends the selected text to its cloud Polish step, processed and not stored, and refuses selections over 8,000 bytes. If the text must never leave your Mac, use Tidy, whose page says nothing you select is uploaded, and check Apple’s notes for Proofread.
Fixing grammar in selected text on a Mac with one shortcut means selecting the text in any app, pressing a single key, and having the corrected version replace it in place. macOS has no such key built in, so you need an app that adds one. Noted’s is ⌘ ⌥ H; Apple’s own route is a menu.
This is for anyone who writes in Mail, Slack, a browser or Notes and wants typos and grammar fixed without opening a chat window or pasting into another tool. You get the steps, a rule for choosing between Apple, Tidy and Noted, and what we have and have not tested.
Does macOS have a shortcut to fix grammar?
Not a one-key fix. Apple’s keyboard shortcut list has ⌘ ; to find misspelled words and ⇧ ⌘ : to show the Spelling and Grammar window (Apple’s Mac keyboard shortcuts, read 12 November 2026), which show suggestions, not a rewritten selection.
Apple Intelligence adds Proofread. Apple’s guide (read 12 November 2026) says to select the text, Control-click it, choose Writing Tools, then Show Writing Tools, click Proofread, and click Done when finished. It needs Apple Intelligence to be available and turned on for your Mac, in a supported language. It is free and built in, but it is a menu, not a single key.
How do I fix grammar in selected text with one key in Noted?
- Select the text. Any app: Mail, Notes, a browser, a chat window.
- Press ⌘ ⌥ H. Command, Option and H, the default; you can change it.
- Check the bar. Noted replaces the selection with the polished text, and the bar at the bottom shows “Polished. Press again to undo.”
- Undo if you don’t like it. Press ⌘ ⌥ H again within 8 seconds and the original comes back. After that, use the app’s own Undo.
How far it goes depends on Settings › Dictation › Style, which Noted sets per kind of app (personal messages, work chat, email, other apps). With “As heard”, Polish only fixes grammar, spelling and punctuation and keeps your wording. Formal, Casual and Very casual change the tone as well.
What it needs: the Accessibility permission (System Settings › Privacy & Security › Accessibility), so Noted can read your selection and paste the result. Cloud must be on, and so must the “Polish selected text” switch in Settings › General.
On Windows the default key is Ctrl Alt H, and the same 8,000-byte limit applies (from the desktop code and its tests; Noted’s home page lists Windows 10, version 1903 or later). This post is about the Mac.
Follow this tonight: a 10-minute setup
- Grant Accessibility first. Without it, Noted cannot read or replace your selection and shows a notice instead of doing anything.
- Check two switches. Cloud on, “Polish selected text” on. If either is off, nothing is read or sent.
- Pick a Style per app type. Choose “As heard” for email you want kept in your own voice, and a tone for chat.
- Try it on a throwaway sentence. Type “i dont think theyre coming to the meeting tomorow” in Notes, select it, press the key. Then press the key again to see the undo.
- Try it in the app you care about. If it says nothing is selected, check Accessibility first, then try another app.
- Rebind if Hide Others bothers you. Next section.
What if ⌘ ⌥ H hides my other windows?
That key clashes with a macOS command. Apple lists ⌥ ⌘ H as the way to view the front app and hide all other apps (Apple, read 12 November 2026). Noted chose it anyway, and its build notes say it takes the key from Hide Others while Noted runs and removes Hide Others from Noted’s own app menu. The build notes also record that this was not checked in a running app, so which one wins in a given app is untested. If your windows still hide, or you use Hide Others a lot, rebind Polish:
- Open Settings, then Shortcuts.
- Pick the Polish selected text row and record a new combination.
- Avoid clashes. Noted refuses a combination that clashes with another of its shortcuts.
A key you recorded yourself stays; only the earlier defaults move to ⌘ ⌥ H. macOS can also rebind its own commands: System Settings › Keyboard › Keyboard Shortcuts › App Shortcuts (Apple, read 12 November 2026).
Where does my text go, and how much can I select?
To Noted’s cloud Polish step. Noted’s privacy page (read 12 November 2026) lists Polish among the features that send only what they need when Cloud is on: the text you Polish, with your dictionary words. It goes through Noted’s servers to its AI providers in the United States, “processed, not stored”. Noted turns speech into text on your computer; Polish is a cloud step. With Cloud off, nothing is sent and the shortcut shows a notice instead. For more on what dictation sends, see Is dictation private?
8,000 bytes per press. The service refuses more than 8 KiB, so Noted stops at 8,000 bytes before sending anything. Plain English is one byte a letter; accented letters and emoji take more. Select a section at a time. The result is pasted as plain text, so rich formatting in the selection is not kept.
Price. Free includes Polish within a monthly limit; Pro has no limit (Noted pricing, read 12 November 2026).
When does it do nothing?
These are the cases Noted’s code and tests handle, each one a notice and nothing sent:
| Situation | What happens |
|---|---|
| Nothing selected, or the app’s selection can’t be read | Notice, nothing sent |
| A password field | Nothing read or sent |
| Cloud off, or “Polish selected text” off | Notice, nothing sent |
| More than 8,000 bytes selected | Notice, nothing sent |
| Accessibility not allowed | Notice asking for Accessibility, nothing sent |
| The text already reads well | Left as it is |
| You switch to another app while it works | Not pasted |
Where an app doesn’t expose its selection (some Electron apps), Noted falls back to copying it and restores your clipboard afterwards. Those apps are the likeliest place for a surprise.
What we have and have not tested
Ran, 12 November 2026: we read the Polish-selection flow in the desktop code
(on_polish_selection in dictation.rs) and ran its unit tests with
cargo test --lib polish_selection: 24 passed, 0 failed. They use a stand-in for the operating system
and the cloud, so they prove the logic in the table above: the caps, the gates, the undo and the app-switch check.
Tested by hand by our founder on Mac and Windows, November 2026: Polish selected text in everyday apps, with the real cloud response (⌘ ⌥ H on Mac, Ctrl Alt H on Windows).
Not tested: the quality of the rewrite on your writing, which depends on the model, and which key wins over Hide Others in every app. This post names no app list.
How does it compare with Apple Proofread and Tidy?
Facts about Tidy are from its Product Hunt page and its launch thread, read 12 November 2026.
| Apple Proofread | Tidy | Noted Polish selected text | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Key | Menu: Control-click › Writing Tools | ⌃⌥⌘T | ⌘⌥H, rebindable |
| Where the text is processed | See Apple’s notes | The model built into macOS; page says nothing selected is uploaded | Noted’s cloud Polish, processed, not stored |
| Needs | Apple Intelligence on | macOS 26 with Apple Intelligence | Cloud on, Accessibility, an account |
| Price | Built in | Free, per its page | Free within a monthly limit; Pro unlimited |
| Undo | Click Done when finished; no undo key stated here | Not stated on the page | Same key within 8 seconds |
Our point of view
A fix should cost one key, and the undo should cost the same key. Selecting text and pressing a shortcut is cheaper than any menu, so we built Polish selected text that way, and made a second press within 8 seconds restore your original. A rewrite you can’t take back in a moment is a rewrite you won’t trust.
The key was a trade-off we chose in the open. Control-Option-H did nothing when the founder tried it on a Mac, and Command-Option-H is Hide Others. We took Command-Option-H and made it rebindable, rather than ship a default that does nothing.
Privacy is a trade-off, not a slogan. Speech turns into text on your computer, but Polish needs a model, so it is a cloud step and we say so on the privacy page and here. If you can’t accept that for a given text, the table above points you elsewhere. Related: removing um and uh from dictation.
Limitations, honestly
- Where Tidy or Apple is better: text that must never leave your Mac. Tidy says nothing you select is uploaded, and Apple’s Proofread is built in and costs nothing extra (see Apple’s notes for where it processes text).
- Where Noted is better: one key with no menu, the same key to undo within 8 seconds, a tone per kind of app, no Apple Intelligence needed (macOS 13 or later), and the same feature on Windows (Ctrl Alt H). Its edge is not privacy.
- The key is contested. It collides with Hide Others, and we have not confirmed the outcome in a running app.
- It is a cloud step. It needs an internet connection, an account and Cloud on, and the quality depends on the model, not on a rule we can show you.
- Selection reading varies by app. Some apps need the copy fallback.
Noted is not affiliated with Tidy or Apple. If dictation itself is misbehaving, start with Mac dictation not working?
FAQ
What is the shortcut to fix grammar on Mac?
macOS has none built in. Apple’s Proofread is a Control-click menu. Apps add a key: Noted’s is ⌘ ⌥ H, and Tidy’s is ⌃ ⌥ ⌘ T by its Product Hunt page.
Does Noted fix grammar in every app?
It works where Noted can read the selection and paste. Some apps need a copy fallback, and password fields are skipped. Our founder tested it by hand in everyday apps on Mac and Windows in November 2026, not in every app.
Is my text stored?
Noted’s privacy page says the Polish text is processed, not stored. It is sent to cloud AI providers, so it is not for text that must stay on your Mac.
Why did my other apps hide?
Option-Command-H is macOS’s Hide Others. Rebind Polish in Settings › Shortcuts.
How much text can I fix at once?
Up to 8,000 bytes. Select less for each press.
Is it free?
Free includes Polish within a monthly limit; Pro has no limit.
Sources
- Mac keyboard shortcuts (Apple Support)
- Use Writing Tools on Mac (Apple Support)
- Create keyboard shortcuts for apps (Apple Support)
- Tidy and its launch thread (Product Hunt)
Checked 12 November 2026.
Want to try it? Noted is free to start: Noted for Mac.