Mac dictation not working? Fixes that work.

Check the basics

Mac dictation is Apple’s Dictation, built into macOS. Apple’s troubleshooting page starts with three checks:

• Dictation is on. Choose Apple menu › System Settings, click Keyboard, then go to Dictation and turn it on.
• You’re using the right shortcut. Under Dictation, the Shortcut pop-up menu shows the keys that start it, and you can choose others. If your keyboard has a Microphone key, pressing and releasing it starts Dictation too.
• The language matches what you speak. Click Edit next to Languages to pick a language and region, or add more than one. Apple notes Dictation isn’t available in every language or region.

The steps are in Apple’s guide, Dictate messages and documents on Mac.

Check the microphone

Keyboard settings show which microphone your Mac listens to for Dictation, next to Microphone source. Click that pop-up menu and choose yours. On Automatic, your Mac listens to the device you’re most likely to use (Apple’s Dictation guide).

For the microphone itself, Apple suggests:

• If your Mac has no built-in microphone, make sure an external one is connected and selected in Sound or Keyboard settings.
• Check its level. If your Mac isn’t responding to your voice, open System Settings › Sound, click Input, select the microphone and raise its input volume (Change the sound input settings on Mac).
• Make sure nothing, such as clothing or your body, covers the microphone while you speak.
• In a noisy room, or one with a lot of echo, a headset microphone may help.

When it stops by itself

Apple says you can dictate text of any length, and that Dictation stops automatically when it detects no speech for 30 seconds. So a long pause, while you think or read something back, ends it. Start it again with the Dictation shortcut.

To stop it yourself, press Escape, the Microphone key or the Dictation shortcut.

When it works in one app but not another

Apple says you can dictate anywhere you can type. Click where you want the text first, so the insertion point is there, then start Dictation.

If Dictation works in other apps but not this one, your settings and microphone are fine, and the difference is in that app. Quit it, reopen it and try again. If it still won’t take dictation, a dictation app that pastes the text for you gets round it.

Does Mac dictation use AI?

Apple’s Dictation guide doesn’t describe it as AI. What Apple does say is where your speech goes. With Dictation on, the text under it in Keyboard settings tells you whether you need an internet connection, and whether general text dictation, such as messages and notes, is processed on your Mac or sent to Siri servers.

When you set up your Mac, you choose whether Apple may store audio of your Siri and Dictation interactions; Apple may review a sample of it. You can change that later in System Settings › Privacy & Security › Analytics & Improvements (Apple’s Dictation guide).

When another app is the fix

Noted is a dictation app for Mac. It works in any app with a text box, in 37 languages.

• Hold ⌘ Shift Space, talk, and let go: Noted pastes the text at your cursor.
• While you hold the shortcut, Noted keeps listening, with no time-out and no length limit, so a long pause doesn’t end it.
• To talk hands-free, double-tap ⌘ Shift Space, and tap it once to stop. Hands-free stops by itself after a minute without speech, or after 30 minutes, and warns you 15 seconds before.
• Noted uses the System default microphone unless you pick another, in Settings › General or from the Microphone menu of Noted’s menu-bar icon.
• It asks for two permissions, in System Settings › Privacy & Security: Microphone, “to hear you for dictation and notes”, and Accessibility, to paste what you said.
• Speech becomes text on your computer. Dictation is free forever; it needs a free account.

Dictating into Claude Code, Cursor or a terminal? In Terminal, iTerm2 and the other terminals listed in Dictate into Claude Code and Cursor, and in VS Code and Cursor, a paste from Noted goes in on one line.

FAQ

Why does Mac dictation keep stopping?

Apple says Dictation stops automatically when it detects no speech for 30 seconds. Keep pauses shorter, or start it again with the Dictation shortcut.

How do I change the dictation microphone?

In System Settings › Keyboard, under Dictation, click the pop-up menu next to Microphone source and choose it. In Noted, pick it in Settings › General.

Does dictation work in Terminal?

Apple says Dictation works anywhere you can type. With Noted, hold ⌘ Shift Space in Terminal as in any other app, and the paste goes in on one line.

Does Noted have a time limit?

Not while you hold the shortcut. Hands-free stops by itself after a minute without speech, or after 30 minutes.

Is Noted’s dictation free?

Yes, dictation is free forever. You need a free account to dictate.

Which Macs does Noted work on?

macOS 13 or later, on Apple silicon and Intel.

Sources

• Dictate messages and documents on Mac (macOS User Guide, Apple Support)
• If Dictation on Mac doesn’t work as expected (macOS User Guide, Apple Support)
• Change the sound input settings on Mac (macOS User Guide, Apple Support)

Checked 19 October 2026.

Hold one key and talk, in any app: Noted Dictation.