How to add words to Mac dictation

Not one you can edit. Apple's Dictation guide documents no custom vocabulary or word list for standard Dictation, checked October 16, 2026 against the macOS 27 guide. So a client's name, a product term or a word from your field can come out wrong every time you say it.

Dictation does adjust a little on its own. Apple's Siri, Dictation and Privacy page says personalized speech recognition runs on your device, and that Siri and Dictation may send contact names, nicknames and relationships you've set up in Contacts to help. That's as far as it goes. Here's what you can do about the rest, with Apple's own tools first, then apps that keep a word list of their own.

Apple's word list lives in Voice Control, its hands-free way to use the Mac. Its custom vocabulary holds up to 1,000 words and phrases. These steps follow Apple's macOS 27 guide.

1. Choose Apple menu > System Settings, click Accessibility in the sidebar, then click Voice Control. You may need to scroll down.
2. Turn Voice Control on. The first time, your Mac downloads a file from Apple, so it needs to be online; after that it works without a connection.
3. Click Vocabulary.
4. Click the Add button, type the word or phrase the way you want it written, and click Next.
5. Click Record and say it, then click Save. Or click Save Without Recording.
6. Add the rest the same way, then click Done.

Two shortcuts help. Select a word in your work and say “Add to vocabulary”. And for a long list, put one term on each line of a text file, then choose Import Vocabulary from the Advanced Actions menu in the corner of Voice Control settings. If Vocabulary is dimmed, the language you picked doesn't support it.

The catch is a big one. Apple says that when Voice Control is on, you dictate with Voice Control, and standard Dictation isn't available. Voice Control is a whole way of running the Mac by voice, listening for commands, so it's more than most people want just to get a few names right. Apple's page on turning Voice Control on or off has the rest.

• Add people to Contacts, spelled the way they spell it, with a nickname if you use one. Apple says Siri and Dictation may use contact names and nicknames. It doesn't promise they'll come out right.
• Fix words as you go. Dictation underlines words it isn't sure about in blue: click one to pick another, or type or dictate the right word.
• Say it differently. If a brand name keeps coming out as two ordinary words, say it slowly, or type that one word and dictate the rest.

If you dictate the same hard words every day, these get old fast. That's the point where an app with a real word list is worth it.

We make Koi, so read this part knowing that. Its dictation keeps a list called Your words: the names, brands and terms you want spelled your way. They're told to the speech model as you dictate, and what it still mishears is put right before it's typed.

1. Open Koi's Settings and go to Dictation, then find Your words.
2. Type a word, like a name or a brand, and add it. Add up to 300.
3. Dictate as usual: tap Fn + ⌥ in any app and talk.
4. When Koi gets a word wrong, fix it in the text field right away. Koi sees the fix and adds the word to Your words by itself.

Two more things help with names:

• The words on your screen. As you start, the names and terms in the front window are read on the Mac and told to the speech model, so a name in the email you're answering comes out spelled right. Never sent, never kept. It's a switch in Settings, under Dictation.
• Ask for it. While you're on a call with Koi, the assistant, say “add Irakli to my dictionary” and it's added.

Your words is kept on your Mac, in Koi's own database, and the speech model runs on your Mac too, so dictation never goes online. Every word in the list is yours to change or remove in Settings. More on the dictation page.

• It holds 300 words, where Voice Control holds 1,000. If you need thousands of terms, neither is built for that.
• You can't record how you say a word, which Voice Control lets you do.
• There's no import from a file, so a long list goes in one word at a time.
• Koi is Mac only (macOS 14 or later, Apple silicon and Intel) and needs a paid plan. Pro is $20 a month, or $192 a year, after a 3-day free trial that needs a card. Lifetime is paid once: $59 for the first 25 buyers, rising to $199.

Coming from Dragon and its custom words? Our page on Dragon alternatives for Mac covers what replaced it.

From their own sites, checked October 16, 2026:

• Wispr Flow's free plan includes its personal dictionary, which can add words by itself. Transcription happens in the cloud.
• Superwhisper's free plan includes a custom vocabulary and text replacements, with Whisper running on your Mac.
• VoiceInk keeps a dictionary and runs on your Mac, for a one-time price from $25. It needs an Apple silicon Mac.

Our list of Apple Dictation alternatives goes through each in more detail. New to dictation on a Mac? Start with how to dictate on a Mac, and if you dictate code, see voice coding on a Mac.