How to use voice typing in Google Docs on a Mac

Google Docs has its own voice typing, under the Tools menu. And it isn't Chrome only any more: Google's voice typing help page, checked October 21, 2026, says it works with the latest versions of Chrome, Edge and Safari.

1. Make sure your Mac's microphone works and your browser is allowed to use it.
2. Open a document in Google Docs in Chrome, Edge or Safari.
3. Click Tools > Voice typing. A microphone box appears.
4. Click the microphone and talk at a normal pace.
5. Click the microphone again when you're done.

Google's keyboard shortcuts page lists Command-Shift-S to start voice typing, but still marks that shortcut as available in Chrome. In Safari or Edge, use the Tools menu.

You can fix a mistake without turning the microphone off: click on it, correct it, then put the cursor back where you were. Words underlined in grey have suggestions; right-click to see them. In Google Slides, Tools > Dictate speaker notes does the same for your notes.

Docs' voice commands work only in English, and only when your account and the document are both set to English. With that, you can say:

• Punctuation: “period”, “comma”, “exclamation point”, “question mark”, “new line”, “new paragraph”.
• Lists: “create bulleted list”, “create numbered list”, “insert bullet”, “insert number”.
• Text: “apply heading 2”, “bold”, “italicize”, “underline”, “uppercase”, “clear formatting”.
• Layout: “align center”, “increase indent”, “line spacing double”.

In other languages voice typing still types, in dozens of languages and accents, but without the commands, so you add punctuation by hand.

One thing to know about privacy: Google says that when voice typing is on, your browser controls the speech-to-text service and decides how your speech is processed, then sends the text to Docs. So where your voice goes depends on the browser. If voice typing is missing, your organization's admin may have turned it off.

The Mac's own Dictation types into a Google Doc like any text field, in any browser. Follow Apple's Dictation guide: turn it on in System Settings > Keyboard, click into the document, and press the Microphone key, your Dictation shortcut or Edit > Start Dictation. Press Escape to stop. It adds punctuation by itself in supported languages, but has none of Docs' formatting commands. More in how to dictate on a Mac.

We make Koi, so weigh this part with that in mind. Koi's dictation types into Google Docs in any browser, with one key instead of a menu:

1. Click into your Google Doc.
2. Tap Fn + ⌥ once and talk. Words appear while you speak.
3. Tap the keys again to stop, or just go quiet and it stops by itself.

• Any language. Koi's speech models cover 100 languages between them, and the built-in one works out which of its 25 European languages you're speaking by itself.
• On your Mac. The speech model runs on the laptop, so what you dictate isn't sent anywhere to become text, whichever browser you use.
• Tidy. The ums go, a stammered word is written once, and in English “due the 12th, no, the 14th” keeps only the fix.
• Names spelled right. 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 already in the doc has a better chance of coming out right. Never sent, never kept.
• Type in English. Speak another language and have it typed in English, with Whisper Base, Whisper Small or Granite Speech picked in Settings.
• One key everywhere. The same keys work in Docs, Gmail, Slack and every other app.

Koi types “new line” as Shift-Return, which Docs treats as a line break inside the paragraph. For a new paragraph, press Return yourself. For Docs' own bullets, click the bulleted list button first, then dictate an item and press Return for the next. Teach Koi your names in adding words to Mac dictation.

If you write in English and want headings and bullets by voice, Docs' own voice typing is free and does more formatting than Koi. If you write in another language, switch between Docs and other apps all day, or want speech turned into text on your Mac, Koi fits better.

• Dictate first, format second. Talking in full paragraphs and adding headings after is faster than stopping for commands.
• Keep the doc's language set right. Docs' commands need the document set to English.
• Use a headset in a noisy room. Koi leaves music, videos and loud rooms out, but a closer microphone helps every tool.
• Recorded a lecture or interview instead? Koi transcribes an audio or video file on your Mac, with timestamps, and you can paste the text into Docs.

The last one is in transcribing audio and video. Also writing in Word? See dictating in Word.

• No formatting commands: no headings, bold or Docs bullets by voice.
• A spoken new line is a line break inside the paragraph.
• We haven't tested every browser and Docs setting. Try your own during the trial.
• It's Mac only and paid, and Docs voice typing is free. 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. Koi runs on macOS 14 or later, Apple silicon and Intel.

Dictation not starting in the browser? See fixing Mac dictation. For email, read dictating in Gmail.