How to dictate in Microsoft Word on a Mac

Word has its own dictation, called Dictate, on the Home tab. Microsoft's Dictate help page, checked October 21, 2026, says it's only for Microsoft 365 subscribers, and it needs a microphone and a reliable internet connection. It covers Word for Microsoft 365 for Mac, Word 2024 and Word 2021 for Mac.

1. Open a document while signed in to your Microsoft 365 account.
2. Click where the words should go.
3. Go to Home > Dictate, or press Option-F1.
4. Wait for the microphone to turn on, then talk.
5. Say “pause dictation” or “stop dictation”, or click Dictate again, when you're done.

Its spoken commands are Word's strength. Say “comma”, “period” or “new line” for punctuation, “create bullet list”, “next item” and “exit list” for a list, “bold that” or “italicize last three words” to format, “delete that” to undo a phrase, and “insert comment” to leave a note. Auto Punctuation is a checkbox in its settings, where your language has it.

Two catches. It understands 15 spoken languages, English, Chinese, French, German, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese and Spanish among them, plus some in preview. And it isn't local: Microsoft says your speech is sent to Microsoft to give you the text, and that the service doesn't store your audio or the text.

No Microsoft 365, or no connection? The Mac's own Dictation types into Word too, like any app. The steps follow Apple's Dictation guide for macOS 27.

1. Turn on Dictation once: Apple menu > System Settings > Keyboard, then turn on Dictation and click Enable.
2. In Word, click where the words should go.
3. Press the Microphone key, your Dictation shortcut, or choose Edit > Start Dictation.
4. Talk, then press Escape or your shortcut to stop. It stops by itself after 30 seconds of silence.

It adds commas and full stops by itself in supported languages and takes “new paragraph” and “new line”, but it has no commands for Word's formatting, like bold or bullets. Apple says on Apple silicon supported languages work with no internet. Our guide on how to dictate on a Mac has every command.

We make Koi, so weigh this part with that in mind. Koi's dictation types into Word wherever the cursor is, with no Microsoft 365 needed:

1. Click into your Word document.
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.

• Runs on your Mac. The speech model is on the laptop, so it works offline and nothing you dictate is sent anywhere to become text. Useful for a contract, a medical letter or anything else under wraps.
• 100 languages between its speech models, and the built-in one works out which European language you speak by itself.
• Full stops kept. Word isn't a chat app, so the last sentence ends with a full stop, as a document should.
• Tidy. The ums go, a stammered word is written once, and in English “page 4, no, 5” comes out as “page 5”.
• Names spelled right. As you start, the names and terms in the front window, like those already in your document, are read on the Mac and told to the speech model. Never sent, never kept. Your own list of names and jargon lives in Settings, under Dictation.

Koi types “new line” as Shift-Return, so a chat box doesn't send. Word treats Shift-Return as a line break inside the same paragraph, not a new paragraph. That matters for styles and spacing, so:

• For a real new paragraph, press Return yourself between dictations.
• A list you say, like “First, … Second, …” or “Bullet point, …”, comes out as numbered or dashed lines in one paragraph. For Word's own bullets, click Bullets on the Home tab, dictate an item, press Return, and dictate the next.
• Headings: pick the style from the Home tab first, then dictate the line.
• Bold, italics and comments: select and format by hand, or use Word's Dictate when you want them by voice.

We haven't tested every Word setting, such as AutoFormat options you've changed. Try a page during the trial.

If you live in Word and have Microsoft 365, its Dictate is the one that formats. If you write in Word, Mail, Slack and a browser all day, one key that works everywhere, on your Mac, is the point of Koi.

• Dictate a section at a time, then read it. Fixing as you go keeps the thread.
• Say it the way you'd explain it to a person. Spoken drafts are easier to tighten than to start.
• Start a draft in Koi itself: its documents export to Word or PDF, tables and charts included.
• Need a PDF of the Word file at the end? Drag it, hold Shift, and pick PDF on Koi's wheel.

More in Koi's documents and converting Word to PDF on a Mac. Writing a book or long articles? See dictation apps for writers.

• No formatting by voice: no bold, headings, comments or Word's own bullets.
• A spoken new line is a line break, not a new paragraph.
• No spoken editing like Word's “delete last sentence”. Koi has three commands of its own: new line, new paragraph and clear all.
• It's Mac only and there's no free 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. Koi runs on macOS 14 or later, Apple silicon and Intel.

Dictation not starting at all? See fixing Mac dictation. Using Google Docs instead? Read dictating in Google Docs.