Mac dictation not working? Here's how to fix it

Find what you're seeing in the left column, try the check next to it, then go to the numbered fix below for the full steps. Every step follows Apple's current support pages and Mac User Guide for macOS 27, checked October 7, 2026. Menu names can differ a little on older versions of macOS.

Apple keeps its own short checklist, If Dictation on Mac doesn't work as expected. The fixes below cover the same ground and a few things it doesn't, in the order that's quickest to try.

Start here, even if Dictation looks switched on. It's the first thing on Apple's list, and it takes a minute.

1. Choose Apple menu > System Settings, then click Keyboard in the sidebar. You may need to scroll down.
2. Go to Dictation and turn it off.
3. Turn it back on. If a message appears, click Enable.
4. If you're asked whether to improve Siri and Dictation, click Share Audio Recordings or Not Now. Either is fine: it only decides whether Apple may store audio of your Siri and Dictation use.
5. Open Notes, click where the text should go, and press your Dictation shortcut. Speak when the cursor is highlighted and pulsing, or after you hear the tone.

You can change your answer about audio recordings later in Privacy & Security, under Analytics & Improvements. Apple's Dictation guide has the full set of options.

There are three ways to start Dictation: the Microphone key in the row of function keys (if your keyboard has one), the Dictation keyboard shortcut, or Edit > Start Dictation in the menu bar. Press and release the Microphone key to dictate. Press and hold it and you get Siri instead, if Siri is on.

1. Open System Settings > Keyboard and go to Dictation.
2. Click the Shortcut pop-up menu and note what's set. Pick one from the list, or choose Customize and press your own keys. Apple's example is Option-Z.
3. Look at the option nearby that reads Press fn key to (or the Globe key version). Apple says choosing a Dictation shortcut can change it automatically: pick Press Fn (Function) Key Twice and it switches to Start Dictation (Press Fn Twice). Make sure the two agree.
4. Quit any app that listens for the same keys, like another dictation app or a launcher, and try again. Some dictation apps use Fn too: Wispr Flow's default on Mac is Fn, and Koi's is Fn + ⌥.
5. Try Edit > Start Dictation from the menu bar. If that works and the shortcut doesn't, Dictation is fine and the shortcut is the problem: choose a different one.

Apple notes that on a Mac with Apple silicon you can keep typing while you dictate. The cursor stops pulsing while you type and picks up again when you stop, so typing doesn't have to end the session.

Dictation listens to one device, picked in Keyboard settings. If that's the wrong one, or its level is too low, Dictation can start and still have nothing to write down.

1. In System Settings > Keyboard > Dictation, click the menu next to Microphone source and choose the microphone you're actually using. Automatic lets the Mac pick the device you're most likely to use.
2. Choose Apple menu > System Settings, click Sound, then click Input. Select the same device and drag the input volume up if your voice is quiet.
3. Check nothing is covering the built-in microphone, like a sleeve or your hand. In a noisy or echoey room, Apple suggests a headset microphone.
4. If your Mac has no built-in microphone, connect an external one and select it in Sound or Keyboard settings.
5. While you dictate, look for the Recording Indicator in Control Center. Apple says it shows when the microphone is in use or was used recently.

There's a second, separate setting: microphone access for apps. Choose System Settings > Privacy & Security > Microphone to see which apps may use the microphone, and turn each on or off. It matters when a voice button inside an app or a website does nothing: that app needs to be on in this list. Apple's guide to sound input settings covers the rest.

Yes. Apple says that when Voice Control is on, you dictate with Voice Control and standard macOS Dictation isn't available. If you turned it on once to try it, or someone else did, the Dictation shortcut can look dead.

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 off.
3. Press your Dictation shortcut in Notes and try again.

If you rely on Voice Control, keep it. It dictates and edits text too, and you can say Stop listening to pause it. Apple's page on turning Voice Control on or off has the details.

Dictation isn't available in every language or region, and features vary. Apple's macOS Feature Availability page has one list for Dictation and a shorter one for on-device dictation, with a note that on-device dictation needs speech models downloaded first.

1. In System Settings > Keyboard > Dictation, click Edit next to Languages. Select the language and region you actually speak, and deselect any you don't.
2. Read the text under Dictation. Apple says it tells you whether you need an internet connection, or whether your dictation is processed on your Mac and not sent to Siri servers.
3. If it says you need a connection, check System Settings > Network.
4. After you turn on Dictation or add a language, keep the Mac online so the speech models can download.
5. If you use more than one language, switch while you dictate by clicking the language next to the cursor, or by pressing the Globe key if your keyboard has one.

If your language isn't on Apple's on-device list, plan on needing a connection to dictate in it. Apple also notes that in supported languages, Dictation adds commas, periods and question marks for you. If you need dictation that never goes online, our list of offline dictation apps for Mac has options.

With headphones, the question is which microphone the Mac is listening to at that moment. AirPods can switch between your devices on their own, and an external display can pull the input back to a headset.

1. In System Settings > Keyboard > Dictation, set Microphone source to your AirPods by name instead of Automatic. To rule Bluetooth out, pick the built-in microphone and try again.
2. In System Settings > Sound > Input, check the same device is selected and that the level moves when you speak.
3. To choose which AirPod is the microphone, wear them, open System Settings and click your AirPods' name, then click Microphone (or Audio & Routing first). Pick Automatically Switch AirPods, Always Left AirPod or Always Right AirPod. With one AirPod in, that one is the microphone.
4. If your AirPods keep jumping to your iPhone, open System Settings > Bluetooth, click the info button next to your AirPods, and choose to connect only when they were last connected to this Mac.
5. Using a headset with a Mac connected to an external display? Apple says choosing the display's microphone can revert to the headset. Unplug the headset first, then pick the display's microphone.

Apple's articles on AirPods settings and when AirPods connect to your Mac have screenshots of each setting.

It can. Screen Time has a Siri & Dictation switch, and turning it off stops both from being used. It's easy to miss on a Mac set up for a child, or one that someone else manages.

1. Choose Apple menu > System Settings, then click Screen Time in the sidebar. You may need to scroll down.
2. If you're a parent or guardian in a Family Sharing group, choose the family member from the Family Member pop-up menu.
3. Click Content & Privacy, then click App & Feature Restrictions.
4. Under Allowed, make sure Siri & Dictation is turned on.

If a parent or your workplace manages the Mac's Screen Time, they may need to make the change. Apple's page on App & Feature Restrictions lists every switch on that screen.

Apple doesn't document a way to restart Dictation's background service on its own. You'll find Terminal commands online that quit speech processes by name, but Apple doesn't describe those processes or say that quitting them is safe, so we've left them out. The documented way to restart every speech service at once is to restart the Mac.

1. Save anything you're working on.
2. Choose Apple menu > Restart. If you don't want your windows to reopen, deselect Reopen windows when logging back in.
3. Once you're back, try Dictation in Notes before opening your other apps.

This tells you whether the problem lives in your account or in the whole Mac. Apple suggests it in troubleshooting articles for its own apps: create another administrator account and try to recreate the issue there. If it doesn't happen in the new account, settings or files in your original account may be the cause.

1. Choose Apple menu > System Settings, then click Users & Groups in the sidebar.
2. Click Add User below the list of users. You may be asked for your password.
3. Choose Administrator from the pop-up menu next to New User, enter a name and a password, then click Create User.
4. Log out of your account and log in to the new one.
5. Turn on Dictation in System Settings > Keyboard, open Notes and try it.

If Dictation works there, the cause is in your own account. Go back and look again at fixes 2 and 3, and quit other apps one at a time while you test. If it fails in the new account too, the cause is more likely Mac wide, so the last fix is the one to try. You can remove the test account in Users & Groups when you're done. Apple's steps for adding a user explain each account type.

After a macOS update, run fixes 1 to 3 again first: check Dictation is on, the shortcut is the one you expect, and the microphone source is right. Then install the newest update: Apple says its macOS updates bring the latest features and security updates, plus improvements to built-in apps.

1. Open System Settings, click General in the sidebar, then click Software Update.
2. Install any update that's waiting. On a laptop, plug in the power adapter: Apple says laptops need it to download updates automatically.
3. Update the app you dictate into as well. For App Store apps, choose Apple menu > App Store. For apps like Chrome, use the app's own updater.
4. Restart, then try Dictation in Notes and in the app that was failing.

Apple's update guide also shows how to have your Mac install macOS updates automatically.

If Dictation works in Notes but not in Chrome, Word or Slack, Dictation itself is fine. The question is what happens in that one app. Apple says Dictation works anywhere you can type, so start with the basics.

1. Click inside the text field first, so there's a blinking insertion point where the words should go.
2. In that app's menu bar, choose Edit > Start Dictation. If it works from the menu but not from your shortcut, the shortcut is the problem in that app: pick a different one in fix 2.
3. If you're pressing a voice or microphone button inside the app or on a website, that's the app's own feature, not Apple Dictation. It needs that app turned on in Privacy & Security > Microphone (fix 3), and a website also needs your browser's permission.
4. Update the app, then quit it and open it again.

If you've been through all ten and Apple Dictation still won't cooperate, a different speech engine is worth a try, and Apple Support can help too. We make Koi, so weigh this with that in mind: its dictation doesn't use Apple's speech service. You press Fn + ⌥ in any app and Whisper turns your voice into text on your Mac, offline, with 57 languages detected automatically and no limit on the free plan. It runs on macOS 14 or later, Apple silicon and Intel, needs an account (just an email) and a few permissions, and it's Mac only. If you'd rather compare first, see our Apple Dictation alternatives, the best dictation apps for Mac, or Apple Dictation vs Wispr Flow.