Your first dictation

Before you begin

Install the Mac app, sign in, and finish its device setup. Start with a short sentence in Notes or an unsent message. An internet connection is needed for cloud speech recognition. Chinese and English currently work best; support for other languages is rolling out.

Try it in a text field

1. Open Notes, a mail draft, Claude, or ChatGPT. Click inside an editable text field so the cursor is visible.
2. Press Fn once to start dictation. Wait for the recording indicator before speaking.
3. Say one or two sentences. Press Fn again to finish, then wait for the text to appear. Fn dictation supports up to 5 minutes per recording; in-app recordings have a 30-second limit. For practice, split longer thoughts into short sections.
4. Read the result. Correct names, numbers, punctuation, and anything the recipient could misunderstand. Send or submit it yourself when ready.

Something to say

Hi Alex, I have reviewed the outline. Could we move our check-in to Thursday afternoon? I will send the revised notes before then.

The expected result is text in the field you selected. The app does not send the message for you. With Smart polish off by default, start by speaking the words you want to write, rather than instructions such as “make this more formal.”

If it does not work

Check Mac permissions and the system microphone. If recognition succeeded but insertion failed, look in History, select the saved transcription, copy with Command + C, and paste it into the target field. If transcription failed, correct the connection or microphone problem and record again; failed audio is not available for a retranscription retry.