Nothing happens when you press the shortcut
- Open Apple menu > System Settings > Keyboard and make sure Dictation is turned on.
- Check the Shortcut under Keyboard > Dictation. If it was changed, the old keys won't start Dictation anymore.
- Press and release the Microphone key. Holding it calls Siri instead.
- Try Edit > Start Dictation in the app's menu bar. If that works, the problem is the shortcut, not Dictation.
- Click inside a text field first. Dictation types where your insertion point is.
Most Mac dictation problems come down to a setting: Dictation is off, the shortcut changed, the wrong microphone is picked, or something is blocking it. Start with the symptom you see. If you use SayDart on your Mac, its own checks are further down.
You can't turn Dictation on
If Dictation won't turn on, check Screen Time. Its Content & Privacy restrictions can block Siri & Dictation, often set by a family organizer on a child's account.
Also check Voice Control in Accessibility settings. When Voice Control is on, standard Dictation isn't available.
Dictation starts, but doesn't hear you
- In Keyboard > Dictation, check Microphone source. Automatic picks the device your Mac thinks you'll use; choose your microphone by name instead.
- Using an external microphone? Open System Settings > Sound > Input, select it and raise the input volume.
- Make sure nothing covers the built-in microphone, and speak at a normal volume.
- Cut background noise. In a noisy or echoey room, a headset microphone helps.
Wrong words or missing punctuation
- Check Languages in Keyboard > Dictation. Dictation listens for the language you pick, and not every language or region is available.
- If you dictate in more than one language, click the language next to the cursor, or press the Globe key, to switch.
- Missing commas and periods? Auto-punctuation works in supported languages and can be switched off in Keyboard > Dictation, so check that it's on.
- Click a word underlined in blue to choose another option.
Dictation stops on its own
Dictation stops by itself after 30 seconds without speech. Press your shortcut again to keep going.
Dictation may also need an internet connection. The text under Dictation in Keyboard settings tells you whether your Mac processes general dictation on device. If it keeps failing, check System Settings > Network.
Using SayDart on a Mac? Check these
SayDart has its own shortcut, permissions and speech recognition, separate from macOS Dictation. The default voice shortcut is: press Right Option.
- The shortcut does nothing in other apps: check that SayDart is allowed under System Settings > Privacy & Security > Accessibility, then try again. Also check the shortcut in SayDart under Settings > Shortcuts in case it was changed.
- SayDart hears you, but no text appears: allow SayDart under Privacy & Security > Accessibility. It needs this to insert text in other apps.
- No sound gets through: allow SayDart under Privacy & Security > Microphone, then pick your microphone in SayDart under Settings > Voice & translation > Microphone.
- Apple Silicon (arm64) · notarized by Apple. Open the .dmg, drag SayDart into Applications, then launch it from Applications.
- Recording works, but processing fails: SayDart needs an internet connection and a signed-in account. On Free, check the allowance left for this week in your account.
- The text went to the wrong place: if the result is in History, copy it from there instead of talking again.
Still stuck with SayDart?
Contact us with your SayDart version, your macOS version, roughly when it happened, the exact error text and the app you were typing into. Say whether recording started and whether the result shows up in History.
Official sources
The macOS steps are summarized from Apple's Mac User Guide, checked October 20, 2026. Menu names can change between macOS versions.