Guide · October 2026
Speech to text on a Mac.
Short answer: to type with your voice in any app, use a dictation app like Wisp (privacy-first, on your Mac, free) or Apple's built-in Dictation. To turn a recording or meeting into text, use a transcription app like MacWhisper.
Live speech to text: dictation
Dictation turns what you say into text as you go, wherever your cursor is: email, Slack, Notes, a code editor, ChatGPT. Wisp is built for this: hold fn, talk naturally, let go, and finished text appears, with fillers removed and punctuation added. It runs on your Mac, so it's fast, works offline and never uploads your voice.
Built-in speech to text
macOS includes Dictation (System Settings → Keyboard) and Voice Control (System Settings → Accessibility). Both are free. Dictation types what you say word for word; Voice Control is for controlling the Mac and editing by voice.
Speech to text from a file
To turn a recording, podcast or meeting into text, use a transcription app such as MacWhisper. That's a different job from typing with your voice.
What makes speech to text good
- Accuracy, including accents, names and quiet speech.
- Cleanup, so text is ready to send rather than a raw transcript.
- Privacy: on-device processing means your voice never leaves your Mac.
- Speed: text in under a second keeps your flow.
Questions
How do I use speech to text on a Mac?
Turn on Dictation in System Settings → Keyboard and press fn twice, or install a dictation app like Wisp: hold fn, talk, let go, and clean text appears in any app.
Is there free speech to text for Mac?
Yes. Apple Dictation is built in, and Wisp's dictation is free and unlimited, with cleanup and offline use.
Which speech to text on Mac is best for privacy?
On-device apps never upload your audio. Wisp is privacy-first: speech is turned into text on your Mac, and your voice and words are never uploaded.