If you have mobility or motor impairments, repetitive stress injuries, or you find typing on a keyboard difficult in any way, there's an alternative. Dictation lets you talk instead of type, and voice-to-text transcribes what you say into words on the screen. It's among the Mac's many accessibility features. All you have to do is set it up and get going.
Oct 07, 2019 Choose Apple menu System Preferences, then click Accessibility. Click Voice Control in the sidebar. Select Enable Voice Control. When you turn on Voice Control for the first time, your Mac completes a one-time download from Apple. Aug 07, 2019 Use dictation to convert spoken words into text anywhere on your PC with Windows 10. Dictation uses speech recognition, which is built into Windows 10, so there's nothing you need to download and install to use it. To start dictating, select a text field and press the Windows logo key + H to open the dictation toolbar. Then say whatever’s on. Follow these steps to get started with Remote Desktop on your Mac: Download the Microsoft Remote Desktop client from the Mac App Store. Set up your PC to accept remote connections. (If you skip this step, you can't connect to your PC.) Add a Remote Desktop connection or a remote resource. The current setup file available for download occupies 202.5 MB on disk. '.msd' is the extension this free PC software can process. Our built-in antivirus checked this download and rated it as virus free. The most popular versions of the Microsoft Dictation 4.0, 3.0 and 1.0.
How to enable and use Dictation
Basic dictation is essentially always enabled by default — you just need to activate it. New flight simulator 2019.
- Click into a text area like a document or the address bar of your web browser.
- Double-press the Fn key. A microphone will appear on your screen and if it's receiving audio, you'll see activity inside of it.
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Speak the text you want to type. You can speak various punctuation and symbols, including brackets, percent signs, and more. You can also say phrases like 'caps on' to turn on capital letters.Backup microsoft office mac. To find out which Office app you used to make the purchase, see below.Close and re-open the app.Click Restore previous purchase at the bottom of the Get started with Office 365 window.Find out which app you used to make the purchase.Use the Mac App Store app to review your subscriptions.Sign in and look for a subscription starting with Office 365 under Active Subscriptions. Restore previous purchase for Office for MacIf you restored Office from a backup, or you deleted and reinstalled your Office apps and you had purchased an Office 365 subscription through the Mac App Store, you might be able to restore the items you've previously paid for.Sign out of the Office app through which you made the In-App purchase.
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Click Done under the microphone icon or press the Fn key once when you're finished dictating.
The more you use Dictation, the more it learns how you speak — like your accent and cadence. It may seem finicky at first, but as you use it more, it'll get better and better. Apple has a great starter guide on how to dictate punctuation and formatting, as well.
How to change your Dictation language
Did you know that you can dictate your text in multiple languages? Here's how.
- Open System Preferences from your Dock or Applications folder.
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Click Keyboard.
- Click Dictation.
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Click the drop-down next to Language.
- Click Add Language…
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Click the checkboxes next to languages that you wish to add.
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Click OK.
To use those languages, you can switch to the default dictation option at any time by going to System Preferences > Keyboard > Dictation Language and selecting your current language from the dropdown menu.
How to enable and use Enhanced Dictation
Enhanced Dictation enables you to dictate without an internet connection, and dictate continuously; this means that your words will convert to text more quickly since they're being processed locally on your device.
- Open System Preferences from your Dock or Applications folder.
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Click Keyboard.
- Click Dictation.
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Click the checkbox next to Use Enhanced Dictation. Enhanced Dictation will take several minutes to download if you haven't done so already.
Once enabled, you can use Enhanced Dictation the same way you would regular dictation. Press the Fn key twice when your cursor is in a text field. If the microphone shows up, speak what you want to be typed and click Done or press the Fn key once.
How to change the Dictation keyboard shortcut
While the Fn key on your Mac's keyboard is the default trigger for dictation, you can change that in the Dictation section of the keyboard preference pane
- Open System Preferences from your Dock or Applications folder.
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Click Keyboard.
- Click Dictation.
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Click the drop-down menu next to Shortcut.
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Click an option in the list or click Customize to create your own (seems like only the arrow keys work).
How to enable/disable Dictation Commands
Dictation Commands allow you to do things with your text just by speaking. For example, you can select a whole paragraph, go back to the beginning, or replace a phrase with another phrase.
You can only use Dictation Commands with Enhanced Dictation enabled.
- Click the Apple menu button on the top left of your screen.
- Click System Preferences.
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Click Accessibility.
- Click Dictation in the menu on the left. You'll have to scroll down a bit to find it.
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Click Dictation Commands…
- Click the checkbox next to each dictation command you'd like to disable. They're all enabled by default.
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Click Done in the bottom right corner of the window.
Reading through the Dictation Commands list is a great way to learn all the things you can do with text just by speaking to your Mac. You can also click the checkbox next to Enable advanced commands, which will enable system commands.
Download and install or reinstall Office 2016 or Office 2013. Office 2016 Office 2016 for Mac Office 2013 More. If this is the first time you're installing Office you may have some setup steps to do first. Expand the learn more section below. Can I install Office 2016 for Mac and Office for Mac 2011 on the same computer? Microsoft office 2016 mac not installing windows 7. Sep 28, 2016 If you don’t want to upgrade your Mac OS to Sierra, you can try the following methods mentioned in this thread. Restart in Recovery Disk mode. Run Disk Utility Repair Disk. Install with the following command: $ sudo installer -pkg MicrosoftOffice201615.23.0160611Installer.pkg -target / (The version number your exact value) 3.
How to enable the dictation keyword phrase
Want to feel like you're in a sci-fi movie? Enable the dictation keyword phrase and you'll be able to use dictation commands even when you're not dictating. So you can be all 'computer, replace 'boots' with 'cats',' and the phrase will be replaced in your text. It's a bit finicky, but when it works, it's so cool!
You have to have Enhanced Dictation enabled for this to work.
- Click the Apple menu button on the top left of your screen.
- Click System Preferences.
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Click Accessibility.
- Click Dictation in the menu on the left. You'll have to scroll down a bit to find it.
- Click the checkbox next to Enable the dictation keyword phrase.
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Enter a keyword phrase if you want to change it from 'Computer'. (But if you leave it as 'Computer', you sound like the captain of a spaceship!)
Now when your cursor is in a text field, you can just say the keyword phrase and your dictation command and it'll do it.
Microsoft Dictate Download Mac Download
How to enable a sound when a command is recognized
You have to have Enhanced Dictation enabled for this to work.
- Click the Apple menu button on the top left of your screen.
- Click System Preferences.
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Click Accessibility.
- Click Dictation in the menu on the left. You'll have to scroll down a bit to find it.
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Click the checkbox next to Play sound when command is recognized.
How to enable/disable output mute during dictation
If you accidentally open a website with an autoplay video or you're listening to music but want to dictate something quickly, you can mute audio output during dictation so that you don't have to manually fiddle around with volume.
You must have Enhanced Dictation enabled to use this feature.
- Click the Apple menu button on the top left of your screen.
- Click System Preferences.
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Click Accessibility.
- Click Dictation in the menu on the left. You'll have to scroll down a bit to find it.
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Click the checkbox next to Mute audio output while dictating.
Dictation accessibility in macOS Catalina
In macOS Catalina, Apple has opted to change things up a bit regarding dictation and accessibility. While there was previously a section for accessibility options for dictation in System Preferences, those capabilities have been folded into the new Voice Control accessibility feature. Voice Control is a greatly expanded set of capabilities that allow you to control every aspect of your Mac, including text entry, with your voice.
Great accessories for your Mac
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Bose Companion 20($250 at Amazon)
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Questions?
Dictation questions? Let us know in the comments below!
Updated July 2019: Updated instructions for macOS Mojave and added a section about what's happening with dictation accessibility in macOS Catalina.
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