Dictation

Hold ⌥Space and talk. When you let go, what you said is on your clipboard, tidied up by Apple Intelligence and ready to paste with ⌘V. It is free, and your voice never leaves your Mac.

What you need#

• macOS 26 or later.
• A Mac that supports Apple Intelligence, with Apple Intelligence turned on.
• A microphone. The one built into your Mac is fine.

You do not need an account or the Web app plan.

Set up dictation#

The first time you hold ⌥Space, catu opens Settings › Dictation. You can open it yourself from catu's Settings at any time. Each step turns green and says “Done” when it is finished, and the page updates by itself as you go. The Settings window stays in front while you work in System Settings, so you can see both.

1. Allow the microphone. Click “Continue”, then “Allow” when macOS asks. catu listens only while you hold ⌥Space, or after you press it twice. If you said no before, “Continue” opens System Settings instead: switch catu on there.
2. Turn on Apple Intelligence. Click “Open Apple Intelligence” and switch it on. It can take a few minutes to get ready the first time.

When both are done, the page says “Dictation is ready. Hold ⌥Space and talk.”

If step 2 says this Mac doesn't support Apple Intelligence, dictation isn't available on it.

Hold ⌥Space and talk#

1. Click where the text should go, such as a message, a document or a search box.
2. Hold ⌥Space. A card appears at the bottom of the screen saying “Start talking…”.
3. Talk. Your words appear on the card as you say them.
4. Let go of ⌥Space. The card says “Tidying with Apple Intelligence…”, and a moment later catu shows “Dictation copied · ⌘V to paste”.
5. Press ⌘V to paste the text where you were.

A quick press of ⌥Space does nothing: hold it for a moment.

The text is also kept in your clipboard history, so you can paste it again later.

Change the shortcut#

⌥Space is the shortcut to begin with. To use another one:

1. Open catu's Settings and click Shortcuts in the sidebar.
2. Click the shortcut next to “Dictate: hold to talk, double-press for hands-free”.
3. Press the new keys. Esc keeps the old one.

Everything on this page then works with your new shortcut, and the card shows it in its hints.

Hands-free#

For anything longer, you don't have to keep holding the keys.

1. Press ⌥Space twice, quickly. The card says “Press ⌥Space to finish”.
2. Talk for as long as you like.
3. Press ⌥Space once more, or click “Done” on the card.

You can also start hands-free from catu's menu: click catu in the menu bar and choose “Dictate”. Finish with “Done” on the card.

The dictation card#

The card sits at the bottom of the screen while you dictate. It never takes the focus, so you stay where you were.

• Your words appear as catu hears them. Words it is still working out are dimmer, and settle as you go on. The card shows the last two lines; older lines move up and out of sight.
• Waves move with your voice, so you can see catu hears you.
• 1 Formal and 2 Casual show the style the text will be written in. See Formal or Casual.
• 3 Edit appears when the last thing you copied is text. See Edit copied text by voice.
• Under the card, “Apple Intelligence · on this Mac” says where your words are turned into text.

The card says	What is happening
“Getting ready…”	catu is starting the microphone.
“Downloading dictation…”	The first time you dictate in a language, your Mac downloads what it needs. This takes a moment and needs an internet connection.
“Let go to finish”	catu is listening while you hold ⌥Space.
“Press ⌥Space to finish”	Hands-free. Press ⌥Space or click “Done” to finish.
“Say the change, let go”	Edit is on: what you say is an instruction for your copied text.
“Tidying with Apple Intelligence…”	Apple Intelligence is tidying the text.
“Editing with Apple Intelligence…”	Apple Intelligence is changing your copied text.

Formal or Casual#

catu writes what you say in one of two styles:

• Formal: full punctuation, for email and documents. “Hey Marta, are you free for a call at ten? I'll send the notes after.”
• Casual: light punctuation, like a chat message, with no full stop at the end. “Hey Marta are you free for a call at ten? I'll send the notes after”

While you talk, press 1 for Formal or 2 for Casual, or click one on the card. catu remembers your choice for the app you're dictating into, so the next time you dictate there it starts with the same style. Chat apps such as Messages, Slack, WhatsApp, Discord, Telegram, Teams, Messenger and Signal start Casual.

Every other app uses the “Style” you choose in Settings › Dictation. Under it is a list of the apps where you picked a style. Click “Forget” next to one to send it back to the default.

Edit copied text by voice#

You can also change text you've written by saying how, such as “make it shorter”, “fix the grammar”, “turn it into bullet points” or “make it more formal”.

1. Select the text and copy it with ⌘C.
2. Hold ⌥Space. The card shows 3 Edit.
3. Press 3, or click “Edit”. The card says “Say the change, let go”.
4. Say what to change, then let go.
5. catu shows “Edited text copied · ⌘V to paste it”. If the text you copied is still selected, ⌘V replaces it.

Press 3 again, or 1 or 2, to go back to dictating. Edit works in hands-free too: press ⌥Space once more to finish.

Apple Intelligence makes the change on your Mac. It keeps names, dates, numbers and links, and never adds placeholders such as “[Your Name]”. Edit works on up to 8,000 characters of copied text.

If catu says “Couldn't make that change. Your copied text is as it was”, nothing changed on your clipboard. Try saying the change another way.

How catu tidies what you say#

Apple Intelligence on your Mac turns speech into clean written text:

• It removes “um”, “uh”, false starts and words you said twice.
• It adds capital letters and punctuation, as much as the style asks for.
• Say “new line” or “new paragraph” to start one.
• Lists you dictate stay as lists.
• It never uses exclamation marks. They become full stops.

The tidy-up never changes what you meant. It does not add words, answer, summarise or translate. If Apple Intelligence's version would drop or add words, catu uses a simpler clean-up instead: fillers out, a capital at the start and, in Formal, a full stop at the end. Very short phrases get that simpler clean-up too.

Words to know#

Names and terms that dictation might not know, such as people, products and places, can go in Settings › Dictation, under “Words to know”. Separate them with commas or put one on each line. catu listens for them and spells them the way you typed them.

“Also learn names from your clipboard history” is on to begin with. Names you copy more than once, like a colleague's or a client's, are added for you, and the page lists the ones it has learned. Switch it off to use only your own list. Text catu writes itself, such as dictation, is never learned from.

Languages#

catu dictates in the first language on your Mac's list that dictation supports. You set the list in System Settings › General › Language & Region, under Preferred Languages. If none of them is supported, catu uses English.

Speak one language at a time. To dictate in another language, move it to the top of that list, then quit and reopen catu.

Privacy#

Dictation is free and happens entirely on your Mac, and so does Edit. Nothing is uploaded, and no audio is kept: only the text, in your clipboard and your clipboard history. Your words to know and the names catu learns stay on your Mac too. See Privacy and security.

If something doesn't work#

• Nothing happens when you hold ⌥Space, or catu says “Shortcut taken by another app: ⌥Space”. Another app is using ⌥Space. Pick a different shortcut in Settings › Shortcuts, or change it in the other app and quit and reopen catu.
• Holding 🌐 does nothing, or opens emoji or macOS's own dictation. catu doesn't use the 🌐 key; that is macOS. Hold ⌥Space, or the shortcut you set in Settings › Shortcuts.
• The text isn't typed where you were. That is expected: catu puts it on your clipboard. Press ⌘V to paste it.
• Settings › Dictation opens when you hold ⌥Space, or catu says “Apple Intelligence is still getting ready”. Turn on Apple Intelligence in System Settings › Apple Intelligence & Siri. Just after you turn it on, wait a few minutes and try again.
• catu says “Dictation needs a Mac with Apple Intelligence”. This Mac doesn't support Apple Intelligence, so dictation isn't available on it.
• catu says “Didn't catch that”, or “Allow catu to use the microphone in System Settings › Privacy”. Allow catu in System Settings › Privacy & Security › Microphone. Dictation uses your Mac's input in System Settings › Sound › Input: check the right microphone is chosen there and that the card's waves move when you talk. With Reduce motion on, the waves stay still.
• “Couldn't get dictation ready. Check your connection and try again”. The first dictation in a language needs to download what it needs. Connect to the internet and try again.
• There is no 3 Edit on the card. Copy the text you want to change first. Edit appears only when the last thing you copied is text, up to 8,000 characters.
• An app starts in the wrong style. Press 1 or 2 while you dictate there, and catu remembers it. Or click “Forget” next to the app in Settings › Dictation.
• A name comes out spelled wrong. Add it to “Words to know” in Settings › Dictation.