Voice typing in the apps
you already use.

Google Docs

Docs has Voice typing under Tools > Voice typing, in current versions of Chrome, Edge and Safari. Allow microphone access, pick your language, then click the microphone to start and again to stop. In some languages you can say punctuation such as "comma" and "new paragraph"; editing commands work only in English. It only works inside Docs.

Microsoft Word

Word's Dictate button, on the Home tab, is available to Microsoft 365 subscribers, including on Mac. It processes audio in Microsoft's cloud, so it needs a connection.

WeChat

Since version 4.1.8, WeChat for Mac has voice input, and you can hold Fn to use it outside WeChat too. If you already have WeChat installed, that makes it a ready-made system-wide option; recognition runs in the cloud.

Notion, Obsidian and Slack

None of these has general voice typing of its own on Mac. Notion's AI meeting notes transcribe meetings, Obsidian has community plugins that send audio to a transcription service, and Slack offers audio clips rather than dictation. For typing by voice into them, use one of the system-wide options below.

One method for every app

macOS Dictation types into any focused text field, in any app, for free. Its limits are one language at a time, a stop after 30 seconds of silence and no history; see how to set it up.

System-wide dictation apps do the same with their own shortcut and model, and usually add a history of what you said. They need macOS Accessibility permission, which is what lets an app type into other apps. Examples are Wispr Flow (cloud), Superwhisper and TypeAloud, which we make (both local). The roundup compares more.

Secure fields and sending

Some secure fields, such as password boxes, block text inserted by other apps. Most dictation tools only insert text and leave sending to you, but some can press Enter on a spoken keyword or send automatically; check that setting before dictating into chat.