The Feature That Stops Working Without Warning

Mac dictation stops working suddenly and mysteriously. Yesterday it worked fine. Today you press the dictation shortcut (fn fn by default) and nothing happens. Or the microphone icon appears but no words show up. Or dictation works in some apps but not others.

This happens constantly on Mac. Apple's dictation is built into macOS but depends on system settings, network connectivity, language configurations, and keyboard shortcuts that can break for unclear reasons.

The Checklist That Usually Fixes It

Work through these steps in order. One of them typically fixes dictation:

Check System Settings. Open System Settings, go to Keyboard, find Dictation. Make sure it's toggled on. If it's on, toggle it off, wait 10 seconds, toggle it back on. This resets dictation and fixes many issues.

Verify keyboard shortcut. In the same Dictation settings, check what shortcut activates dictation. Default is pressing fn (function) key twice. Make sure you're pressing the right shortcut. You can change it if the default doesn't work.

Check internet connection. Apple dictation requires internet for enhanced dictation unless you enabled "Use Offline Dictation" in settings. If you're offline or have unreliable internet, dictation fails silently or times out.

Restart your Mac. The universal fix that works more often than it should. Many Mac dictation issues resolve after restarting.

Check microphone permissions. Open System Settings, go to Privacy and Security, click Microphone. Make sure the app you're trying to dictate in has microphone permission. Apps without microphone access can't use dictation.

Language settings. Dictation only works if your Mac's language matches a supported dictation language. Open System Settings, go to General, Language and Region. If your Mac language isn't English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, or one of the other supported languages, dictation may not work.

Those steps fix about 80 percent of Mac dictation problems. If dictation still doesn't work, the issue is more complicated.

The Enhanced Dictation vs Regular Dictation Confusion

Mac has two different dictation modes with confusing naming:

Regular dictation (default). Sends audio to Apple servers for processing. Requires internet. Works across all apps. Automatically enabled if you turn on dictation.

Enhanced dictation (optional). Downloads language files to your Mac for local processing. Works offline. Requires several hundred MB download per language.

Most Mac users have regular dictation enabled without realizing it requires internet. When internet drops, dictation silently fails. Users assume dictation is broken when really the internet connection is the problem.

To enable offline dictation, go to System Settings, Keyboard, Dictation, toggle on "Use Offline Dictation." Wait while Mac downloads language files. Then dictation works offline.

When Dictation Works in Some Apps But Not Others

Dictation failing in specific apps while working in others usually means permission issues.

Each app needs microphone permission. Safari might have permission while Chrome doesn't. Notes might work while Microsoft Word doesn't. Check Privacy and Security settings for each app individually.

Some apps implement their own text input systems that bypass Mac dictation. Apps with custom text editors sometimes don't support system dictation. You press the dictation shortcut and nothing happens because the app doesn't integrate with macOS dictation.

Microsoft Office apps particularly have this issue. Sometimes Word, Excel, PowerPoint don't respond to Mac dictation shortcuts because Office uses its own input handling.

The Microphone Icon Appears But Nothing Happens

You press fn fn. The microphone icon appears on screen. You talk. Nothing happens. No words appear.

This usually means one of three things:

You're speaking but Mac doesn't hear audio. Check your Mac is using the right microphone input. Open System Settings, go to Sound, click Input. Make sure the correct microphone is selected. If you have external microphones or headsets, Mac might be listening to the wrong input.

Internet connection timed out. Regular dictation sends audio to Apple servers. If connection is slow or unreliable, dictation appears to start but fails to return transcribed text. Try offline dictation or check your internet.

The dictation session timed out. Mac dictation has a 30-second time limit for regular dictation (40 seconds for enhanced dictation). If you pause too long while thinking, the session ends. You need to stop dictation and restart it.

What I Use Instead of Mac Dictation

I use Dictation Daddy for everything on my Mac - emails, documents, articles, notes, all writing tasks. I have obvious bias (I built it), but it eliminates the reliability issues Mac dictation has:

96-98 percent accuracy compared to Mac dictation's 80-85 percent. Significantly fewer corrections needed.

Automatic formatting. Punctuation, new lines, and paragraphs added intelligently without voice commands. Mac dictation requires saying "period comma new line" constantly.

You can still use formatting commands like "new line" or "comma" when needed, but the AI handles most formatting automatically. False starts and self-corrections are handled naturally.

Technical terminology works immediately. Medical terms, legal jargon, industry vocabulary all work from day one without training. Mac dictation struggles with specialized vocabulary.

Available on Mac, Windows, iPhone, Android, and Chrome extension. The apps don't sync between devices, but you have consistent dictation everywhere. Under 100 dollars per year. For enterprises needing SOC2 or HIPAA compliance, there's a dedicated plan.

Works reliably without mysterious failures. Either your internet works and dictation works, or you know internet is the issue. No silent failures or unclear breakage.

The macOS Version Issues

Dictation behavior changes between macOS versions. Shortcuts change, settings move to different locations, functionality breaks and gets fixed.

macOS Sonoma (current as of 2026) moved dictation settings from System Preferences to System Settings with the iOS-style interface redesign. Everything I described above assumes Sonoma or later.

Older macOS versions (Monterey, Big Sur, Catalina) have dictation settings in System Preferences under Keyboard. The settings are similar but organized differently.

If you're on an older macOS version and can't find dictation settings where I described, look in System Preferences instead of System Settings.

The 30-Second Limit Problem

Mac regular dictation has a 30-second time limit per session. Enhanced dictation extends this to 40 seconds. These limits cause problems for anyone dictating longer content.

You start dictating. Thirty seconds later, dictation stops automatically. You need to press fn fn again to restart. If you're in the middle of a thought, this is disruptive.

Workarounds exist but are annoying:

Dictate in short bursts. Stop dictation before hitting the time limit, then restart immediately. Breaks your thought flow.

Enable enhanced dictation for the 40-second limit instead of 30 seconds. Marginally better but still constraining.

Use third-party dictation that doesn't have arbitrary time limits. Mac dictation's time limits are artificial constraints from Apple, not technical limitations of speech recognition.

The Uncomfortable Reality

Mac dictation breaks mysteriously and frequently. It's free and built into macOS, but reliability is poor. Settings that should work stop working. Internet dependency isn't clearly communicated. Time limits interrupt longer dictation.

For casual use, Mac dictation is adequate when it works. For professional regular dictation, the reliability issues and accuracy limitations (80-85 percent) make it frustrating.

If you find yourself searching "dictation not working on Mac" repeatedly, that's the signal to look for alternatives. Free and built-in only matters if it works consistently. When you're troubleshooting dictation settings more than you're actually dictating, the time cost exceeds any money cost of better alternatives.

Last updated: January 16, 2026, verified with macOS Sonoma dictation settings and troubleshooting steps