How to Dictate in Gmail, Slack, and Any App on Mac

You probably know that your Mac has dictation built in. What you might not know is that dictation works everywhere. Not just in Notes or Pages. In Gmail. In Slack. In Notion. In VS Code. In Terminal. In iMessage. In Google Docs. In Figma's comment boxes. In your company's internal tools. In any text field, in any app, on your entire computer.

This is because system-wide dictation tools work at the operating system level. They type text wherever your cursor is, regardless of which app is in focus. It is the same as if you were typing on your keyboard, except you are speaking. The app does not need to "support" dictation. If it has a text field, dictation works in it.

This guide walks through how to dictate in specific apps, with practical tips for each context. We use Steno as the example because it adds AI cleanup on top of basic dictation, but the core workflow applies to Apple Dictation, Superwhisper, or any other system-wide dictation tool. For a comparison of available tools, see our best dictation app for Mac guide.

The Key Concept: System-Wide Dictation

Before diving into specific apps, understand this fundamental point: system-wide dictation is not an integration. It is not a plugin. It does not require any setup within each app. Your dictation tool sits at the system level and types text wherever your cursor is active. When you press the dictation shortcut, speak, and release, the resulting text goes into the currently focused text field. Gmail, Slack, Notion, Terminal, it does not matter. The dictation tool does not even know which app you are in. It just types.

This is different from app-specific voice features like Google Docs Voice Typing (only works in Google Docs in Chrome) or Slack's audio messages (records audio, does not transcribe). System-wide dictation replaces your keyboard for any text input, anywhere.

How to Set Up System-Wide Dictation

If you use Apple Dictation, it is already set up. Press Fn twice (or the Microphone key on newer MacBooks) to activate it.

If you use Steno or another third-party tool:

1. Download and install the app
2. Grant accessibility permissions when prompted (System Settings > Privacy & Security > Accessibility)
3. Grant microphone permissions (System Settings > Privacy & Security > Microphone)
4. Set your preferred keyboard shortcut for activation
5. You are ready. The shortcut works in every app.

Dictating in Gmail

Composing a new email

Click Compose in Gmail. Place your cursor in the body of the email. Press your dictation shortcut. Speak your email. Release.

For longer emails, dictate in bursts: one paragraph at a time. After each burst, glance at the text, fix any obvious errors, then dictate the next paragraph. This is faster than dictating the entire email and then scrolling back to find errors.

After dictating, use AI cleanup if available. Steno's "professional tone" action is useful for emails because spoken language tends to be more casual than written email. Dictate naturally, then one-tap to shift the tone.

Replying to an email

Click Reply. Read the email you are responding to (or re-read, since you probably already read it). Place your cursor in the reply field. Dictate your response. The key here is to be direct. In replies, people expect concise responses. Dictate your main point, then stop. You do not need to fill space.

Subject lines

You can dictate subject lines too. Click in the Subject field and dictate. For short subjects ("Follow-up on yesterday's meeting"), dictation is about the same speed as typing. For longer, more descriptive subjects, dictation saves a bit of time.

Gmail-specific tips

• Dictation does not trigger Gmail's autocomplete. If you start typing "Thank" Gmail might suggest "Thanks for your email." Dictation bypasses this because it inserts complete words, not individual keystrokes.
• Gmail's smart compose (the gray text suggestions) may still appear after dictation inserts text. Press Tab to accept them or keep dictating to override them.
• If you use Gmail keyboard shortcuts (like Cmd+Enter to send), be careful not to accidentally send mid-dictation. Dictation only inserts text, never presses shortcuts, but your own muscle memory might reach for the keyboard.

Dictating in Slack

Channel messages

Click in the message field of any Slack channel. Press your dictation shortcut. Speak your message. Release. The text appears in the message field. Review it, then press Enter (or click Send) when ready.

Slack is where dictation saves the most time for most people. The average knowledge worker sends 30-50 Slack messages per day. If each message averages 20 words and you dictate instead of type, you save roughly 15-25 minutes per day. That is over an hour per week.

Threads

Click on a thread. The thread panel opens on the right. Click in the thread reply field. Dictate your response. Threads are where longer, more thoughtful responses happen, and those are where dictation shines most. A 100-word technical explanation takes 45 seconds to dictate versus 2 minutes to type.

Direct messages

Same workflow as channels. Click in the DM field, dictate, review, send. DMs tend to be more conversational, which maps well to dictation since you are literally speaking conversationally.

Slack-specific tips

• Enter sends by default. In Slack, pressing Enter sends the message. Be careful not to press Enter accidentally before you have finished reviewing your dictated text. You can change this in Slack settings to require Cmd+Enter to send.
• Formatting: Dictation inserts plain text. If you need bold, italic, code blocks, or bullet lists, add the Slack formatting syntax after dictation. Say your message, then wrap key words in asterisks for bold or backticks for code.
• Mentions: Dictation will not trigger Slack's @mention autocomplete. Type @username manually after dictation if you need to mention someone.
• Emoji reactions: You cannot dictate emoji reactions. Use your mouse or keyboard for those.

Dictating in Notion

Notes and documents

Click anywhere in a Notion page where you want to add text. Press your dictation shortcut. Speak. The text appears in the block where your cursor is. Notion treats dictated text the same as typed text: it goes into the current block.

Notion is great for longer dictation sessions. If you are drafting a meeting summary, project update, or knowledge base article, dictating in Notion feels natural because Notion pages are designed for longer-form content.

Database entries

Click into a Notion database cell or property field. Dictate the entry. This works for text fields, notes within database items, and comments. It does not work for dropdowns, dates, or other non-text fields.

Notion-specific tips

• Notion uses block-based editing. Dictated text goes into the current block. If you want to start a new block, press Enter before your next dictation.
• Notion's slash commands (type / to create headings, lists, etc.) do not trigger during dictation. Add structural formatting after dictating your content.
• For long documents, dictate the content first, then organize it with headings, toggle blocks, and callouts.

Dictating in VS Code

Code comments

Place your cursor where you want a comment. Type the comment syntax (// or /* or #) then activate dictation. Speak your comment. The text appears after the comment syntax. This is useful for explaining complex logic, documenting functions, and adding TODO items.

Documentation strings

For docstrings, type the opening syntax (""" in Python, /** in TypeScript), then dictate the description. Dictation produces more readable documentation than typing because spoken language is naturally more explanatory.

Commit messages

In VS Code's Source Control panel, click the commit message field. Dictate your commit message. For detailed messages, dictate a paragraph, then use Steno's "shorten" AI action to compress it to one line if needed.

VS Code-specific tips

• Do not dictate actual code. Punctuation-heavy syntax like const x = arr.filter(item => item.active) is faster and more accurate to type.
• Dictation is useful for the text that surrounds code: comments, documentation, README content, and commit messages.
• If you dictate Markdown (for README files), speak the content and add Markdown formatting (headings, lists, code blocks) by keyboard afterward.

Dictating in Terminal

Commit messages from the command line

If you commit from Terminal using git commit -m "", you can place your cursor between the quotes and dictate the message. More practically, use git commit without -m, which opens your editor, and dictate into the editor.

Long commands with comments

When you need to add a comment to a shell script or explain a command, dictation helps. Type the comment marker (#) then dictate your explanation.

Terminal-specific tips

• Do not dictate shell commands themselves. find . -name "*.log" -mtime +7 -delete is not something to speak.
• Dictation in Terminal is most useful for text content within commands: commit messages, echo statements, comments in scripts, and content for files you are creating.

Dictating in iMessage

Click in the iMessage text field. Press your dictation shortcut. Speak your message. Release. Review. Press Enter or click Send.

iMessage is one of the best places to start using dictation because messages are short and conversational. You are literally transcribing a conversation, which is what dictation does best.

• For quick replies ("On my way," "Sounds good," "Let me check"), typing is faster because of the activation overhead. Use dictation for messages longer than about 10 words.
• Apple Dictation works particularly well in iMessage because it integrates natively with the macOS keyboard.

Dictating in Google Docs

You have two options in Google Docs:

1. System-wide dictation: Use Steno, Apple Dictation, or any other system-wide tool. Click in the document, activate dictation, speak. This works exactly like any other app.
2. Google Docs Voice Typing: Go to Tools > Voice Typing. Click the microphone icon. This is Google's built-in feature that only works in Google Docs in Chrome.

For most users, system-wide dictation is better because it works consistently across all apps. Google Docs Voice Typing is useful if you specifically want Google's speech recognition engine, which supports voice commands for formatting (like "bold," "heading 1," "bullet list").

Apps Where Dictation Works (That You Might Not Expect)

System-wide dictation works in every app with a text field. Here are some less obvious places where it saves time:

Voice Typing Tips for Every Context

• Match your tone to the context. Speak more formally when dictating professional emails. Speak casually for Slack DMs. Dictation captures your tone, so adjust it before you speak rather than editing afterward.
• Dictate first, format second. Speak your content, then go back and add formatting: bold, links, bullet lists, headings. Trying to dictate formatting instructions ("make that bold") does not work with most tools.
• Use AI cleanup contextually. After dictating a Slack message, "clean up" removes filler words. After dictating an email, "professional tone" elevates the language. After dictating documentation, "fix grammar" catches errors. Match the cleanup action to the context.
• Do not fight the tool. If dictation consistently gets a word wrong (a colleague's unusual name, a product name), add it to your custom vocabulary rather than correcting it every time.
• Pause between thoughts. A brief pause helps the transcription engine identify sentence boundaries and add appropriate punctuation. Speaking in a continuous stream without pauses produces run-on sentences.
• Review before sending. Always. Dictation is not perfect. A quick 3-second scan before pressing Send catches most errors. This is especially important in professional contexts where a misrecognized word could change the meaning of your message.

The Biggest Workflow Change

The insight that changes how you use dictation is this: every text field on your Mac is a dictation field. You do not need to think about "which apps support dictation." They all do. The moment you internalize this, you stop reaching for the keyboard for anything longer than a few words.

Replying to an email? Dictate. Updating a Jira ticket? Dictate. Posting in Slack? Dictate. Writing documentation? Dictate. Adding a comment in a code review? Dictate. Texting your partner? Dictate. Writing a calendar event description? Dictate.

The only things you still type are short responses (under 10 words), code syntax, passwords, and structured data like citations and URLs. Everything else is faster by voice.

For more on how voice-to-text fits into daily workflows, see our voice typing guide.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I dictate directly into Gmail on Mac?

Yes. Any system-wide dictation tool works in Gmail in the browser. Place your cursor in the compose window, activate dictation with your keyboard shortcut, speak, and the text appears in the email. No setup or integration required.

Does dictation work in Slack on Mac?

Yes, in both the Slack desktop app and Slack in the browser. System-wide dictation types text wherever your cursor is. Click in a Slack message field, activate dictation, speak. It works in channels, threads, DMs, and the search bar.

Can I use voice commands for punctuation while dictating?

Apple Dictation supports voice commands like "period," "comma," "new line," and "question mark." Most third-party dictation apps like Steno handle punctuation automatically based on your speech patterns, adding periods and commas where they belong without you needing to say them.

Will dictation send my message before I am ready?

No. Dictation only types text into the field. It never presses Send, Enter, or any other button. You always review and edit before sending. Just be careful in Slack where Enter sends by default.

Does dictation work in web apps like Notion and Google Docs?

Yes. System-wide dictation works in any text field on your Mac, including web apps in Safari or Chrome. Notion, Google Docs, Figma, Linear, Jira, and every other web-based tool with text input supports dictation.

Is there a way to dictate into Terminal or VS Code?

Yes. System-wide dictation works in Terminal, iTerm, VS Code, and any other app with text input. It is useful for commit messages, code comments, documentation strings, and README content. The text appears at the cursor position just like any other app.

Every text field on your Mac is a dictation field. Once you realize that, the keyboard becomes a backup tool for short messages and special characters.

Try Steno for system-wide dictation: trystenofast.today. Works in Gmail, Slack, Notion, VS Code, Terminal, and every other app on your Mac.