Voice typing in Google Docs on Mac: setup and fixes

To voice type in Google Docs on a Mac, open your document in Chrome, Edge or Safari, choose Tools > Voice typing, and click the microphone. Speak, then click the microphone again to stop. In Chrome, ⌘⇧S opens it without the menu.

That's all you need for a quick paragraph. The rest of this guide covers punctuation and voice commands, what to check when the microphone won't start, and what to do when you want dictation outside Docs too. Google's steps here come from its voice typing help page, checked October 31, 2026.

#Start voice typing, step by step

1. Open a document you can edit. A view-only link or a preview won't show the option.
2. Choose Tools > Voice typing. A small box with a microphone appears beside the page. Use its menu to pick the language you'll speak.
3. Click the microphone. The first time, your browser asks to use the microphone. Allow it.
4. Talk at a normal pace. Text appears at the cursor as you speak.
5. Click the microphone again to stop.

For Google Slides, the equivalent is Tools > Dictate speaker notes. It types into the speaker notes only, and voice commands don't work there.

#Punctuation and voice commands

Google Docs doesn't guess punctuation for you; you say it. The spoken commands are:

• "period", "comma", "question mark", "exclamation point"
• "new line", "new paragraph"

Google notes punctuation commands may not be available in every language.

Docs also has editing and formatting commands: "select paragraph", "bold", "italicize", "copy", "insert link", plus commands for tables and moving around the document. These only work in English, and only when both your Google account language and the document's language are set to English. If "bold" keeps getting typed as the word "bold", that's almost always the reason.

So a sentence you'd speak into Docs sounds like this:

"the board meets on the third comma not the fifth period new paragraph"

#When voice typing won't work on your Mac

Work down this list. Most problems are the first two.

1. The browser can't use the mic. There are two locks, and both must be open. In the browser, check the site permission for docs.google.com (in Chrome, the icon to the left of the address). On the Mac, go to System Settings > Privacy & Security > Microphone and make sure your browser is switched on (Apple's guide). Quit and reopen the browser after changing it.
2. "We're having trouble hearing you." Google's suggestions: move somewhere quieter, try an external microphone, or raise the input level. On a Mac the input level is in System Settings > Sound > Input.
3. Another app has the microphone. Close video calls and other dictation tools, then try again.
4. Voice typing is missing from Tools. Check you're in a supported browser and in an editable document. On a work or school account, your administrator may have turned it off.
5. Words come out in the wrong language. Change the language in the voice typing box, not in your Mac's settings.
6. Commands are typed as words. See the English-only rule above.

If the trouble started after you switched to AirPods or another Bluetooth headset, our Bluetooth microphone guide explains why the input changes and how to pick the right one.

#Text to speech and audio files

People often search for these under "Google Docs voice typing", but they're different jobs.

Reading a document aloud. Docs voice typing is speech to text only. Your Mac can read any selected text aloud: turn on Speak selection under System Settings > Accessibility > Spoken Content on macOS 14 (it's under Accessibility > Read & Speak on macOS 27), select text in the document and press ⌥Esc. Press it again to stop (Apple's guide).

Transcribing a recording. Voice typing listens to your microphone, not to files. Playing a recording into the mic technically works and gives poor results. Transcribe the file with a proper tool and paste the text in. Our guide to dictation vs transcription explains which tool fits which job.

#When Google's tool is enough, and when it isn't

Google's voice typing is free, already in your browser, and fine for a paragraph here and there. It starts to pinch when:

• you want to speak naturally instead of saying "comma" and "period";
• you also write in Gmail, Slack, Notes or a desktop app and want the same dictation everywhere;
• your text keeps arriving with "um" and repeated words you then delete by hand.

That's where a system-wide dictation app helps, and it's what we built Sayburst for.

#Using Sayburst in Google Docs

Sayburst is a Mac app, not a Docs add-on. Click into your document, hold fn, speak, and let go. The text is inserted at your cursor, punctuated and cleaned up, in any browser. Turn Docs voice typing off while you do this so two tools aren't listening at once.

A sentence from a project report, with a correction halfway through:

"the survey went out to the Lisbon team, sorry, the Porto team, um, on Monday, and we've had about half the responses back"

What lands in the doc:

The survey went out to the Porto team on Monday, and we've had about half the responses back.

No spoken commas, no filler, and the correction is resolved instead of typed.

Sayburst keeps your voice on your Mac, but the text you insert is still a Google document, stored in your Google account under its sharing settings. If you also want an AI writer to polish your text, the built-in Sayburst Writer runs on your Mac too; a cloud provider is only used if you add your own key. Where your audio and text go at each step is laid out in our local vs cloud dictation guide.

#Tips for long documents by voice

• Outline first. Type the headings, then dictate one section at a time under each. It's easier to check a paragraph than a page.
• Do names and numbers in a separate pass. A sentence can read perfectly and still name the wrong person. In Sayburst, add the names you use often to the vocabulary list.
• Use Notes mode for lists. Spoken lists come out as bullets, which suits meeting notes and agendas.
• Don't lose a paragraph. If you click outside the document before you finish, Sayburst keeps the text, and ⌃⌥⌘V pastes the last dictation wherever you are.

On an iPhone or Android phone, use the microphone key on your phone's keyboard in the Docs app; Sayburst is Mac-only. For more on dictating across your Mac, start with how to dictate on a Mac.

Questions people ask

How do I turn on voice typing in Google Docs on a Mac?

Open the document, choose Tools > Voice typing, and click the microphone in the box that appears. In Chrome you can also press Command + Shift + S. Click the microphone again to stop.

Does Google Docs voice typing work in Safari?

Yes. Google lists the latest versions of Chrome, Edge and Safari as supported. The Command + Shift + S shortcut is listed for Chrome; in Safari, use the Tools menu.

Can Google Docs read text aloud?

Voice typing only goes one way, speech to text. To hear a document read aloud on a Mac, turn on Speak selection in System Settings > Accessibility, select text and press Option + Esc.

Can Google Docs transcribe an audio file?

Not directly. Voice typing listens to the microphone, not to files. Transcribe the recording with a transcription app, such as Sayburst's local file transcription, and paste the text into Docs.

Why are Google Docs voice commands not working?

Google's editing and formatting commands only work in English, and both your Google account language and the document language must be English. Punctuation commands may not be available in every language.