Speech to text for Gemini on Mac

Yes, you can talk to Gemini on a Mac instead of typing, and Google's own Gemini app has a microphone for it. Sayburst is the other way in: click Gemini's prompt box in the app or any browser, hold fn, say the whole request, and let go. The prompt appears cleaned up and unsent, so you read it once and press Return.

#What Gemini has on the Mac

Google's Gemini app for Mac (help page checked October 31, 2026):

• Requirements: macOS Sequoia (15.0) or later on Apple silicon, 8 GB of memory or more, and a Google account that can use Gemini. Google says a stable internet connection is required.
• Option + Space opens the chat window; you can change it.
• Mic: click it to dictate a prompt, then click Send.
• Speak to Window, which Google says is rolling out over time: hold fn, speak, and your query is submitted when you release. Google lists dictating at your cursor and refining highlighted text among its uses.

In Chrome, Gemini in Chrome also has a Go Live button for a spoken conversation (Google Chrome Help).

So Gemini covers a lot on its own if you're on macOS 15 and signed in. Sayburst is for when you want your voice transcribed on the Mac, when you'd rather review a prompt before it's sent, when you're still on macOS 14, or when you use Gemini in a browser rather than the app.

#Gemini's voice input vs Sayburst

#Set it up without a key fight

1. Install Sayburst and grant Microphone and Accessibility. The speech model downloads once.
2. Sort out fn. Both apps want to use a held fn key. If you have Speak to Window, either change its shortcut in Gemini's settings or set Sayburst to right ⌥, right ⌘ or a mouse side button. If fn opens the emoji picker instead of either app, Sayburst shows you where to change that; our fn key fix has the details.
3. Click Gemini's prompt box, hold your key, talk, let go. Read the prompt and press Return. If you trust it, turn on auto-send for the Gemini app or your browser, and Sayburst presses Return after inserting.

#Prompts worth saying out loud

A cover letter request with real detail. What you say:

"Help me write a cover letter for a senior product designer role at a, um, climate tech startup. I've led design for two B2B dashboards and I, I ran user research for the energy monitoring app at my last job. Keep it under three hundred words and don't open with I am writing to apply."

What lands in Gemini's prompt box:

Help me write a cover letter for a senior product designer role at a climate tech startup. I've led design for two B2B dashboards and I ran user research for the energy monitoring app at my last job. Keep it under 300 words and don't open with "I am writing to apply."

A weekly meal plan with constraints. "Plan five dinners for two adults and a toddler, nothing spicy, one fish night, everything under forty minutes, and give me one shopping list grouped by aisle." Saying constraints is easier than typing them, so you include all of them.

A follow-up that changes direction. With Sayburst Writer on, "Make it more formal, actually no, keep the tone but cut the second paragraph" becomes "Keep the tone but cut the second paragraph." Gemini only sees what you meant.

#Where your words go

• Recognition runs on your Mac. Sayburst doesn't upload audio, and Gemini never hears your voice.
• Cleanup, including the optional Sayburst Writer, also runs locally. A cloud writer is only used if you connect your own API key, and then only text goes to it.
• Gemini gets the text prompt when you send it and keeps it under your Google account's Gemini settings, as with anything you type.

#Tips for Gemini

• Give Gemini the background first. Who it's for, what you've tried, what to avoid, then the ask. More habits in talking to AI is faster than typing to it.
• Turn the answer into your writing. Paste Gemini's draft into Google Docs, select a paragraph, hold Sayburst's rewrite shortcut and say "sound more like me, shorter sentences".
• Spell names right. Add your company, products and people to Vocabulary so Gemini gets them correctly.
• Ask without opening Gemini. For a quick factual question mid-task, hold Sayburst's ask shortcut and say it. The answer appears in a panel with Copy and Insert, using whichever writer you've set up, and you never leave the app you're in.
• On macOS 14? The Gemini Mac app needs macOS 15, but gemini.google.com works in any browser, and Sayburst types into it the same way. Pin the tab and treat it like an app.
• Compare assistants with the same key. The setup is identical in ChatGPT, Claude and Microsoft Copilot.

#Limits

Sayburst writes prompts; it doesn't hold a spoken conversation or read Gemini's replies aloud, so for a back-and-forth by voice, Gemini Live is the tool. Text is inserted when you let go rather than streamed live. Sayburst needs an Apple silicon Mac with macOS 14 or later and has no phone version; on Android or iPhone, use Gemini's own microphone.

Questions people ask

Does Gemini have speech to text on Mac?

Yes. The Gemini Mac app has a Mic button for dictating prompts, and Google is rolling out Speak to Window, which you trigger by holding fn. The app needs macOS Sequoia or later on Apple silicon and an internet connection.

Can I use Sayburst and Gemini's fn shortcut together?

Give them different keys. If Gemini's Speak to Window is on fn, set Sayburst to right Option, right Command or a mouse button, or change Gemini's shortcut in its settings.

Does Gemini voice to text work in Safari or Firefox?

Sayburst works with Gemini in any browser, because it types into the prompt box from outside the browser. It needs no microphone permission for gemini.google.com.

Is my voice sent to Google when I use Sayburst with Gemini?

No. Sayburst transcribes on your Mac and never uploads audio. Google only receives the text prompt when you send it.