

However, in order to use this feature, you must have either purchased Microsoft Office from the Mac App Store or have an Office 365 subscription. This feature can come in handy when you are taking notes in class or in a meeting and you still want to be able to listen to what is being said at the meeting, without having to worry so much about typing everything being said.

From there it should show a Siri-like microphone or the one that you see on the iMessage keyboard on iOS and iPadOS.įrom there, all you have to do is keep dictating what you want to see into your Mac’s microphone. After that, simply hit the “fn” button twice on your Mac’s keyboard. The first thing you’re going to want to do is open a blank Word document on your Mac. The enhanced dictation is available free to Word users on the web and mobile, and Microsoft says it’ll be available on the Word Mac and PC apps for Microsoft 365 users by the end of the year.Microsoft Word is one of the most commonly used word processors on the Mac and there is a feature on the app that not many of you know is there and how to easily access it. It’s not exactly groundbreaking, but the upgrade makes Word’s solution more like dedicated software like Dragon Naturally Speaking.

Microsoft hasn’t forgotten about Word’s dictate feature either, which is better suited to jotting down text directly from your voice. You can now use voice commands while dictating to adjust formatting, add emojis, or even pause dictation to answer a phone call. It’s something I’d definitely love to see integrated into desktop Word apps eventually. The feature is only available on Word for the web right now, though Microsoft says it’s coming to the Word Android and iOS apps by the end of the year. For now, Microsoft is allowing unlimited recording time for transcriptions made within Word. You’ll need a Microsoft 365 subscription to use the feature, naturally, and you’re also limited to five hours of transcription per month and 200MB files for uploads. And now that transcription is built into Word, I have less of a reason to subscribe to Otter or other alternatives. They’re not perfect, but they make it far easier to find specific quotes and organize my thoughts, all while focusing on the people I’m actually talking to. As a reporter who interviews people frequently, I’ve grown to love using automatic transcription services.
