Questions

How to start dictation from any button on a Mac

On a recent MacBook, press the microphone key (F5) to start dictation and press it again to stop. On other Macs, dictation uses the shortcut in System Settings, Keyboard, Dictation, which you can change. If none of the choices suits your hands or your keyboard, a free app can put dictation on any button: a mouse side button, a key you hold, a game controller, a MIDI pad, or a knock on a MacBook. I dictate most of what I write, so this is the button I use most.

Steps

1. Switch on Dictation in System Settings, Keyboard.
2. In InputConfig, add a row and Scan the button.
3. Set the output to System Function, Start Dictation, and activate.

Turn dictation on and set the shortcut

1. Open System Settings, then Keyboard.
2. Switch on Dictation and allow the prompt.
3. Next to Shortcut, pick one: the microphone key on Macs that have it, a double press of a modifier key, or Customize to record your own.
4. Click in any text field and use the shortcut. Speak, then press it again to stop.

That is everything most people need, and it needs no app.

When the built-in shortcut is the problem

• Your keyboard has no microphone key. Older Apple keyboards and most third-party keyboards do not have one.
• A double press is hard to time with a tremor, one hand, or a hand that tires.
• There is no keyboard at all: a Mac on a TV, or a setup driven by a controller or switches.
• You would rather use your mouse, which has two side buttons doing nothing.

Put dictation on any button with InputConfig

1. Install InputConfig from the Mac App Store and allow Accessibility access when it asks.
2. Add a row and press Scan, then press the button you want to use.
3. Set the output to System Function, then Accessibility, Start Dictation.
4. Activate the preset. Press the button to start dictation, press it again to stop.

Start Dictation presses the Mac's own dictation key, exactly as the microphone key on a MacBook does, so it works on any Mac and with any keyboard. macOS still does the listening and typing; InputConfig only presses the key. Dictation must be switched on in System Settings, Keyboard.

InputConfig is free on the Mac App Store. macOS 14 or later, no account, no tracking, open source.

Buttons that work well

• A mouse side button. Button 4 or 5 on most mice, or a double click on one so a single click keeps its job. See mouse side buttons on a Mac.
• F18 on a full-size keyboard. The built-in Keyboard Deck preset already puts dictation there, with Mission Control, Spotlight, and more on F13 to F19.
• A held Right Option key. The built-in Modifier Holds preset starts dictation when you hold Right Option on its own, so Option still works in every shortcut. The hold time is adjustable on the row.
• A knock on a MacBook. The Tap the Mac preset starts dictation on a triple knock on the palm rest. It is tested on M4 MacBooks, did not work on an M1 Pro, and the calibrator shows whether your Mac's sensor is listening. Desktop and Intel Macs have no sensor.
• A game controller. The Dictation Control layout adds the editing that dictation needs: delete a word, jump by word, confirm.
• A switch or big button. Plugged into the PlayStation Access Controller or the Xbox Adaptive Controller, it shows up as a button. See switches on a Mac.
• A MIDI pad or foot switch. See MIDI as input.

What it cannot do

It cannot reassign the microphone key itself: macOS keeps that key, and Spotlight, Mission Control, Launchpad, and Focus, to itself. A key you bind keeps doing its normal job as well, so use one nothing needs, such as F13 to F19 or a held modifier. It is press to start and press to stop, not hold to talk. And it does not transcribe anything: accuracy, languages, and offline support are Apple's dictation.

If dictation does not start

• Check Dictation is on in System Settings, Keyboard, and its shortcut is not set to Off.
• Check the microphone chosen in the same Dictation settings is the one you are speaking into.
• Click into a text field first; dictation types where the cursor is.
• If a button does nothing, open InputConfig's Live Visualizer and press it to see whether the Mac receives it at all.
• Check InputConfig still has Accessibility access in System Settings, Privacy and Security.

Questions

Related

• Dictation, zoom, and speak selection on any button
• Dictation from a game controller
• Tap the Mac: knock on your MacBook to run a shortcut
• How to use mouse side buttons on a Mac
• How to type on a Mac with a game controller
• How to use a Mac without a mouse or keyboard

Free. macOS 14 or later. No account, nothing leaves your Mac. Open source on GitHub.