Questions
Can I dictate into any app? Yes, with four exceptions
A system-wide dictation tool types where your cursor is, so it works in every application with a text field. The exceptions are small, specific and mostly correct behaviour.
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Why it works everywhere
There is no integration. The app asks macOS for accessibility permission and then inserts text the way a keyboard does. Slack receives keystrokes and has no idea they came from your voice.
Three consequences: nothing to install per app, nothing breaks when an app updates, and an application released tomorrow works on the day it ships. See how system-wide dictation works.
| Works in | Including |
|---|---|
| Mail clients | Apple Mail, Outlook, Gmail in any browser, Spark, Superhuman |
| Chat | Slack, Teams, Messages, Discord, WhatsApp Web |
| Documents | Word, Pages, Google Docs, Notion, Obsidian, Scrivener, Ulysses |
| Editors | Cursor, VS Code, Zed, the JetBrains IDEs, Xcode |
| Browsers | Safari, Chrome, Firefox, Arc — and every web app inside them |
| Work tools | Linear, Jira, Confluence, Salesforce, HubSpot, Zendesk |
| Apple apps | Notes, Reminders, Calendar, Pages, Numbers, Keynote |
The four exceptions
1. Password and secure fields
macOS deliberately blocks synthetic input into secure text fields. This is a protection working exactly as designed — an app that could type into a password field would be a security problem, and it being unable to is a feature of the operating system rather than a gap in the app.
2. Some virtual machines and remote desktops
Usually fine — the guest operating system receives keystrokes normally — but it depends on how the client handles input. Test it before relying on it for a remote Windows session.
3. A few apps with custom text engines
Rare, and mostly older creative software that draws its own text fields rather than using the system's. If you find one, dictate into a notes app and paste.
4. Anywhere the cursor is not
Not really a limitation, but it is the most common cause of "it typed into the wrong window". Text goes to the insertion point. Click into the field first, every time — it becomes automatic within a day.
What does not work this way
In-app dictation features are confined to their own application, which is why people looking for this page usually arrived from one of them:
- Google Docs voice typing — Google Docs only, in Chrome, Edge or Safari. Not Gmail, not Sheets.
- Microsoft Dictate — Microsoft 365 apps, with a subscription and a connection.
- Browser dictation pages — their own text box, which you then copy out of.
- Otter.ai and transcription tools — a transcript you copy out. A different job entirely.
Things to watch for in specific apps
| App | Watch out for |
|---|---|
| Slack, Teams, Messages | Enter sends. Read before your hand goes near it |
| Notion | A leading slash opens the command menu |
| Gmail | Cmd+Enter sends — avoid a shortcut with Cmd in it |
| Terminals | It works. Do not. A misheard word becomes a command |
| Vim mode anywhere | Insert mode only, or your words become commands |
| LinkedIn, Slack, Notion | @ and # need a real keystroke to open the picker |
None of those is a failure of dictation — they are the receiving app behaving normally, because as far as it knows you typed. Full detail at voice type anywhere on a Mac.
Questions
Do I need a plugin for Slack, Notion or Gmail?
No. System-wide dictation types through the macOS input layer, so those apps receive ordinary keystrokes. There is nothing to install in them and nothing to update when they change.
Does it work in web apps?
Yes, in any browser, with no extension — because the browser is just another app receiving keystrokes.
Why can't I dictate my password?
macOS blocks synthetic input into secure text fields. That is a protection working correctly, and no dictation app should be able to defeat it.
Does it work in full-screen apps?
Yes. The shortcut is registered globally with the system rather than with a window, so it fires regardless of which app is frontmost.
What if an app does not accept it?
Dictate into Notes or any text editor and paste. In practice this is needed very rarely — mostly in older creative software that draws its own text fields.