How to dictate in Slack on a Mac
Slack's microphone button sends an audio clip, not text. Here is how to dictate a Slack message as text on a Mac, and how to send one by voice from any app.
Slack's desktop app has no voice typing for the message box. The microphone icon next to it records an audio clip: up to 5 minutes of your voice, sent as audio. Your teammates can open a transcript if they click Generate transcript, but what you send is a recording, not a message they can skim. To dictate text into Slack on a Mac, use one of these.
1. Apple Dictation
Apple Dictation is built into macOS and types into Slack's message box.
- Turn it on in System Settings›Keyboard›Dictation.
- Click into the message box and press the Microphone key or your Dictation shortcut.
- Press Escape, or the shortcut again, to stop, then press Return to send.
Say it. Speechy writes it.
Hold Fn, speak, and clean text lands in any app on your Mac.
It stops on its own after 30 seconds without speech, and you say punctuation out loud.
2. Speechy
Speechy is a dictation app for Mac: click into the message box, hold Fn, speak, and let go. Your voice is transcribed on your Mac, and the ums and restarts are gone before the text lands:
Turn on Auto submit in Speechy and it presses Return for you, so the message sends the moment you let go.
Connect Slack in Speechy (in beta) and you can also send a message or catch up on a channel from any app: press ⌥⇧Space and say "Tell launch war room I'll be ten minutes late". The message shows in the notch first, with a few seconds to undo. See Speechy for Slack.
Say it. Speechy writes it.
Hold Fn, speak, and clean text lands in any app on your Mac.
What about huddles?
Huddles have their own voice features, and neither types messages. Live captions show what people say during the huddle, in English, and aren't saved. AI notes, on paid plans, saves a summary and a transcript to the huddle thread.
Which one to use
| Slack audio clip | Apple Dictation | Speechy | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sends | Audio, transcript on request | Text | Text |
| Cleans up ums | No | No | Yes |
| Long pauses | Up to 5 minutes | Stops after 30 seconds of silence | Listens until you let go |
| Send from any app | No | No | Yes, with Slack connected |
| Cost | Free | Free | Paid, with a 3-day trial |
Checked on 21 October 2026 in Slack's help for audio and video clips, huddles and AI huddle notes, and Apple's Dictation guide.