How to dictate in Claude with your voice (Windows and Mac)

Option 1: Claude's microphone

Claude has its own dictation.

1. Open Claude in the browser (claude.ai) or in the desktop app.
2. Click the microphone in the text box and talk.
3. Your words appear in the box. Check them and send the message when you're ready.

Good for: dictating to Claude without installing anything else. Missing: typing outside Claude, and it isn't in the Linux app yet.

On a Mac: dictate with Caps Lock

In the Mac desktop app, quick entry opens a small Claude window on top of whatever app you're using. If you turn on its voice shortcut, you press Caps Lock, talk while your words appear in real time, and press Caps Lock again to finish. Then you check the message and send it.

• It's off by default, because it takes over your Caps Lock key. Turn it on in Settings › General (under Desktop app), in the Voice shortcut menu.
• It needs macOS 14 or later.
• Dictating with Caps Lock is Mac-only.

Dictation and voice mode

• Dictation (the microphone): you talk, your words are typed into the box, and Claude answers in text, as usual.
• Voice mode: a spoken conversation where Claude answers out loud. It's in beta and, according to Anthropic, works best on your phone. On the web and in the desktop app, you start it with the sound-wave button at the bottom right of the chat.

If Claude starts talking to you, you're in voice mode, not dictation.

Option 2: Windows or Mac dictation

It works in Claude and in any other app, and it's already on your computer.

• On Windows: click in Claude's text box and press Windows + H. To stop, click the microphone on the voice typing bar. It needs the internet. How to use Windows voice typing.
• On a Mac: turn it on in Apple menu › System Settings › Keyboard › Dictation and use the Microphone key or your shortcut with the cursor in Claude. To stop, press the Microphone key or your shortcut again. How to use Mac dictation.

Good for: dictating in any app without installing anything. Missing: removing filler words. It types exactly what you say: if you said "um", it types it, and if you corrected yourself mid-sentence, both versions stay.

Option 3: Loro

Loro types what you said, minus the "um"s and the half-sentence you corrected.

1. Download Loro for free for Windows or Mac.
2. Click in Claude's text box, in the desktop app or on claude.ai.
3. Hold Ctrl + Win (fn on a Mac) and talk the way you talk.
4. Let go. Loro pastes the prompt; check it and send it yourself. Loro never presses Enter.

In Claude, when you're online, Loro keeps technical terms, file names and commands exactly as you said them, and if you list steps or requirements, it makes a list with dashes.

For example, you're matching sales against the bank and you say:

um, so I have two files, sales dot csv and bank dot csv, uh, I want a Python script that compares them, like, first match the rows by invoice number, then flag the October, no wait, September sales that don't have a payment, and at the end save a table with client, amount and date

And Loro types:

I have two files, sales.csv and bank.csv. I want a Python script that compares them:
- First, match the rows by invoice number.
- Then, flag the September sales that don't have a payment.
- At the end, save a table with client, amount and date.

Loro applied your correction (September, not October) and wrote the file names the way they're spelled.

Good for: dictating in Claude and any other app without filler words. Missing: it doesn't come installed (you have to download it), and lists and self-corrections need the internet; offline, it still types and removes filler words. The free plan dictates 2,000 words a week.

Claude can read your meetings

With Loro you can also connect Claude to your meeting notes and ask, for example, "what's still pending from my call with Carlos?". Claude answers with what was said. The step by step is in Loro + Claude.

The options, compared

	Claude's microphone	Windows or Mac dictation	Loro
Where it works	Only in Claude	Any app	Any app
How you use it	Click the microphone; on a Mac, Caps Lock too	Windows + H or your shortcut on a Mac	Hold Ctrl + Win (fn on a Mac)
Languages	Not listed by Anthropic for desktop dictation	English, Spanish and others	English and Spanish
You check before sending	Yes	Yes	Yes
Price	Included in Claude	Free	Free up to 2,000 words a week; Pro: USD 9.99 a month

Tips for dictating to Claude

• Say what you have and what you want: the files or data you're about to paste, and the result you expect.
• Name the steps in order, with "first", "then" and "at the end". Loro turns them into a list.
• Add your projects, clients and tools to your dictionary: Loro spells them right from then on.
• Check before sending, especially file names and numbers.