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

Option 1: Gemini's microphone

• In the browser: open gemini.google.com, click the microphone in the text box and talk. If the browser asks for permission to use the microphone, allow it.
• In the Gemini app for Mac: click the microphone, say your prompt and click Send.

According to Google, the language you set in Gemini also decides which languages you can speak to it in with the microphone. On the web, Gemini uses your browser's or device's language.

Good for: talking to Gemini in your browser, with nothing to install. Missing: typing anywhere outside Gemini's text box.

Speak to Window, in the Mac app

The Gemini app for Mac has a second way to dictate, and this one works in any app: Speak to Window.

1. Put your cursor where you want to write, in any app.
2. Press and hold the fn key and talk.
3. Let go. Gemini lightly cleans up what you said, like removing the "um"s, and drops the text at your cursor.

To stop, press Esc. If you turn on Use reasoning in its settings, you can also select text and ask Gemini to change it, for example to make it shorter.

Good for: dictating in English into any app on your Mac. Missing: languages other than English, and Windows. Google is rolling it out gradually and says more languages are coming. You need the Gemini app for Mac, which requires an Apple silicon Mac with macOS Sequoia (15.0) or later, and an internet connection.

Option 2: Windows or Mac dictation

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

• On Windows: click in Gemini'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 Gemini. 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

Gemini works better with context: who it's for, what you want, what you already tried. Typing all that is tedious; said out loud, it comes out in one go. 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 Gemini's text box.
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.

In Gemini in the browser, 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. In the Gemini app for Mac, Loro types at your cursor too.

For example, you run an online shop and you say:

um, I need a Google Apps Script for my orders sheet, uh, when someone changes the status in column C to shipped, it should email the customer, like, with the tracking number from column F, and only on the Orders tab, no wait, the Orders 2026 tab

And Loro types:

I need a Google Apps Script for my orders sheet:
- When someone changes the status in column C to shipped, it should email the customer.
- The email should include the tracking number from column F.
- It should only run on the Orders 2026 tab.

Your correction is already in: only the Orders 2026 tab is left.

Good for: dictating in Gemini and any other app without filler words, in English or Spanish. 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.

The options, compared

Gemini's microphone only works inside Gemini. These three type into any app:

	Speak to Window	Windows or Mac dictation	Loro
Where it types	Any app on your Mac	Any app	Any app
Which computers	Apple silicon Macs with macOS 15 or later	Windows and Mac	Windows 10 and 11, macOS 14.2 or later
Languages	English, for now	English, Spanish and others	English and Spanish
Removes filler words	Yes	Windows: only on Copilot+ PCs, in English. Mac: no	Yes
Understands self-corrections	Yes	No	Yes, online
Price	Included in the Gemini app	Free	Free up to 2,000 words a week; Pro: USD 9.99 a month

Tips for dictating to Gemini

• Start with the context: who you are, who it's for and what you want.
• Say the format you want: "as a table", "in five bullets", "in under a hundred words".
• If you slip, correct yourself out loud: "Monday, no, Tuesday". When you're online, Loro keeps only "Tuesday".
• Check before sending, especially names and numbers.