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How to Make Mac Dictation Get Names and Words Right

Free fixes first, the microphone, the language and region, and Apple's own tools. Then what to do when names and jargon keep coming out wrong.

By Nelson, maker of Aurator

To make Mac dictation more accurate, start with three free things. Choose the right microphone, choose the language and region that match how you speak, and say whole sentences at your normal pace. If names and jargon still come out wrong after that, the likely reason is simple. Apple's pages for Dictation describe no list where you can add your own words, so you have no direct way to teach it the names you use.

I dictate a lot every day, in English and in Spanish, so I care about this. I make Aurator, so please read this knowing that. Most of this guide is Apple's own settings and tools, from its support pages, checked on 7 October 2026. They cost nothing, so do them first.

Check which microphone is listening

Dictation can only write what the microphone hears. The closer the microphone is to your mouth, the more of what it hears is your voice. So first, make sure Dictation is using the microphone you think it is.

  1. Open the Apple menu, choose System Settings, then click Keyboard in the sidebar.
  2. Go to Dictation. Next to Microphone source, open the menu and choose your microphone.
  3. Then click Sound in the sidebar, click Input, and select the same microphone.
  4. If your voice is too quiet or too loud, drag the input volume slider.

On Automatic, Apple says your Mac listens to the device you are most likely to use for Dictation. If you use a headset or a desk microphone, I would choose it by name, so you know which one is listening.

Choose the right language and region

Apple asks for a language and a region, not only a language. On Apple's feature availability page, Dictation lists English in fifteen regional versions, from Australia and India to the United Kingdom and the United States. Spanish has five, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Spain and the United States. So pick the version closest to how you actually speak.

  1. In System Settings, click Keyboard, then go to Dictation.
  2. Click Edit next to Languages.
  3. Select your language and region. To remove one, deselect it.

If you speak more than one language, set up several. Then, as you dictate, click the language next to the cursor, or press the Globe key if you have one, and choose the language you want. I wrote more about this in changing the dictation language on a Mac.

Speak in whole sentences

Apple's own example of a dictation mistake is flour and flower. They sound the same, so a speech model can only tell them apart from the words around them. "I need flour for the bread" gives it something to work with. One word on its own does not.

So say the whole thought at your normal pace, then pause. In supported languages, Dictation adds commas, periods and question marks by itself, so you do not need to say them.

Fix what comes out wrong with Apple's own tools

Apple gives you three ways to fix words that still come out wrong.

Blue underlines. When Dictation is not sure of a word, it underlines it in blue. Click the word and choose the right one from the list. You can also type the correction, or dictate it.

Capitals by voice. Say "caps on" and Dictation writes the next phrase in Title Case. Say "caps off" to go back to normal. Say "all caps" for one word in capitals. This helps when Dictation hears a name right but writes it in lower case.

Text replacements, afterwards. In System Settings, click Keyboard, then Text Replacements, and add the wrong spelling with the right one as its replacement. Then, in many Mac apps, select your text, choose Edit, then Substitutions, then Show Substitutions, tick Text Replacement, and click Replace in Selection. Apple's page does not say replacements run while you dictate, so treat this as a clean-up step at the end.

Why names and jargon keep coming back wrong

This is the honest gap. Apple's Dictation guide and its list of commands describe no way to add your own words, and no way to save a correction for next time. Apple's privacy page for Siri and Dictation does say that speech recognition on your device may use information on your device to improve accuracy. But none of these pages gives you a list where you can type a colleague's surname or the terms of your trade.

Apple does have a word list, but it belongs to Voice Control, its tool for controlling the whole Mac by voice.

  1. In System Settings, click Accessibility, then Voice Control.
  2. Click Vocabulary, then the add button, and type the word or phrase the way you want it written.
  3. Record yourself saying it, then click Save.
  4. You can also select a word while you work and say "Add to vocabulary", or import a text file with one term on each line.

Please know two things first. Apple says that when Voice Control is on, you dictate with Voice Control, and standard Dictation is not available. And the vocabulary works only in a language that supports it. If the option is dimmed, yours does not. So turning on Voice Control is a big step just to fix a few names.

What a personal dictionary changes

By default, Aurator turns speech into text with the speech model Apple provides on the Mac. So I will not tell you it hears better than Apple's Dictation in general. I have not measured that. What it adds is a list of your own words.

  1. Add a word once. Names, products and jargon. Aurator listens for them from then on.
  2. Give it a replacement. A term can have a replacement, so a word that keeps coming out one way is written the way you want.
  3. Let it suggest words. Aurator looks through your last 200 dictations for capitalised names and terms that keep coming up, and suggests them. You add one with one click.

The dictionary runs on your Mac. If you turn on Cloud with your own Deepgram key, Deepgram receives your dictionary words with your audio, so it can spell them your way, and your replacements are never sent.

Aurator is not the only app with a word list. Wispr Flow has a dictionary for names, technical terms and jargon, and when you correct a dictated word, it can add the corrected word to your dictionary by itself. Superwhisper has vocabulary words, which it sends along with your audio as hints, and replacements that run after transcription. Its free plan includes both.

Superwhisper's docs also give advice I would follow in any app. They say too many words can confuse the transcription model, and they suggest a short vocabulary, with replacements for corrections. So add the words that actually go wrong, not every word you know.

Where another choice is better

  1. Apple's own tools, if the free fixes are enough. Dictation comes with macOS, with nothing to buy. Apple's page on Apple Intelligence also says a new on-device model improves Dictation accuracy in English, on Macs with M3 or later and at least 12GB of unified memory. I have not tested it. And Aurator needs macOS 26 or later and is made for Apple silicon, so on an older Mac, start with Apple's tools.
  2. Wispr Flow, for a dictionary that grows from your corrections. Members of a Wispr Flow team can share dictionary words, and it runs on macOS 12 or later, Windows, iPhone and Android.
  3. Superwhisper, for a word list without paying. Its free plan includes custom vocabulary and text replacements, with unlimited dictation on its local Whisper models. It runs on macOS 13.3 or later, and also on Windows, iOS and Android.

And here is where Aurator is the better choice.

  1. Your words and your word list stay on your Mac by default. Cloud is off until you turn it on with your own keys, and there is no account.
  2. It suggests names from your own dictations. It offers the capitalised names and terms you say often, so your list starts from the words you actually use.
  3. You pay once. US$29 for one Mac, with every update included.

I compared these apps in full in Aurator and Wispr Flow and Aurator and Superwhisper.

A quick checklist

What goes wrongWhat to try first
Whole sentences come out garbledCheck the microphone source and the input volume
Common words come out wrong for your accentChoose the language and region closest to how you speak
A word comes out as one that sounds the sameSay the whole sentence, then click the blue underline
A name is spelled right but in lower caseSay "caps on" before it and "caps off" after it
The same name or term is wrong every timeVoice Control vocabulary, or an app with a personal dictionary
Dictation does not start at allSee Mac dictation not working

Try a dictionary on your own words

If names and jargon are what you fight with most, a personal dictionary is the fix Apple's Dictation pages do not offer. In a free week, add the five names you say most, dictate your usual emails, and see if they come out right.

Aurator is a native macOS app and is not affiliated with Apple. You can download it here, and it is at tryaurator.app. Seven days free, with every feature, then US$29 once, with a full refund within 30 days if it is not for you.

Sources, all checked on 7 October 2026