Why does dictation stop working

Hey Grumpy.grandad,

Let's try the following steps:

•Be sure Dictation is turned on in the Keyboard settings.

Note: If you can’t turn on Dictation, Screen Time Content & Privacy Restrictions may be preventing you from using it. A family organizer for a Family Sharing group can set up Screen Time for a child and restrict access to Siri & Dictation. See Change App Restrictions settings in Screen Time. Also, when Voice Control is on, you can’t use Dictation.

•Choose the correct language and dialect. See Dictate messages and documents.

•Be sure you’re using the correct dictation keyboard shortcut.

•Be sure your system has a valid internet connection—choose Apple menu  > System Settings, then click Network  in the sidebar. (You may need to scroll down.)

You can find this information from the user guide this: If Dictation on Mac doesn’t work as expected

We hope this helps!

Best regards.

Have you installed and run any "cleaning", "optimizing", "speed-up", anti-virus or VPN apps on your Mac?

Give this a try: boot into Safe Mode according to How to use safe mode on your Mac and test to see if the problem persists. Reboot normally and test again.

NOTE 1: Safe Mode boot can take up to 3 - 5 minutes as it's doing the following; 

• Verifies your startup disk and attempts to repair directory issues, if needed

• Loads only required kernel extensions (prevents 3rd party kernel/extensions from loading)

• Prevents Startup Items and Login Items from opening automatically

• Disables user-installed fonts 

• Deletes font caches, kernel cache, and other system cache files

NOTE 2: if you have a wireless keyboard with rechargeable batteries connect it with its charging cable before booting into Safe Mode. This makes it act as a wired keyboard as will insure a successful boot into Safe Mode.

Dictation stopped working on my 2017 27 inch iMac this happened after Ventura was loaded and right now I am up to version13.2.1 (22D68). I have a scarlet eight I six connected via USB and originally thought that that was the cause after I went through many hours with the Apple team so right now I am sensing that that is not the problem since I unplugged the scarlet and try to do dictation after turning Siri off and then back on in system preferences. Dictation always works right after I make that adjustment , but. I have a feeling that it is a bug within the OS. I will be back in touch with the Apple team to see if they have any solutions… The rep I spoke with said yes that he's been noticing that there has been quite a few reportsturn Siri off and back on but it's variable as far as the amount of time my Mac will allow me to dictate than I have to go through that same process again it's the only thing that I have discovered as a workaround, which is a real pain in the, but. I have a feeling that it is a bug within the OS. I will be back in touch with the Apple team to see if they have any solutions… The rep I spoke with said yes they were getting reports that dictation stopped working. Dictation is critical for me because I am severely visually impaired.

I am having the same problem on the M2 MacBook Air. And I also had to do a restart to get it working the first time. Even though powering down and back on is the universally understood first step in all troubleshooting, I discovered that clicking on the Siri orb by the clock, and then giving the command to stop dictation, then, clicking again, and saying start dictation, tended to clear the problem up for that instance. I have also discovered that if you're using Apple silicon, the Internet connection is not necessary for dictation to work.

Not sure why it’s happening. Might be some conflict with siri engine and dictation engine. Try clicking the Siri orb to start Siri, then click it again to put Siri back to sleep. Then try dictation again. This works on MacBook Air m2 with same annoying problem. I have to say that when dictation is working it does much better than Siri and getting words correct.

Right there with you. I had the same issue with voice control dictation. What I have resorted to is clicking on text edit and dictating a word or two there. Invariably, if I am unable to dictate elsewhere, text edit will jump start the dictation.

Unwisely, in a world where dictation has become the go to for many people, Apple has given it the forgotten step child treatment.

Hey Grumpy.grandad,

Thank you for trying those suggestions. If the steps in that article didn't help with the dictation, we would recommend that you contact Apple Support directly for more specific assistance with dictation.

Cheers.

I just bought my AirPods Pro 2. I have them connected to my phone and they connected to my MacBook pro2 as well automatically. So I open the case and insert in my ears. I play music from my phone and they work great. Then I try to use dictation on the computer and it hears the sound but will not type. I've tried putting the AirPods back in their case but no change. the only way I can get dictation working again is to reboot the computer with AirPods in their case. Soon as I pull them out of the case, dictation stops working on my computer. I have also tried disconnecting the AirPods from my computer but that does not help.

I took someones advice and tried voice control. It lags a bit but has been extremely accurate. There is a small icon that stays on the screen to click wake up or sleep. If you walk away in the middle of an email with voice control still active you get more than you intended in your email or wherever you were typing. Have to click sleep for sure when not using.

Why not try Voice Control dictation? It allows editing, and doesn't time out.

Grumpy.grandad you work around works for me. This issue is absolutely absurd!

Dictation works perfectly ALL the time EXCEPT when I pull out my AirPods to use on my iPhone for calls or music. The problem continues even after I put them away. Dictation will open and hear what I am saying but will not type anything. I can even pack up and move to a different office and the problem still follows me until I restart the MacBook. What a complete nuisance.

I bought a MacBook many years ago. An associate showed me how easy Mac makes your life. They just work. None of the nuisance Windows issues. It just works. Well not any more. I've noticed in the past 10 years they've progressively released products with more and more bugs and more goofy problems like this. With the prices skyrocketing and numerous annoying issues, I'm not really sure there is an advantage to a MacBook. They only convenience left is that all the products work smoothly together, TV, MacBook, iPhone, iPad, etc. I don't want to be a computer/technology genius, I just want my stuff to work. Dealing with these issues is a time suck.