el capitan dictation not working

So, just fixed this problem: the answer was perhaps opposite of this suggestion: The problem is having dictation set to work as an accessibility tool, making it inaccessible to all of us.

1. Open System preferences
2. Select Accessibility>Dictation
3. Click "Dictation Commands" button
4. UNCHECK the "Enable Advanced Commands" checkbox.

For years this has never worked for me - but just yesterday I solved it - you need 3 things lined up:

1. System Preferences - Dictation and speech - make sure the pull down menu for the mic (on the left) is set to internal mic (or whatever mic you're using)

2. System Preferences - Sound - SELECT INPUT then click on internal microphone (or whatever mic you're using)

3. System Preferences - Accessibility - click on 'Dictation' in left hand column then click [Dictation Commands] and then down the bottom left check/tick 'Enable Advanced Commands'

You then have to have your cursor in an active window of an application that accepts dictation, such as mail or text or pages

Works a treat

Did not help UNTIL I ALSO unchecked "Use Enhanced Dictation" in SysPrefs/Keyboard/Dictation:

At last, I have dictation back!!! Hooray!!! THANK YOU.

Perhaps your wife needs to wait longer for the text to appear, since it does seem to be unresponsive, and then the text suddenly appears.

I have been trying to use dictation in Microsoft PowerPoint, and my problems are that:

1. There is a long delay in initiating the software.
2. Sometimes you must wait for the text to be generated.
3. There appears to be no way to correct errors unlike Microsoft's version.
4. Sometimes the text is erased automatically after dictation ("the text erases itself"). I have had this problem notably while trying to insert dictation before other text, such as parentheses: "[text to be dictated] (flip back and forth)".
5. The system lags when clicking the file menu while Dictation is running.

6. Sometimes the Dictation does not respond, as Robert reports. I clicked 'Stop Dictation' from the PowerPoint Edit menu, but it still shows 'Cancel Dictation' as if I hadn't (although the Dictation waiting mic vanished), so it appears the Dictation software has crashed.

A work-around might be to close Dictation, exit and re-open the software, since Safari's Edit showed a 'Start Dictation' even while PowerPoint's said 'Cancel Dictation', but now Safari's is greyed out, so perhaps this workaround might not work. ... And now the 'Start Dictation' option is available again in Safari, but still 'Cancel Dictation' in PowerPoint. It does seem glitchy.

I had a similar issue however... even though I didn't set my iMac up this way, when I say: "iMac start dictation" I hear a popping sound and the microphone image appears which enables Dictation to work. Also, If in hit "fn" key twice it works. Hope it works for you now?

The problem I have is that dictation seems to receive audio input, and it "types" what I have said (more or less), with the text being underlined, and as soon as I stop speaking it deletes everything it just recognised. I can't seem to get it to input the recognised text into the document.

I have been using Dragon dictate to great effect but when I upgraded to El Capitan (what oaf dreamt that name up?) Dragon Dictate will no longer run so I thought I would get the built-in dictation a try, to no avail so far. Dragon Dictate upgrade is $200 I think so may have to do that if I can't get any sense out of the built in stuff.

I did try pressing "done" and then the short cut key again, as I had seen suggested somewhere, but that had zero affect. I have never used the OS dictation before so I may well be doing something very fundamentally wrong so if any one as any very daft sounding suggestions please fire away.

Dam, now I have discovered that in fact the dictation is working fine but not within the application I am trying to use. AAARGH! OK I will search elsewhere I think it isn't actually a dictation issue.

I have encountered this problem periodically also with Windows Speech Recognition and Android OS (Japanese cellphone). It makes me think the listening algorithm was uncertain about the result, as if the microphone didn't get a clear 'begin listening' prompt and so wasn't sure when to terminate listening (perhaps making a comparison relative to background noise volume).

This is personal speculation from repeated use; I don't really know how the software works, but for you to describe this problem with Apple, and I having encountered it in Google and Microsoft, seems to be some shared software issue. I wonder why you concluded it was application-specific in your case.

I concluded that it was application specific because the dictation function worked as expected in all other applications I tried it with apart from the one I was initially using it with (and which is, unfortunately, the only application that I really want to use dictation with).

I have since obtained a beta release of that application in which the issue with the mac dictation is not resolved, but an issue with the dictation software I had been using (Dragon Dictate) was, so I am now working as previously. I would still like to use the built in dictation tool if it ever becomes usable, as it will save me upgrading the paid stuff.

I have the exact same problem. In the past few day I noticed that when this happens and the text disappears, it appears in a little box above the mic icon. If I click on that (it might also happen if I don't) there is a little text box that appears on the bottom left corner of the screen. It seems like a search box. I have been able to at least copy and paste from that text box back to my documents. I was using firefox when this happened. I really don't know what this is about but it's very annoying. It seems to especially happen if I dictate one or two sentences without stopping. This is what the search box looks like.

Has anyone found a fix for this? I am having the same issue, my dictation is not typing out the words. The program works as the sound bar pops up and the white bar goes up and down as is recognizes the sound of my voice, but it never generates any words. I am trying to use this in Word, but it doesn't work in any other applications either. I have tried restarting both the Dictation application by a Force Quit and restart, as well as a restart of the computer and have no luck. It just continues to seem like it is "hearing" the sounds, but is not producing any typing. Any help is appreciated! Thanks!

I have this exact problem. I deleted the program and reinstalled it. deleted the language pack and reinstalled. one hour with tech support who didn't seem to know much about dictation except the basic menu 'click it on' kind of counsel. Need help. i use it ever day offline. I upgraded to the latest version of El capitan the day my problem started but it worked after the installation. There was a moment when this new window full of dictation options popped up and that's when it quit typing out my words, though it shows that it hears them.

Ok so i fixed this on my computer. I was having the exact same problem..

What i did -

Command+Space to spotlight search

Type in "dictation"

-System Preference>Accessibility>Dictation Commands

(Make sure "Enable Advanced Commands" box is checked"

Now test it with "Fn Fn".. Should be working like a charm. I hope this works for you

I tried this but it hasn't helped. I see the little mic icon and can see it registering my voice but nothing appears on the screen. Very frustrating.