From reading the contents of your screen aloud to controlling the cursor using head movements, Apple has equipped macOS with a wide array of helpful Accessibility tools. These tools are especially beneficial for users with disabilities, enabling smoother navigation and usage of Mac devices. One standout feature is Voice Control, which, as the name implies, allows you to operate your Mac using only your voice. This article walks you through everything you need to know about setting up and using Voice Control on your Mac.

Table of Contents

• How to Enable Voice Control on Mac
• What You Can Do With Voice Control
• Basic Navigation
• Overlays & Mouse
• Dictation
• Text Selection
• Text Navigation
• Text Deletion
• How to Add Languages to Voice Control
• Switching Languages
• How to Create Custom Voice Control Commands
• Import/Export Custom Commands
• Remove Custom Commands
• How to Add Personal Vocabulary to Voice Control
• Import/Export Multiple Custom Vocabulary Entries
• Delete Custom Vocabulary
• How to Use Item Numbers and Grid Overlays With Voice Control
• Number Overlays
• Grid Overlays
• Using Voice Control Commands With VoiceOver
• Frequently Asked Questions

How to Enable Voice Control on Mac

Once activated, Voice Control lets you speak specific commands, and your Mac will carry out the corresponding actions. Provided you're running macOS Catalina or a newer version, follow these steps to turn on Voice Control:

1. Click the Apple logo in the upper-left corner of your screen. From the dropdown menu, choose “System Settings.” On earlier macOS versions, this option appears as “System Preferences.”

2. In the System Settings window, scroll down the left-hand sidebar and select “Accessibility.” You can also use the search bar at the top-left to quickly find it.

3. Choose “Voice Control.”

4. Toggle the switch next to “Voice Control” to turn the feature on.

5. If this is your first time enabling Voice Control, allow a few minutes for macOS to complete a one-time download from Apple’s servers.
6. Once enabled, a microphone icon will appear on your screen.

7. Click “Sleep” to temporarily disable Voice Control. The button will then change to “Wake up,” letting you reactivate it when needed.

8. Alternatively, say “Go to sleep” to pause Voice Control and “Wake up” to resume.

Tip: Voice interaction isn’t limited to giving commands. You can also have your Mac respond verbally—try enabling Live Captions in macOS Ventura for enhanced accessibility.

What You Can Do With Voice Control

Voice Control offers a broad range of capabilities. To view the full command list, say “Show commands,” or go to “System Settings → Accessibility → Voice Control” and click “Commands.”

Basic Navigation

With Basic Navigation, you can move around your Mac using spoken instructions. Voice Control recognizes different apps and their functions. For example, say “Open Safari” or “Close Safari” to launch or quit the browser. You can also scroll by saying “Scroll up” or “Scroll down.”

To switch to Dark Mode, say “Open System Settings. Click General. Click Dark.” When finished, say “Close window” to exit.

Overlays & Mouse

Under Overlays & Mouse, use voice commands like “Show numbers” or “Show grid” to display numbered overlays or a grid layout. For mouse actions, say “Single-click,” “Double-click,” “Triple-click,” “Long press,” “Click and hold,” or “Release the mouse.”

To move the cursor, say “Move cursor pixels,” where direction is left, right, up, or down, and count is the number of pixels to move.

Dictation

When inside a text field—such as an email or document—you can dictate your input. Say “Type ” or simply speak the phrase, and Voice Control will type it.

You can insert punctuation, symbols, and emojis by saying things like “exclamation mark,” “ampersand,” or “surprised emoji.”

Voice Control intelligently interprets context, allowing smooth transitions between commands and dictation. For instance, say “Replace I’m leaving with I have left” to edit text. Or say “Congratulations. Click Send.”—it will type the message and then send it.

Text Selection

Voice Control supports numerous text selection commands. Whether you say “Select all” or “Extend selection back paragraphs,” you can precisely select the desired text.

Text Navigation

Just as with selection, there are many voice commands for navigating text. Try “Move to the end of the word” or “Move to the beginning of the sentence.”

Text Editing

After selecting text, you can format it using voice. Say “Bold that” to apply bold formatting. You can also cut, copy, paste, italicize, underline, undo, redo, correct, replace, and insert text.

Text Deletion

A variety of deletion commands are available. Say “Delete that” to remove the last thing you typed. You can also delete entire sentences, paragraphs, or specific words.

How to Add Languages to Voice Control

By default, Voice Control uses your Mac’s system language, but it supports multiple languages. To add or change them:

1. Go to “System Settings → Accessibility → Voice Control.”
2. Click the “Language” section, then choose “Customize” from the dropdown.

3. Pick the languages you want and click “OK.”

4. Ensure your Mac is online and wait for the downloads to complete.

Note: Voice Control is just one of several accessibility tools that let you personalize your macOS experience.

Switching Languages

To switch languages quickly, go to the Voice Control settings:

1. Click the “Language” dropdown and pick your preferred language.

2. Even faster: use the on-screen microphone popup to select a language directly.

To remove a language, revisit “Customize” and deselect the ones you no longer need.

How to Create Custom Voice Control Commands

Voice Control allows you to create personalized commands. For

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