
Use Vocal Shortcuts on Mac
With Vocal Shortcuts, you can teach your Mac to perform an action when you speak a word or another sound of your choosing. Vocal Shortcuts can be useful if you have moderate to severe atypical speech but can reliably vocalise certain utterances.
Note: Vocal Shortcuts is available only on Mac computers with Apple silicon. Audio is processed on device.
Set up Vocal Shortcuts
- On your Mac, choose Apple menu   in the sidebar, go to Speech, then click Vocal Shortcuts. (You may need to scroll down.) in the sidebar, go to Speech, then click Vocal Shortcuts. (You may need to scroll down.)
- Click Set Up, then click Continue. 
- Choose an action for your Mac to perform when you say the shortcut. If you want the action to be a request to Siri, click Siri Request, then enter the request. 
- Enter the phrase you’ll say when you want your Mac to perform the action, follow the onscreen instructions to repeat the phrase out loud so your Mac can recognise it, then click Done. 
- Turn on Vocal Shortcuts. 
After you set up Vocal Shortcuts, an orange dot ![]() is shown next to the Control Centre icon
 is shown next to the Control Centre icon ![]() in the menu bar to indicate that Vocal Shortcuts is using the microphone on your Mac to listen for shortcuts. When you don’t want Vocal Shortcuts to use the microphone, you can turn it off. To turn off Vocal Shortcuts, choose Apple menu
 in the menu bar to indicate that Vocal Shortcuts is using the microphone on your Mac to listen for shortcuts. When you don’t want Vocal Shortcuts to use the microphone, you can turn it off. To turn off Vocal Shortcuts, choose Apple menu 
![]() in the sidebar, go to Speech, click Vocal Shortcuts, then turn off Vocal Shortcuts.
 in the sidebar, go to Speech, click Vocal Shortcuts, then turn off Vocal Shortcuts.
Add a Vocal Shortcut
- On your Mac, choose Apple menu   in the sidebar, go to Speech, then click Vocal Shortcuts. (You may need to scroll down.) in the sidebar, go to Speech, then click Vocal Shortcuts. (You may need to scroll down.)
- Click Add Action, then click Continue. 
- Choose an action for your Mac to perform when you say the shortcut. If you want the action to be a request to Siri, click Siri Request, then enter the request. 
- Enter the phrase you’ll say when you want your Mac to perform the action, then follow the on-screen instructions to repeat the phrase out loud so your Mac can recognise it. 
Use a Vocal Shortcut
After you’ve set up Vocal Shortcuts, just say the phrase for one of the shortcuts you’ve created.
Delete a Vocal Shortcut
- On your Mac, choose Apple menu   in the sidebar, go to Speech, then click Vocal Shortcuts. (You may need to scroll down.) in the sidebar, go to Speech, then click Vocal Shortcuts. (You may need to scroll down.)
- Click  next to a shortcut, click Delete, then click Delete again. next to a shortcut, click Delete, then click Delete again.
Tip: If you have an acquired or progressive condition that affects speech, you can have Siri listen for and recognise a wider range of atypical speech patterns. See Change Siri settings for accessibility.