Customize Voice Control on Mac
When you use Voice Control to interact with your Mac, you can customize settings such as the language you use with Voice Control, the microphone you want to have listen for commands, options for showing item names, numbers, or a numbered grid on the screen, and more.
You can also turn standard commands on or off and create your own commands, delete them, and import or export custom commands.
Customize Voice Control
Change the language you use with Voice Control, choose the microphone you want to have listen for commands, set options for showing item names, numbers, or a numbered grid on the screen, and more.
On your Mac, choose Apple menu
in the sidebar, then click Voice Control on the right. (You may need to scroll down.)Set any of the following:
Language: Change the language you want to use with Voice Control, or add an additional language.
If you downloaded additional languages to use with Voice Control, you can quickly switch languages as you work—click
in the menu bar, then choose a language.Microphone: Choose a microphone to use for spoken commands, or choose Automatic to have your Mac listen to the device you’re most likely to use.
Show hints: Display command suggestions when you say something that’s similar to an accepted command.
Play sound when command is recognized: When Voice Control recognizes a command, a sound is played.
Overlay: Always show item names, numbers, or a numbered grid on the screen to make it easier to select items or navigate.
Fade overlay after inactivity: When item names, numbers, or a numbered grid are shown, dim the overlay after the specified period of inactivity. Drag the “Fade by” slider to set how much the overlay fades.
Most Voice Control commands are on by default, but you can customize commands to suit your needs. See Turn standard commands on or off and Create your own commands below.
If a language supports it, you can add vocabulary terms to ensure that specialized words or phrases are entered correctly when you use Voice Control.
Turn standard commands on or off
On your Mac, choose Apple menu
Click Commands, then do any of the following:
Show commands for a language: If you added languages to use with Voice Control, click the “Show commands for” pop-up menu to choose the language whose commands you want to display.
Search for a command: Enter a word or phrase in the search field.
Show more information about a command: Click the command in the list. On the right, find a description and examples of how to use the command.
Turn a command on: Select its checkbox. Voice Control listens only for selected commands.
Turn a command off: Deselect its checkbox.
Create your own commands
On your Mac, choose Apple menu
Click Commands.
If you added languages to use with Voice Control, make sure the language you want to use for the command is chosen from the “Show commands for” pop-up menu.
Below the list of commands, click
.In the “When I say” field, enter a name for your command, following these guidelines:
Use two or more words, and avoid names with a single syllable. For example, use “Make text smaller” rather than “Smaller.”
Avoid proper names, names that sound similar to other words, or names that could be confused with other commands.
Don’t use names that are used for other commands. If you do, a warning icon appears next to the duplicate commands in the list of commands.
Indicate whether the command is to be used in any app or in a specific app.
Choose the action the command performs.
Some actions require additional information. For example:
For Paste Text, you must enter the text to be pasted whenever you say your command.
For Press Keyboard Shortcut, you must press a keyboard key (you don’t need to also press a modifier key). For example, if you want your command to play or pause a video, press the Space key.
For Run Shortcut, choose a shortcut or choose Open Shortcuts App to create another shortcut.
Click Done.
Your command appears in the Custom section at the top of the commands list.
Tip: You can easily create commands while you’re working. Say “Make this speakable” to open the New Voice Control Command window. Then specify the command name, an app, and an action. If you select text or an item, such as a file, before opening the window, an action is selected by default; you can change it, if needed.
Import custom commands
On your Mac, choose Apple menu
Click
in the lower-right corner, then choose Import Custom Commands.Select the file of custom Voice Control commands, then click Import.
Note: The file can include both iOS and macOS commands; only macOS commands are imported.
Export custom commands
On your Mac, choose Apple menu
Click
in the lower-right corner, then choose Export Custom Commands.Choose a location, then click Export.
Note: Files referenced by custom commands, such as apps, documents, Shortcuts, and Automator Workflows, are not included in the export and must be transferred separately.
Delete custom commands
On your Mac, choose Apple menu
Do one of the following:
Delete one custom command: Click Commands, select the command to delete in the Custom section at the top of the commands list, click
, click Delete, then click Done.Delete all custom commands: Click
in the lower-right corner, choose Delete All Custom Commands, then click Delete.