Guides

How to dictate numbers on a Mac: digits or words, money, dates and phone numbers

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To dictate numbers on a Mac with Apple Dictation, say numeral just before the number, and Apple's commands list says the next phrase is formatted as a number; roman numeral does the same for a Roman numeral. For money and math, say the symbol's name, such as dollar sign or percent sign.

YapToText, the free dictation app I built, has no numeral command. Its Clean Up mode turns spoken numbers into digits without adding units you did not say, Raw Transcription leaves them the way Whisper wrote them, and spoken names such as dollar sign, plus snippets such as today's date and your phone number, cover the rest. I built it because my hands make typing difficult, and I dictate every day. For Apple's full list of commands, see the Mac dictation commands guide.

Download YapToText on the Mac App StoreDownload for free. No account, nothing locked, macOS 14 or later on Apple silicon. Source on GitHub.

On this page: 11 sections
  1. Steps
  2. Say numeral in Apple Dictation
    1. Step 1: Start Dictation at the cursor
    2. Step 2: Say numeral, then the number
  3. Digits or words in YapToText: pick the mode
    1. Numbers in a spreadsheet
  4. Money, percentages and math signs
  5. Dates and times
  6. Phone numbers and other numbers you repeat
    1. Step 1: Fill in the starter
    2. Step 2: Dictate it
  7. Apple Dictation and YapToText side by side
  8. If a number comes out wrong
  9. What each one cannot do
  10. The short version
  11. Questions

Steps

  1. In Apple Dictation, say numeral just before a number to format it as a number.
  2. In YapToText, press 3 for Clean Up while you talk to have spoken numbers written as digits.
  3. Press 2 for Raw Transcription to leave numbers the way Whisper wrote them.
  4. Say dollar sign before an amount, as in dollar sign 50, to get $50.
  5. Fill in the Phone number starter on the Commands page, then say insert phone number.

Say numeral in Apple Dictation

Apple's Commands for dictating text page puts two number commands in its formatting section. Say numeral right before the number, not after it.

SayWhat it does
numeralFormats the next phrase as a number
roman numeralFormats the next phrase as a Roman numeral

Step 1: Start Dictation at the cursor

  • You: Click where the number goes and press your Dictation shortcut or the Microphone key.
  • macOS: Highlights the cursor and makes it pulse, or plays a tone, when it is ready.
  • Check: Words appear as you speak.

Step 2: Say numeral, then the number

  • You: Say numeral, then the number, then carry on with the sentence.
  • macOS: Formats the phrase after numeral as a number.
  • Check: The number is in digits. If it is still words, say numeral again right before it.

Say: In Apple Dictation, before a Roman numeral, such as a chapter or a king's name.

roman numeral

What happens: Apple's list says the next phrase is formatted as a Roman numeral.

Apple's page does not say how Dictation writes a number when you do not say numeral, and it has no command for phone numbers, dates or times, so read those back. The symbols are commands too. Currency: dollar sign, cent sign, pound sterling sign, euro sign and yen sign. Math: plus sign, minus sign, multiplication sign, equal sign, greater than sign and less than sign. Also percent sign, degree sign and forward slash, and period, point, dot or full stop for a period. The full commands list has every one with what it types. Dictation's features vary by language and region, so these may differ in other languages.

Digits or words in YapToText: pick the mode

YapToText runs Whisper on your Mac, and Whisper writes a number the way it hears it, as digits or as words. Then the mode decides whether anything changes it. Clean Up turns spoken numbers into digits; Raw Transcription leaves them as Whisper wrote them.

  • Clean Up. Turns spoken numbers into digits without adding units, and fixes grammar, capitalization and punctuation. With Auto mode on, the default, it is number 3, so press 3 while you talk to use it for one dictation.
  • Auto mode, the default. Ordinary prose gets a careful pass in which spoken numbers become digits, without a unit or a time of day you did not say. But six words or fewer stay exactly as spoken, so a lone number under Auto comes out however Whisper wrote it.
  • Raw Transcription. Literal speech to text with basic punctuation and no AI, so nothing turns words into digits. Press 2 while you talk. Whisper may still write some numbers as digits on its own.
A YapToText History entry with pipeline details open: raw transcript, cleaned transcript, mode, delivery, target app and timings.
Figure 1. In this History entry, which ran in Message mode, Whisper wrote ten as a word in the raw transcript, and the cleaned transcript has 10.

Say: After pressing 3 for Clean Up while you talk.

twelve hundred and fifty

What happens: Clean Up writes the number in digits, with no currency sign or unit you did not say.

YapToText's Switch Mode list: Auto, Raw Transcription, Clean Up, Note, Email, Message and Code Comment, numbered 1 to 7.
Figure 2. In the default order Clean Up is number 3 and Raw Transcription is number 2, so one key picks digits or Whisper's own words for a single dictation.

To keep numbers as words in prose, such as "three reasons", use Raw Transcription for that dictation. You can also try a plain request through Quick Edit: select the text and say write the numbers as words. It goes to the cleanup model, and I have not tested it. To use Clean Up every time in one app, turn Auto mode off and add the app under Apps that use this mode in Clean Up's editor; while Auto is on, it decides. The modes guide and the Auto mode guide have the details.

Numbers in a spreadsheet

A cell value is nearly always six words or fewer, so press 3 for each value, and in Settings, Advanced, Text output, After a dictation lands can press Return for you in that app. The guides to dictating in Excel, dictating in Apple's Numbers app and dictating in Google Sheets cover cells, and why formulas are better typed.

Money, percentages and math signs

YapToText has spoken names for the symbols around numbers. Names of two or more words fire on their own at the end of a clause, or when a capital letter or a number follows; followed by a lowercase word, they stay as words. One-word names such as hyphen, slash and asterisk need insert in front while Require the word "insert" before a command is on, the default. "dollar sign 50" gives $50, because dollar sign glues to the next word.

Say: In any mode, Raw Transcription included.

the ticket is dollar sign 50

What happens: When Whisper writes the amount as 50, you get "the ticket is $50". The rule looks at what Whisper wrote, so if it writes fifty as a word, the name is followed by a lowercase word and stays as words.

SayYou get
dollar sign$
euro sign€
pound sign symbol, sterling sign£
cent sign¢
percent sign, percent symbol%
plus sign+
minus signa hyphen (-)
equals sign, equal sign=
degree sign, degrees symbol°
forward slash, or insert slash/
  • Pound sign is #. In YapToText, pound sign types the number sign; say sterling sign for the currency.
  • Spacing. Dollar sign glues to the next word. Period, comma, colon and a few others swallow the space before them. Percent sign is not on either list, so check whether a space lands between the number and the sign.
  • Before cleanup. Spoken punctuation is settled before any AI cleanup, so the cleanup model sees $ rather than the words. How Clean Up then writes a spoken amount is untested.

The spoken punctuation guide lists all 45 names, and any of them can be renamed on the Commands page.

Dates and times

YapToText ships two snippets for the date and time, and with the insert switch on you say insert in front of each. Say insert today's date, and the date is typed for you.

Say: Anywhere in a dictation, with the insert switch on.

insert today's date

What happens: Today's date is typed where you said it. insert current time, or insert the time right now, types the current time.

  • Live tokens. {date}, {time} and {clipboard} work in the Inserts box of any command, and are filled in at the moment you dictate. A snippet such as "Updated {date}" stamps a note.
  • After cleanup. Snippets go in after any cleanup, so a rewrite cannot drop or move them.
  • The format. Dictate one and check the date or time format before you rely on it in a document or a spreadsheet.

For another date, say it. Whether "October fifth" comes out with digits depends on what Whisper writes and on the mode: Clean Up and Auto's careful pass turn spoken numbers into digits, and how they write a whole date is untested, so read it back.

Phone numbers and other numbers you repeat

A number you say often, such as your own phone number, is a job for a snippet, not for the speech model. At the bottom of the Commands page, Suggestions offers five starters: Phone number, Work email, Personal email, Home address and Website. Fill in the Phone number starter once, and insert phone number types it.

Step 1: Fill in the starter

  • You: On the Commands page, click Phone number under Suggestions and fill in your real number.
  • YapToText: Sets it up so insert phone number types it. It is a starter you fill in, not a built-in command.
  • Check: The number you filled in is the one you want typed, digit for digit.

Step 2: Dictate it

  • You: Say insert phone number wherever it belongs.
  • YapToText: Types the number exactly as you wrote it in Inserts.
  • Check: The number is in your text, formatted the way you typed it.
YapToText's Commands page: Enable voice commands on, Require the word insert before a command on, and the Snippets tab.
Figure 3. The Commands page: today's date and current time are in the Snippets tab, and Phone number waits under Suggestions until you fill it in.

Any other number you repeat can be a snippet too: press Add in the Snippets tab, type a phrase under Say this and the text under Inserts. For a phone number someone reads out to you, dictate it and read it back, because I have not tested how Whisper and Clean Up group its digits.

Apple Dictation and YapToText side by side

Checked October 5, 2026, on Apple's support pages and YapToText's own help pages.

You wantApple DictationYapToText
A number in digitsSay numeral before itClean Up or Auto's careful pass; press 3 for a short one
A number kept as wordsNot statedRaw Transcription keeps what Whisper wrote
A Roman numeralSay roman numeral before itNo command for it
Currency signsdollar, cent, pound sterling, euro and yen signdollar, cent, euro and sterling sign; no yen sign in the list
Math signsplus, minus, multiplication and equal signplus, minus and equals sign; no multiplication sign in the list
Today's dateNo command in the listinsert today's date, or {date} in a snippet
Your phone numberNo command in the listFill in the Phone number starter, then insert phone number

Apple formats a number when you say numeral; YapToText formats it by mode, and types the ones you repeat from snippets. YapToText is free on the Mac App Store, with no account, and it needs an Apple silicon Mac with macOS 14 or later.

If a number comes out wrong

Climb this ladder, smallest step first:

  1. A number came out as words. With YapToText, press 3 for Clean Up while you talk; a short dictation under Auto stays as spoken. With Apple Dictation, say numeral right before it.
  2. A number came out as digits, and you wanted words. Press 2 for Raw Transcription. If Whisper itself wrote digits, Raw keeps them, so fix that one by hand or by voice.
  3. Dollar sign was typed as words. Open the dictation in History and click Show pipeline details. If the raw transcript has the amount as a word, the name stayed as words on purpose.
  4. You got # instead of £. Pound sign types the number sign in YapToText. Say sterling sign.
  5. Slash or hyphen came out as a word. One-word names need insert while the switch is on: insert slash, insert hyphen. Forward slash is two words and needs none.
  6. A wrong digit. Whisper can mishear a number like any word. Right after it lands, say scratch that as its own dictation within 30 seconds, and say it again more slowly.
  7. Tell me. Open a GitHub issue with what you said, the raw transcript and what landed.

What each one cannot do

  • Apple Dictation. Its list has numeral and roman numeral, currency and math signs, and no command for dates, times or phone numbers. Apple does not say how it writes a number without numeral. Commands vary by language and region.
  • YapToText. It has no numeral or Roman numeral command, and no yen or multiplication sign among its punctuation names. Auto mode leaves six words or fewer as spoken, the cleanup model is small and runs on your Mac, and how it formats dates, decimals and phone numbers is untested, so read numbers back before you rely on them. It needs an Apple silicon Mac with macOS 14 or later, and nothing is claimed for Intel Macs.

The short version

  • Apple Dictation. Say numeral before a number, roman numeral before a Roman one.
  • YapToText digits. Press 3 for Clean Up; Raw Transcription, on 2, leaves what Whisper wrote.
  • Money. "dollar sign 50" gives $50; say sterling sign for £.
  • Dates and phone numbers. insert today's date, and fill in the Phone number starter for insert phone number.

Pick digits or words by mode, and let snippets type the numbers you repeat.

If a number lands in a way this page does not explain, open an issue on GitHub. Every one gets read.

Download YapToText on the Mac App StoreDownload for free. No account, nothing locked, macOS 14 or later on Apple silicon. Source on GitHub.

About the author. Ryleigh Newman is a developer whose hands make typing difficult and who dictates every day with YapToText, the app this site describes. Facts about other apps come from their own sites, with the date they were read. More about the project.

Sources

Questions

How do I dictate numbers instead of words on a Mac?

In Apple Dictation, say numeral just before the number; Apple's list says it formats the next phrase as a number. In YapToText, press 3 for Clean Up while you talk, and spoken numbers come out as digits.

How do I keep numbers as words when dictating?

In YapToText, press 2 for Raw Transcription, which has no AI and leaves numbers the way Whisper wrote them. Whisper may still write some numbers as digits on its own.

How do you dictate a dollar amount on a Mac?

Say dollar sign before the number. In YapToText, dollar sign 50 gives $50 when Whisper writes the amount as digits; Apple Dictation lists dollar sign among its currency commands.

How do I dictate a phone number on a Mac?

For your own number, fill in the Phone number starter on YapToText's Commands page once, then say insert phone number. For other numbers, dictate them and read them back, because digit grouping is untested.

Can I dictate today's date on a Mac?

In YapToText, say insert today's date. The {date} token also works inside any snippet you make. Apple's commands list has no date command.