Fix grammar in any Mac app, and keep your own words

By Ryleigh NewmanPublished October 27, 2026

Most grammar tools want to rewrite you. If all you want is the commas, the typos and the agreement fixed, with your sentences left as you wrote them, a Mac has two built-in ways and there is a free app that does it in any text field. I make that app, YapToText, so take my word on it with that in mind. Its Fix Grammar & Spelling action corrects grammar, spelling and punctuation only, and runs on your Mac.

This app is completely free. You don't have to make an account. There are no subscriptions, no difficult downloads, and nothing is locked. Made for Apple silicon Macs. Source on GitHub.

Built in: Spelling and Grammar

In apps that use the Mac's own text system, such as TextEdit, Pages and Mail, open the Edit menu, then Spelling and Grammar. Check Document Now underlines what it finds, and Check Grammar With Spelling adds grammar to the check. It suggests, and you pick each fix. It does not work in browser editors that bring their own checker, or in most chat apps.

Built in: Proofread in Writing Tools

With Apple Intelligence on, select text in most apps, Control-click it, choose Writing Tools, then Show Writing Tools, and click Proofread. It shows each change and lets you go through them. It needs a Mac with Apple silicon, macOS Sequoia 15.1 or later, and a language Apple Intelligence supports. Apple Intelligence and dictation covers what it does with spoken text.

In any app: YapToText's Fix Grammar action

1. Select the text in any app.
2. Click the YapToText icon in the menu bar, then Regenerate, then Selected text.
3. Under Or apply a one-shot edit, pick Fix Grammar & Spelling.

The fixed text replaces your selection in the app you were in. Grammar, spelling and punctuation are corrected, and the wording stays yours. If nothing is selected, it says Select some text first and changes nothing, and it cannot read password fields.

The same list has Improve Writing, which also fixes clarity, Make Concise, Make Formal, Make Friendly, Summarize, Bullet Points and Translate to English. Every action's instructions are plain words you can edit on the AI Actions page. The AI Actions guide has the details.

Or say what to fix

Quick Edit does the same by voice: select the text, tap Right Option, say fix the grammar but keep my words, and tap again. It is handy when the fix is specific, such as make this past tense or fix the commas only. Editing text by voice has more examples.

Which way fits

Checked on October 27, 2026. YapToText 1.5.4.

If you write by voice, the cleanup in YapToText's modes already sets punctuation and removes the ums as you dictate, so there is less to fix afterwards.

About the author. I am Ryleigh Newman, and I make YapToText. My hands do not work well enough to type for long, so I dictate nearly everything, and I built this app because I needed it. More about me and the app.

Related

• AI Actions: one-shot rewrites for text you already have
• Quick Edit: select text anywhere and say what you want changed
• Edit text by voice on a Mac: fix, rewrite and delete without typing
• Dictation in macOS 27: what Apple Intelligence improves, and on which Macs
• Speech to text for dyslexia on a Mac: say it, check it, hear it back
• Speech to text for dysgraphia on a Mac: say it, shape it, check it
• Dictation modes: the same words, shaped for where they are going
• How to improve Mac dictation accuracy: ten fixes, biggest first

Sources

• https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/use-writing-tools-mchldcd6c260/mac (checked 2026-10-27)
• https://github.com/ryleighnewman/YapToText (checked 2026-10-27)
• https://apps.apple.com/us/app/yaptotext/id6786382289 (checked 2026-10-27)

Questions