One-handed typing on a Mac: what to turn on and what to hand to your voice

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To type with one hand on a Mac, turn on Sticky Keys so shortcuts take one key at a time, add Slow Keys if presses land by accident, and move long writing to dictation, which needs only one key. Both settings are in System Settings, Accessibility, Keyboard. A controller in the free hand's place can cover the shortcuts you use most.

I make YapToText, a free dictation app for the Mac, and InputConfig, a free app that turns any button, switch or controller into keys and clicks. I built both because my own hands do not work well. Apple's steps are from its keyboard accessibility guide, read October 9, 2026.

Download YapToText on the Mac App StoreThis 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.

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On this page: 7 sections
  1. Sticky Keys: one key at a time
  2. Slow Keys: only the presses you mean
  3. Dictation does the long part
  4. Fix a word without retyping it
  5. A controller for the shortcuts
  6. The short version
  7. Questions

Sticky Keys: one key at a time

Sticky Keys lets you press modifier keys in sequence instead of together, so Option-Command-F5 is Option, then Command, then F5. Turn it on in System Settings, Accessibility, Keyboard, Sticky Keys. Its options:

  • Press Shift five times. Turns Sticky Keys on or off from the keyboard.
  • Beep when a modifier key is set. A sound tells you the key took.
  • Display pressed keys on screen. Symbols show which modifiers are waiting, in the screen corner you choose.

Slow Keys: only the presses you mean

Slow Keys adds a delay between pressing a key and the Mac accepting it, which filters out brushes and bumps. Set the Acceptance delay in its options, and turn on click sounds to hear one sound on the press and another when it is accepted.

Dictation does the long part

Typing a paragraph with one hand is slow, and saying it takes one key. YapToText starts on Right Command, which sits under the right thumb. Tap to start, talk, tap to stop, and the words land at the cursor. If your left hand is the one that works, move the key: on the Dictation page, Keys card, click the key field and press Left Control, Left Option, Caps Lock, Fn, or any single key. Caps Lock as the trigger has its lock and light turned back off by the app.

YapToText's Dictation settings page on a Mac: the Keys, Recording, Microphone and Delivery cards.
Figure 1. The Keys card on the Dictation page. Pick the key your working hand reaches without moving.

Tap is the default because holding a key down is harder on a tired hand, and a tap only counts when no other key was pressed, so Command-C and Command-Tab never start a dictation. Hold to talk is there if holding suits you better. The keys and shortcuts page has every choice.

Fix a word without retyping it

Select the wrong text, tap the Quick Edit key, Right Option, and say the change: make this shorter, fix the grammar, capitalize this. The rewrite replaces the selection. Right after a dictation, scratch that and replace X with Y work with no key at all.

A controller for the shortcuts

Copy, paste, undo and switching apps are two-key shortcuts that Sticky Keys turns into three presses. InputConfig puts each on one button. Its Easy Edit preset is made for a controller in one hand and a mouse in the other: the D-pad holds Undo, Copy, Cut and Paste, A deletes, B saves, Y is Return, and pushing the left stick up firmly starts Apple's Dictation. Change that stick row's output to the Keyboard Key Right Command and it starts YapToText instead. InputConfig's one-handed Mac guide covers layouts for either hand.

YapToText starts and stops from one key, Right Command by default, tapped once to start and once to stop. InputConfig can send that key from a control that is not a key at all: a switch, a controller button, a MIDI pedal, a knock on a MacBook, or the pointer entering a corner of the screen. Put the two together and that control becomes the dictation key.

  • You: In InputConfig, add a row, press Scan and press the control you want. Give the row a Keyboard Key output and choose Right Command.
  • InputConfig: Presses Right Command each time the control fires, on its own, with no other key held.
  • Check: Click into a text field and press the control. YapToText's panel should say Listening. Press it again and the words land at your cursor.

If you would rather keep Right Command for shortcuts, move YapToText to a key nothing else uses. On the Dictation page, Keys card, click the key field and press F18 (or any spare key), then give the InputConfig row a Keyboard Key output of F18 instead. F13 to F19 are the keys InputConfig's own guides suggest, because nothing on a Mac uses them. Tap to start and stop is the mode to pair with a switch: one press starts, the next press stops. Turn on Auto-stop after silence on the Dictation page, Recording card, and the second press is not needed either.

Two cautions. InputConfig's built-in Modifier Holds preset gives a held Right Command to Spotlight and a held Right Option to Apple's Dictation, and those are YapToText's dictation and Quick Edit keys, so do not run that preset alongside YapToText's defaults. And while the Mac is locked, InputConfig sends no keys, only the pointer, clicks and scrolling. This handoff is how both apps are built: InputConfig posts a lone modifier the way a real key does, and YapToText counts a press with no other key as a tap. I have not tested it end to end on every control, so try it once on yours before you rely on it, and if it does nothing, open an issue on GitHub.

The short version

  • Shortcuts. Sticky Keys, Shift five times to toggle.
  • Stray presses. Slow Keys with an acceptance delay.
  • Long text. YapToText on the key your hand reaches, tap to start and stop.
  • Fixes. Quick Edit on Right Option, or scratch that.
  • Everything else. InputConfig's Easy Edit on a controller.

If your hand needs a layout I have not covered, open an issue on GitHub. Every one gets read.

Download YapToText on the Mac App StoreThis 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.

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 type with one hand on a Mac?

Turn on Sticky Keys for shortcuts and Slow Keys for stray presses, then use dictation for long text, started by a key your hand reaches.

How do I turn on Sticky Keys on a Mac?

System Settings, Accessibility, Keyboard, Sticky Keys. With its option on, pressing Shift five times turns it on or off.

Can I change the dictation key to the left side?

Yes. In YapToText, the Dictation page's Keys card takes Left Control, Left Option, Caps Lock, Fn, or any single key.

What is the fastest way to type with one hand on a Mac?

Say it. A dictation takes one key to start and one to stop, and Sticky Keys and a one-hand controller cover the shortcuts.