Guides

Mac Voice Control commands: the practical list, and how to add your own

By Ryleigh Newman · Published October 5, 2026

Mac Voice Control commands are short phrases you say while Voice Control is on, and the ones most people use every day are Open Mail, Click Done, Scroll down, Show numbers, Show grid, Command mode and Stop listening. Say Show commands to see what works in the app in front of you, or open System Settings, Accessibility, Voice Control and click Commands for the whole list.

I cannot type, so Voice Control does my clicking and scrolling every day, and YapToText, the free dictation app I built, does my writing. This page is the practical list: the commands worth learning first, how to click anything on the screen, how to edit text, and how to add commands and words of your own. Every command is quoted the way Apple's support pages write it, as I read them on October 3 and 5, 2026. If you are still deciding whether you need Voice Control at all, Mac Dictation vs Voice Control compares the two.

Download for free. No account, nothing locked, macOS 14 or later on Apple silicon. Source on GitHub.

Steps

1. Choose Apple menu, System Settings, click Accessibility, then click Voice Control and turn it on while the Mac is online for the one-time download.
2. Say Show commands to see what you can say in the app in front of you.
3. Say Show numbers, then a number, or Click followed by the number, to click an item.
4. Say Show grid for a spot with no button, say a cell's number to narrow it down, then Click and the number.
5. In Voice Control settings, click Commands, then the Add button, to make a command of your own.
6. Click Vocabulary, then Add, type a word, click Next, record it and click Save to teach Voice Control a term.

Find the full list on your Mac

Voice Control knows a lot of commands, and the ones that apply change with the app you are in. You never have to memorize the list, because the Mac will show it to you.

Step 1: Turn Voice Control on

• You: Choose Apple menu, System Settings, click Accessibility in the sidebar, then click Voice Control and turn it on.
• macOS: The first time, it completes a one-time file download from Apple, so the Mac must be connected to the internet. After that, Voice Control needs no connection.
• Check: The Voice Control icon in the menu bar changes to show that it is listening for commands.

Step 2: Ask what you can say right now

• You: Say Show commands.
• macOS: Shows the commands available right now, which change with the app you are in and what you are doing.
• Check: Say one of them, such as Scroll down, and watch it happen.

Step 3: Browse every command

• You: In System Settings, Accessibility, Voice Control, click Commands. You may need to scroll down to find it.
• macOS: Opens the full list of supported commands, with examples.
• Check: The list is there to read whenever you need it. The Voice Control Tutorial, on the same settings page, is a gentler way to practice the first few.

That Commands list is also where your own commands go, which the section on adding your own commands and vocabulary covers.

The commands people use most

These are the commands I would learn first, quoted as Apple writes them. Most of the day comes down to one pattern: a verb, then the name or number of the thing. Click, then a name or a number, covers most of what you do with a mouse.

Checked October 3 and 5, 2026, in Apple's Mac User Guide. What you can say depends on your macOS version and language, so Show commands has the final word on your Mac.

Apple suggests pausing about half a second between commands you say in quick succession, such as Scroll up followed by Move cursor right 5 pixels. Run them together and the second one can get lost.

Going to sleep and waking up

The current guide pauses Voice Control with Stop listening and resumes it with Start listening. Apple's guide for macOS Catalina used different words for the same idea: Go to sleep when you take a break and do not want what you say treated as commands, and Wake up to bring it back, with Sleep and Wake up buttons in a feedback window. If one pair does nothing on your Mac, say Show commands and use whatever it lists. Either way, a paused Voice Control is the polite way to answer the phone.

Click anything with Show numbers and Show grid

Voice Control clicks things by their names, and when a name is not obvious, overlays fill the gap. Apple says the number and name overlays cover the parts of the screen Voice Control recognizes as clickable, such as menus, checkboxes and buttons. Names first, numbers when there is no name, and the grid when there is no item at all.

Say: To Voice Control, when you cannot tell what a button is called.

Show numbers

What happens: A number appears next to each item. Say the number to use it, or say a command such as Click followed by the number. Say Hide numbers to clear them.

For a spot with no button on it, such as a point on an image or an empty patch of a window, use the grid:

Step 1: Put the grid up

• You: Say Show grid, or Show window grid to cover only the active window.
• macOS: Lays a numbered grid over the screen.
• Check: Every cell has a number you can read.

Step 2: Narrow it down

• You: Say the number of the cell that holds your target.
• macOS: Shows a more detailed grid inside that area.
• Check: A number now sits right where you want to click.

Step 3: Act on it

• You: Say a command followed by the grid number, such as Click and the number.
• macOS: Clicks at that spot.
• Check: The click landed. Say Hide grid if the grid is still up.

If you lean on numbers all day, Apple's guide for macOS Ventura adds Show numbers continuously, which sets the Overlay option in Voice Control settings to Item Numbers so the numbers stay on screen. Saying Hide numbers then sets Overlay back to None. The same guide notes that items in a menu always show numbers.

Dictate, spell and edit text by voice

With Voice Control on, Voice Control is also how you type. Apple says that while it is on, standard macOS Dictation is not available, so its text commands replace Dictation's. Say a mode's name to switch modes, and say Dictation mode to go back.

• Dictation mode. The default. Any words that are not Voice Control commands are entered as text.
• Command mode. Voice Control responds only to commands, and words and characters that are not commands are ignored instead of typed. Use it for a run of commands near a text field.
• Spelling mode. One character at a time, for a password, a web address or a name no recognizer will guess. Apple suggests the phonetic alphabet, so Alfa Bravo Charlie types abc, and says Spelling mode is not available in every Voice Control language.
• Swift mode. On macOS Tahoe 26 and later, Apple's guide adds a mode that writes Swift code as you read it aloud. The dictation for coding guide covers it.

Editing works on text that is already there:

Say: To Voice Control, in Dictation mode, while you edit text.

Replace cat with dog

What happens: Apple's example: the word cat in your text becomes dog. Use your own words in place of cat and dog.

• Numbered text. Say Show numbers, then a command such as Delete or Uppercase followed by the number of a line or a word.
• Selecting. Apple's guide for macOS Ventura describes Select followed by a phrase, in Dictation mode, to select a phrase of one or more words.
• Everything else. The Commands list in Voice Control settings has the full set of text selection, navigation and editing commands for your version of macOS.

Standard Dictation's command list, all 65 such as comma and new paragraph, is on the Mac dictation commands page. With Voice Control on, check Voice Control's own Commands list instead, because Voice Control is the one listening.

Add your own commands and vocabulary

Two kinds of customizing, for two different problems. A custom command saves you a sequence of steps; a vocabulary term saves you a spelling.

Step 1: Open the Commands list

• You: In System Settings, Accessibility, Voice Control, click Commands, then click the Add button below the list of commands.
• macOS: Opens a new command for you to fill in.
• Check: The new command is waiting for its name.

Step 2: Name it, then choose where and what

• You: In the When I say field, type the phrase you will speak. Apple suggests two or more words and avoiding single-syllable names. Then choose whether it works in any app or only one, and pick the action it performs.
• macOS: Offers actions such as Paste Text, which asks for the text to paste, Press Keyboard Shortcut, which asks you to press the key, and Run Shortcut, which runs one of your shortcuts from the Shortcuts app.
• Check: Say the phrase in the app you chose, and the action runs.

Say: To Voice Control, with an item or some text selected, to start a command from what is on screen.

Make this speakable

What happens: The New Voice Control Command window opens, where you give the command a name, an app and an action. If you selected text or an item first, an action is already chosen for you.

Teach it your words

Names, product terms and jargon go in the custom vocabulary, in languages that support one. Apple says you can add up to 1,000 terms:

• You: In System Settings, Accessibility, Voice Control, click Vocabulary. Click the Add button, type the word or phrase the way you want it entered, and click Next. Click the Record button, say the phrase, and click Save.
• macOS: Adds the term, with a pronunciation icon next to it once it has a recording.
• Check: Dictate a sentence with the word in it. If Vocabulary is dimmed, the selected language does not support a custom vocabulary.

To add many at once, put one term per line in a text file, then choose Import Vocabulary from the Advanced Actions menu in the lower-right corner. And for a word already on screen, select it and say Add to vocabulary.

In YapToText the same two ideas have their own homes: Dictionaries for spellings, and snippets on the Commands page for text you insert by name. Those apply to YapToText's dictation, not to Voice Control's.

Let YapToText write while Voice Control clicks

Voice Control can write, and for a line or two it is all you need. For long text I use YapToText, because what I want after the words are transcribed has nothing to do with transcription: filler removed, an email shaped like an email, and a record I can go back to. Voice Control clicks and scrolls; YapToText writes.

YapToText does not use Apple's Dictation or Apple's speech engine. It runs its own speech model, Whisper, on your Mac, so Apple's rule that Dictation is off while Voice Control is on is not about it. That is how the pieces fit, not a test result: the Voice Control test pass has not been run yet.

Say: To Voice Control, before you dictate with YapToText.

Command mode

What happens: Voice Control ignores every word that is not a command, so your sentences are not typed twice, once by each. A sentence that sounds like a command can still be taken as one.

• Starting a dictation by voice. Open the capybara's menu bar panel, with Show numbers and its number or with Show grid, then say Click Start Dictation. The button does the same job as the dictation key, and Voice Control clicks it by name.
• Starting with a key or a switch. Say Stop listening before a long dictation and Start listening after it. That is the tighter fence.
• Fixing what landed. Right after a dictation lands, make your next dictation scratch that or replace X with Y, within 30 seconds, and YapToText edits instead of typing. For bigger changes, select the text by voice and use Regenerate in the menu bar panel, which rewrites a selection as any mode.
• An idea I have not tested. A custom Voice Control command whose action is Press Keyboard Shortcut could press YapToText's backup shortcut, Control Option Space, which starts and stops a dictation from any app. If you try it, tell me how it goes.

The whole daily setup, from installing to the first dictation, is in hands free typing on a Mac, and the accessibility page maps each need to a YapToText setting.

If a command does nothing

Most dead commands are a paused Voice Control, a phrase that does not apply in this app, or two commands said too close together. When in doubt, say Show commands and use exactly what it lists. Climb this ladder, smallest step first:

1. Check that it is listening. If you paused it, say Start listening; on macOS Catalina the word was Wake up. The very first time, Voice Control needs the internet to finish its one-time download.
2. Check the command applies here. Commands change with the app and what you are doing, so say Show commands and compare.
3. Leave a gap. Pause about half a second between commands, as Apple suggests.
4. Use a number. If Click and a name does nothing, say Show numbers and use the item's number, or Show grid for a spot with no item.
5. Pick the microphone by name. In System Settings, Accessibility, Voice Control, choose your microphone instead of Automatic, which listens to the device your Mac thinks you are most likely to use.
6. Rename a custom command. If yours keeps misfiring, give it two or more words, and avoid single-syllable names.
7. Check your language. Spelling mode and the custom vocabulary are not available in every Voice Control language, and a dimmed Vocabulary button means yours has none.
8. Stop the double typing. If your words appear twice while YapToText records, Voice Control is in Dictation mode. Say Command mode first.

What it cannot do

Voice Control is free, built in and works offline after its first download, and it still has edges. Check your language and your macOS version before you plan your day around a command.

• Run beside standard Dictation. While Voice Control is on, standard Dictation is not available. The comparison of the two explains the trade.
• Every language. Spelling mode and the custom vocabulary are not available in every Voice Control language.
• Number what it cannot see. The number and name overlays cover what Voice Control recognizes as clickable. For anything else, the grid is the way in.
• Swift mode everywhere. It appears only in Apple's guides for macOS Tahoe 26 and later, it covers Swift, and I have not tried it.
• YapToText's limits. YapToText types at the cursor; it does not click, scroll or select, and Voice Control does that part. It needs an Apple silicon Mac with macOS 14 or later, and the Voice Control and VoiceOver test pass has not been run, so I do not call it fully accessible.

The short version

• See the list. Say Show commands, or open System Settings, Accessibility, Voice Control, Commands.
• Click anything. Click and a name, Show numbers and a number, or Show grid for a spot with no button.
• Pause it. Stop listening and Start listening; Go to sleep and Wake up on macOS Catalina.
• Make it yours. Add a command under Commands, or say Make this speakable, and add up to 1,000 words under Vocabulary.

Learn ten commands, and let Show commands remember the rest. If a command here does not work the way I have written it, or Voice Control and YapToText trip over each other on your Mac, open an issue on GitHub. Every one gets read.

Download 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.

Related

• Dictation or Voice Control on a Mac: which one you need
• Hands free typing on a Mac: the setup I use every day
• Free dictation software for disabled people on a Mac
• Mac dictation commands: Apple's full list, and how to delete
• Dictation for coding on a Mac: what voice is good for, and where it struggles
• Edit text by voice on a Mac: fix, rewrite and delete without typing

Sources

• https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/use-voice-control-commands-mh40719/mac (checked 2026-10-03)
• https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/use-voice-control-commands-mh40719/26.0/mac/26.0 (checked 2026-10-03)
• https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/turn-voice-control-on-or-off-mchl63d14732/mac (checked 2026-10-03)
• https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/change-voice-control-settings-spc002/mac (checked 2026-10-03)
• https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/customize-voice-control-mchl9899c8a5/mac (checked 2026-10-05)
• https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/use-a-custom-vocabulary-mchl3eb7b79a/mac (checked 2026-10-05)
• https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/item-number-grid-overlays-voice-control-mchl26854b08/13.0/mac/13.0 (checked 2026-10-05)
• https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/control-your-mac-and-apps-using-voice-control-mh40719/13.0/mac/13.0 (checked 2026-10-05)
• https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/control-your-mac-and-apps-using-voice-control-mh40719/10.15/mac/10.15 (checked 2026-10-05)
• https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/use-dictation-mh40584/mac (checked 2026-10-03)
• https://apps.apple.com/us/app/yaptotext/id6786382289 (checked 2026-10-03)

Questions