Complete Voice Dictation Setup Guide for Mac (2025)

Ready to start dictating on your Mac? This guide walks you through setting up a complete voice dictation workflow in under 10 minutes. By the end, you'll have push-to-talk dictation working in every app.

What You'll Need

• Mac with Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3) — recommended for local AI
• Microphone (built-in works, AirPods better)
• Sotto app ($29 one-time)
• 10 minutes for setup

Step 1: Install Sotto

1. Download Sotto from sotto.to
2. Open the DMG and drag to Applications
3. Launch Sotto from Applications folder
4. Grant microphone permissions when prompted
5. Grant accessibility permissions (for auto-paste feature)

Step 2: Configure Your Hotkey

The default hotkey is ⌘ + Shift + Space. To customize:

1. Click Sotto icon in menu bar
2. Open Preferences
3. Click "Recording Hotkey" field
4. Press your preferred key combination

Pro tip: Choose something easy to hold with one hand. Popular options:

• ⌘ + Shift + Space (default)
• Right Option (single key, easy to hold)
• Caps Lock (if you've remapped it)
• F5 or other function key

Step 3: Choose Your Mode

Sotto supports two dictation modes:

Push-to-Talk (Recommended)

• Hold hotkey to record
• Release to transcribe and paste
• Most natural flow

Toggle Mode

• Press once to start recording
• Press again to stop and transcribe
• Better for longer dictation

Step 4: Select Your Model

Sotto offers multiple Whisper model sizes:

• Tiny: Fastest, ~39MB, good for quick notes
• Base: Balanced, ~142MB, recommended starting point
• Small: Better accuracy, ~466MB
• Medium: High accuracy, ~1.5GB

Start with Base. Upgrade to Small or Medium if you need better accuracy for technical content.

Step 5: Train Your Dictionary

Add words Sotto might struggle with:

1. Open Sotto Preferences → Dictionary
2. Click "Add Word"
3. Enter technical terms, names, acronyms

Start with:

• Your name and colleagues' names
• Company and product names
• Technical terms you use daily
• Acronyms (API, CLI, SDK)

Step 6: Test It Out

1. Open any text field (Notes, email, Slack)
2. Hold your hotkey
3. Say "Testing Sotto dictation, this is a test"
4. Release the hotkey
5. Watch text appear where your cursor is

Step 7: Configure Output Options

Customize how transcribed text is handled:

• Auto-paste: Text pastes automatically (recommended)
• Copy to clipboard: Just copy, paste manually
• Capitalization: Auto-capitalize sentences
• Punctuation: Auto-add periods, commas

Step 8: Optional Cloud Setup

For maximum accuracy on difficult audio, add cloud API keys:

1. Get API key from OpenAI or Groq
2. Open Sotto Preferences → Cloud
3. Enter your API key
4. Select when to use cloud (fallback, always, never)

Local processing handles 95% of use cases. Cloud is optional.

Quick Reference Card

Troubleshooting

Sotto not responding to hotkey?

• Check accessibility permissions in System Settings
• Ensure hotkey doesn't conflict with other apps
• Try restarting Sotto

Poor accuracy?

• Switch to a larger model (Small or Medium)
• Check microphone input in System Settings → Sound
• Reduce background noise
• Add problem words to dictionary

Text not pasting?

• Ensure accessibility permissions are granted
• Check that target app accepts paste
• Try switching to clipboard mode

You're Ready!

That's it! You now have professional voice dictation set up on your Mac. Start with short dictations—Slack messages, emails—and gradually use it for longer content as you build the habit.