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Dictate prompts into GitHub Copilot on a Mac

To dictate prompts into GitHub Copilot on a Mac, click into Copilot Chat in VS Code and press ⌘I to start VS Code’s built in dictation, then press ⌘I again to stop. In Copilot CLI, run /voice once to set it up, then hold Space while you talk. Both type the words into the prompt and wait for you to press Enter.

Both come with tools you already have, both transcribe on your Mac, and for many people they are enough. This post shows how to set each one up, the settings worth checking, and the cases where a system wide dictation app is the better tool.

Copilot and VS Code details checked on 13 October 2026. Both features are marked experimental or new, so check the linked docs if a shortcut has moved. Sources are at the end.

Dictate into Copilot Chat in VS Code

VS Code now ships its own dictation. You no longer need an extension on an Apple Silicon Mac.

  1. Update VS Code and make sure AI features are on. Dictation depends on them.
  2. Open Settings and search for dictation.enabled. The VS Code docs list it as on by default; turn it on if it is not.
  3. Click into the Copilot Chat input and press ⌘I, or click the microphone button. The first time, VS Code downloads its speech model.
  4. Talk. Press ⌘I again to stop and keep the text, or press Escape to throw away what this session typed.
  5. Read the prompt and press Enter. Dictation never sends it for you.

You can also hold the shortcut instead of tapping it. Recognition stays on while you hold the keys and stops when you let go, which is the push to talk style most people end up preferring.

The same dictation works outside chat. In the editor, press ⌥⌘V or run Voice: Start Dictation in Editor. It also works in the Source Control commit message box. In the integrated terminal, run Voice: Start Dictation in Terminal from the Command Palette.

On an Intel Mac the built in dictation is not available. Install the VS Code Speech extension (ms-vscode.vscode-speech) instead.

The one VS Code setting to check

On desktop, VS Code transcribes on your Mac with an on-device speech model. After the first download it works without a connection.

There is a second step, though. A setting called dictation.experimental.llmCleanup is on by default. It sends the finished transcript text to a Copilot language model to fix punctuation, capitals, lists and numbers. Your audio stays local, but the words go to Copilot.

For most Copilot users that changes nothing, because the prompt is going to Copilot a second later anyway. It matters if you also dictate commit messages, notes or anything you did not plan to send to a model. Turn the setting off if you want dictation to stay on the Mac end to end.

VS Code also has a Voice Mode for chat (⇧⌘Space) that reads answers back. It is a different feature: experimental, rolling out gradually, and only for eligible individual Copilot plans, not Business or Enterprise.

Dictate into Copilot CLI

Copilot CLI has its own voice input, and it is fully local. GitHub’s docs say transcription “runs entirely on your local machine”.

Set it up once:

/voice            download the voice runtime and the default model
/voice models     switch to the English or Spanish model
/voice devices    pick a different microphone

Then, in an interactive session:

  • Short prompts: hold Space. Recording starts after a brief moment. Release to insert the text.
  • Longer prompts: press Ctrl+X, then V. Talk as long as you need, then press any key to stop.
  • Clean it up: before you send, /refine tidies the spoken prompt.

Like VS Code, it inserts the text at the cursor and does not submit it.

One warning if you also use another dictation app: do not give it a hotkey built on Space. Copilot CLI already treats a held Space as “start recording”, and two tools listening for the same key means one of them loses.

When a system wide dictation app fits better

The built in tools are good inside their own window. They stop at its edge. A system wide app is worth it when one of these sounds like you:

You use more than one agent. If Copilot shares your day with Claude Code or Cursor, you want one hotkey and one habit everywhere, not a different shortcut per tool. A system wide app types at the cursor in VS Code, any terminal, the browser and Slack alike.

You want the ramble turned into a prompt. Copilot’s cleanup fixes punctuation and filler. It does not reorder a spoken ramble into goal, location, constraints and checks. That is the job Akova, a Mac dictation app for coding agents was built for: its Prompt mode restructures what you said, on your Mac, before it types.

Your project words keep coming out wrong. Akova has custom vocabulary on the free tier, so useCartStore, pnpm and Vitest come out spelled the way they are in your repo.

Here is the kind of thing you might say into Copilot Chat:

so the cart total is wrong after you remove an item when a coupon is
applied, it keeps the old discount, I think it's the recalculate function in
useCartStore, um, don't change the checkout API, and add a Vitest case for
remove after coupon

You said the goal, the place, the constraint and the check. With Prompt mode on, Akova puts them in order and drops the filler, so Copilot reads a clean task instead of a transcript.

To set it up for Copilot:

  1. Install Akova. It needs macOS 14 Sonoma or later on an Apple Silicon Mac.
  2. Pick a hotkey that VS Code and Copilot CLI do not use. Right Option or right Command works well. Avoid ⌘I, ⌥⌘V, ⇧⌘Space and anything with Space.
  3. Add five names from your current repo to custom vocabulary.
  4. Choose Prompt mode, click into Copilot Chat, hold the hotkey and talk.

If you use Cursor too, our guide to dictating prompts into Cursor’s agent covers the same setup for its chat, inline edit and terminal.

Speak a prompt Copilot can act on

Whichever tool types the words, the same four habits make a spoken prompt work:

  • Lead with the outcome. “The total should drop the discount when the item is removed” beats a tour of the code.
  • Name the file or function. It gives Copilot a starting point instead of a search.
  • Say what must not change. Constraints are what people forget to type and remember to say.
  • Say how to check. “Add a test” or “run the tests” costs three words out loud.

FAQ

Does VS Code dictation need a Copilot plan?

Dictation needs VS Code’s AI features turned on, and the optional cleanup step uses a Copilot model. Voice Mode, the spoken conversation feature, is limited to eligible individual Copilot plans. Check the VS Code voice docs for your account type.

Can I use macOS Dictation with Copilot instead?

Yes. macOS Dictation types into VS Code and Terminal, so it works in both. It types exactly what you said, without your project vocabulary and without restructuring it into a prompt.

Is Prompt mode free?

Prompt mode is part of Akova Lifetime, which you buy once. Every Pro feature is free for 7 days from your first launch, with no card and no account, and custom vocabulary stays free after that. See pricing for what each tier includes.

Try it on your next Copilot task

Press ⌘I in Copilot Chat and dictate the next task you were about to type. If you find yourself wanting the same hotkey in your terminal and browser, or a cleaner prompt than a transcript, try Akova’s Prompt mode next to it for a week.

Sources

Checked on 13 October 2026.