Dictate text in any app
Dictation turns speech into text in whatever application you're using. Hold or toggle a shortcut, speak, and Glean Tau inserts the transcript at your cursor in a document, a browser field, a terminal, or a chat.
Set your shortcuts and review your transcription History on the Dictation page.
To open the Dictation page, select More → Dictation, or run Open Dictation from the command palette. To pin it to the sidebar, use Customize sidebar in the More menu.
Use Dictation for:
- Drafting long messages, docs, or comments faster than you type
- Capturing a thought while your hands are busy elsewhere
- Filling in forms or fields in apps outside Glean Tau
- Any moment where speaking is quicker than typing
Glean supports Dictation for macOS-only.
Set up Dictation
Assign a shortcut
On the Dictation page, assign at least one shortcut. Hold-to-dictate hotkey dictates while you hold the keys and inserts the text when you release them. Toggle dictation hotkey starts on the first press and stops on the second. Select Change to record a new shortcut.
Grant permissions
Grant Microphone and Accessibility permissions. Glean Tau asks for them the first time you dictate. To check them later, open Settings → Extensions → Dictation. Each permission shows as Enabled, Not enabled, or Unavailable, with Enable or Open settings to fix it.
Dictate text
- Press your shortcut from any app and start speaking when the overlay shows Listening. The overlay moves through Starting, Listening, and Transcribing, then inserts the text at your cursor.
- To change shortcuts or see past dictations, open the Dictation page. Closing the page doesn't turn off Dictation or clear your history.
Dictation settings
Dictation has two places to manage it:
| Location | What you control |
|---|---|
| Dictation page | Hold-to-dictate hotkey and Toggle dictation hotkey, your Dictionary, and your History. Assign, change, or clear either shortcut. You need at least one, and you can use Fn for either. |
| Settings → Extensions → Dictation | The on/off toggle, Microphone and Accessibility permission status, and Open Dictation to go to the Dictation page. |
Add words to your dictionary
Add names, product terms, and other words that Dictation gets wrong, so it transcribes them the way you spell them. Open Dictionary on the Dictation page, select Add new, and add an entry:
- To add a term for Dictation to recognize, enter it in Word or phrase.
- To replace a term, turn on Spelling correction. Enter what Dictation hears in Heard as and the spelling you want in Use instead.
Select Save, or press Enter to save and start another entry. Press Esc to cancel. To remove an entry, select its delete button. The dictionary holds up to 100 entries, and each field allows up to 200 characters.
Review your history
Open History on the Dictation page. Entries group by Today, Yesterday, and date, and support Copy, Delete, and Clear history. If Glean Tau can't locate your cursor, copy the text from here.
History also shows your usage totals: Dictations, Words, Avg. pace, and Speaking time.
History keeps up to 1,000 recent entries on this machine and doesn't sync. Clearing it removes the transcripts but keeps aggregate usage counts.
Where your dictation data goes
Dictation splits into two parts: transcription happens at Glean, and the result stays with you.
- Your audio goes to Glean to be transcribed. Glean Tau uploads the recording to your own Glean instance and receives the text back. Your audio and your dictionary entries are the only parts that leave your machine.
- Your transcripts stay on your machine. History is a single local file, capped at 1,000 entries. It never syncs, and other devices and coworkers can't see it.
- Your dictionary goes with it. Glean Tau sends your dictionary entries along with the audio, as hints for transcription. It also sends each spelling correction, so transcription replaces what it hears with your Use instead spelling. The dictionary itself is saved only on your machine.
- Glean Tau keeps no audio. Only the text is saved to History after a dictation finishes.
- Clearing History deletes the text. Aggregate usage counts, such as total words dictated, remain.
Because transcription runs through Glean, treat dictated content the way you treat anything else you send to Glean.
Limitations
- Requires sign-in and a network connection. Transcription runs through Glean, with a 30-second timeout per request.
- Shortcuts are locked during a session. Wait for the current dictation to finish before changing them. Shortcut recording also times out after 30 seconds.
See also
- Settings — manage permissions and local storage
- Extensions — the full list of extensions and their default states