Dictate in Danish on a Mac: setup and spoken punctuation

To dictate in Danish on a Mac, open System Settings → Keyboard, go to Dictation (Diktering on a Danish-language Mac), click Edit next to Languages, and select Danish (Denmark). Start Dictation and pick Danish from the language shown next to the cursor. Apple lists Danish for on-device dictation, but not for automatic punctuation or emoji, so you say punktum and komma yourself. Apple publishes a fully translated Danish command list.

The steps come from Apple's Dictate messages and documents on Mac for macOS 27 Golden Gate, and its Danish edition, Dikter beskeder og dokumenter på Mac. If your screen differs, search System Settings for "Dictation" or "Diktering".

How do you turn on Danish dictation?

1. Choose Apple menu → System Settings, then click Keyboard (Tastatur) in the sidebar.
2. Go to Dictation (Diktering) and turn it on.
3. Click Edit (Rediger) next to Languages (Sprog) and select Danish (Denmark).
4. Stay online while the Mac sets the language up. Apple's feature page says on-device dictation "Requires download of speech models."
5. In a text field, start Dictation with the Microphone key, your Dictation shortcut, or Edit → Start Dictation (Rediger → Start diktering), and check that the language next to the cursor is Danish.

If you also write in English, select it too. To switch while dictating, click the language next to the cursor, or press the Globe key (globustasten) and choose. Apple's guide describes switching by hand and does not describe automatic detection of a language change.

Which Danish dictation features does Apple list?

From Apple's macOS feature availability page for macOS Golden Gate, checked on 3 October 2026:

Apple lists one Danish variant, Denmark. A row marked Not listed means absent from that feature's list on the day we checked.

Because Danish is on the on-device list, your Mac can process it locally once the speech model is downloaded. Apple's guide says the text below the Dictation switch in Keyboard settings tells you whether general dictation is processed on your Mac. Is Mac Dictation private? explains that note.

Auto-punctuation is the gap. Apple's guide says Dictation adds "commas, periods, and question marks" in supported languages, and the Danish edition calls the switch Automatisk tegnsætning. Danish is not on that list, so plan to say each mark.

How do you say punctuation in Danish?

Apple's Danish command list, Kommandoer til diktering af tekst på Mac, is fully translated. The entries you will use most:

Three details from that page:

• One word, two dashes. The list gives bindestreg for both the dash (–) and the hyphen (-). Apple does not say which you get, so check it.
• No krone sign. The currency section lists dollar, cent, pound, euro and yen. Write kr. yourself, or check how your Mac writes amounts you dictate.
• Spacing and capitals. ingen mellemrum til and ingen mellemrum fra join the next phrase without spaces and then go back to normal; kun store bogstaver writes the next phrase in capitals.

Danish keyboard, æ, ø and å

Dictation language and keyboard layout are separate settings. Apple's Write in another language on Mac has you add keyboards under Keyboard → Text Input → Edit: search for Danish and choose a layout. It says an added input source's language also joins "your list of Dictation languages (if available)", and that Control-Space selects the last input source you used.

Apple's Dictation guide does not say you need a Danish keyboard to dictate Danish, and it does not describe how Dictation handles æ, ø and å. Check them in your test. If you type on an English keyboard, Apple's accent marks page describes pressing and holding a letter key to open the accent menu; check that menu for the letter you need, or add a Danish layout.

If a word comes out wrong, Apple says ambiguous text is underlined in blue: click it and pick an alternative. The Danish edition's example is getting lege when you meant leje.

What about Swedish and Norwegian?

If you work across Scandinavia, the same feature page lists Swedish (Sweden) and Norwegian Bokmål for on-device dictation and neither for auto-punctuation, so the habit of saying every mark carries over. Apple lists Swedish for emoji dictation; Danish and Norwegian are not listed. Our Swedish and Norwegian guides have their command tables.

What about other dictation apps?

Apple's Dictation is free and runs Danish on the device, so test it first.

Google's voice typing help lists Danish for voice typing in Google Docs, and notes that "Punctuation might not be available in every language". Microsoft's Dictate your documents in Word lists Danish as a preview language, which it says may have lower accuracy or limited punctuation support; it needs a Microsoft 365 subscription.

SuprFlow's requirements page lists 19 languages, and Danish is not one of them. Do not buy SuprFlow for Danish dictation.

A 10-minute test for your Danish

1. Write four made-up sentences: two ordinary, one with an English product or person name, and one with a date, an amount and a negation. For example: Mødet med Jordan Chen er den 14. maj. Beløbet er 2.750 kroner, ikke 2.570.
2. Dictate them into Notes with Danish active, saying punktum and komma.
3. Check æ, ø and å, compound words, the name, the figures and ikke.
4. Dictate one sentence without saying any punctuation and see what appears.

Questions people ask

How do I use Danish dictation on a Mac?

Add Danish (Denmark) under System Settings → Keyboard → Dictation → Languages → Edit, start Dictation, and choose Danish from the language shown next to the cursor.

Why does Mac dictation not add punctuation in Danish?

Apple does not list Danish for auto-punctuation. Say each mark, such as punktum, komma and spørgsmålstegn, which are on Apple's Danish command list.

How do I start a new paragraph in Danish dictation?

Say nyt afsnit. For a single line break, say ny linje. Apple's guide says the break appears when you finish dictating.

Does Danish dictation work offline on a Mac?

Apple lists Danish (Denmark) for on-device dictation, after a speech model download. The text below the Dictation switch in Keyboard settings confirms how your Mac processes it.

Related guides

• Mac dictation languages: what Apple supports in each one
• Dictate in Swedish on a Mac
• Dictate in Norwegian on a Mac
• Dictate in German on a Mac
• Mac dictation commands and punctuation
• Is Mac Dictation private?

Sources

• Apple — Dictate messages and documents on Mac
• Apple — Dikter beskeder og dokumenter på Mac
• Apple — Kommandoer til diktering af tekst på Mac
• Apple — macOS feature availability
• Apple — Write in another language on Mac
• Apple — Enter characters with accent marks on Mac
• Google — Type and edit with your voice
• Microsoft — Dictate your documents in Word
• SuprFlow — System requirements