To dictate in Hindi on a Mac, open System Settings → Keyboard, go to Dictation, click Edit next to Languages, and select Hindi (India). Start Dictation and choose Hindi from the language shown next to the cursor. Hindi has fewer Dictation features than English on a Mac: Apple does not list it for on-device dictation or automatic punctuation, so you say punctuation yourself, and Apple's Dictation guide does not describe a mixed Hindi-English (Hinglish) mode.
The steps come from Apple's Dictate messages and documents on Mac in the Mac User Guide for macOS 27. If your screen differs, search System Settings for "Dictation".
How do you turn on Hindi dictation?
- Choose Apple menu → System Settings, then click Keyboard in the sidebar.
- Go to Dictation and turn it on.
- Click Edit next to Languages and select Hindi (India). Add English (India) too if you also dictate in English.
- Stay online while the Mac sets it up.
- In a text field, start Dictation with the Microphone key, your shortcut, or Edit → Start Dictation, and check that the language next to the cursor is Hindi. Apple says languages appear "as abbreviations or characters that represent the language".
Which Hindi and Indian English features does Apple list?
From Apple's macOS feature availability page, checked on 1 October 2026:
| Feature | Hindi (India) | English (India) |
|---|---|---|
| Dictation | Yes | Yes |
| On-device dictation | Not listed | Yes |
| Auto-punctuation | Not listed | Yes |
| Dictate emoji | Not listed | Yes |
| More advanced Dictation (Apple Intelligence) | Not listed | Yes |
"Not listed" means the language was absent from that feature's list on the day we checked. What it means in practice:
- Say every punctuation mark. Apple's guide says automatic commas, periods and question marks work "in supported languages". Hindi is not on that list.
- Check where your dictation is processed. Hindi is not on the on-device list. Apple says the text below the Dictation switch in Keyboard settings tells you whether general dictation is processed on your Mac. Read it before dictating anything confidential in Hindi. Is Mac Dictation private? explains the difference.
- English (India) gets more. Apple lists English (India) for every Dictation feature, including the newer "More advanced Dictation", which it lists for English only. Apple's newsroom describes that feature as available on Macs with M3 or later and at least 12GB of unified memory.
How do you say punctuation in Hindi?
Apple publishes a Hindi command list, Mac पर टेक्स्ट डिक्टेट करने की कमांड. The most useful entries:
| Say (Hindi) | Result |
|---|---|
| फ़ुल स्टॉप / डॉट / पूर्णविराम | । |
| अल्पविराम | , |
| प्रश्नवाचक चिह्न | ? |
| विस्मयादिबोधक चिह्न | ! |
| अपूर्ण विराम | : |
| अर्द्धविराम | ; |
| उद्धरण चिह्न / उद्धरण समाप्त | “ ” |
| लघुकोष्ठक खोलें / बंद लघुकोष्ठक | ( ) |
| नई पंक्ति | new line |
| नया अनुच्छेद | new paragraph |
| प्रतिशत चिह्न | % |
Two details from that page. The full-stop command gives the purna viram (।), not a Latin period, which is what you want in Devanagari text. And the currency section lists the dollar, cent, pound, euro and yen signs but no rupee sign (₹). The English (India) edition of the command page has no rupee entry either. Type ₹ yourself, or check how your Mac writes amounts you dictate.
Hindi input source vs Hindi dictation
Typing and dictating are separate settings. Apple's Write in another language on Mac has you add keyboards under Keyboard → Text Input → Edit, and says an added input source's language also joins "your list of Dictation languages (if available)". Apple's feature page lists Hindi keyboard layouts including Hindi (InScript), Hindi (QWERTY) and Hindi (Transliteration).
The dictation language is still chosen next to the cursor. Apple's Dictation guide does not say you need a Hindi keyboard active to dictate Hindi; it describes only choosing the dictation language. A Hindi input source helps when you correct a word by hand.
Can you dictate Hinglish on a Mac?
Not as one mixed mode, on what Apple documents. Apple's Dictation guide, checked on 1 October 2026, describes setting up several languages and switching between them by clicking the language next to the cursor or pressing the Globe key. It does not describe Dictation detecting a change of language automatically, or a combined Hindi-English dictation language.
Apple does document mixed Hindi and English for Siri, not Dictation. Its page Use multiple languages to speak to Siri in India says you can make requests in "English mixed with" Hindi and other Indian languages with Siri set to English (India), but "the text you tell Siri to write, such as in a message or a note, must be in English."
On the keyboard side, Apple's feature page lists Hindi and English (India) under Multilingual Typing. That is a typing feature, not Dictation.
So for Hinglish, the practical approach is to pick the language of most of the passage, dictate in it, and switch for longer stretches in the other language. Test how English words come out while Hindi is active, and the reverse.
What about other dictation apps?
Apple's Dictation is free and is the first thing to try for Hindi, even without auto-punctuation.
SuprFlow's requirements page lists 19 languages, including Hindi, and its setup asks you to choose a speech-recognition language. We have not tested accuracy per language and make no accuracy claim for Hindi or for mixed Hindi-English speech. How to test SuprFlow with another language gives a short test that includes a mixed-language sentence. SuprFlow costs $125 once and has no free tier.
A 10-minute test for your Hindi
- Write four made-up sentences: two in Hindi, one with an English product or person name, and one with a date, an amount in rupees and a negation.
- Dictate them into Notes with Hindi active, saying each punctuation mark.
- Check the Devanagari spelling, the name, the figures and the negation.
- Dictate the same sentences with English (India) active and compare.
Questions people ask
How do I type Hindi by voice on a Mac?
Add Hindi (India) under System Settings → Keyboard → Dictation → Languages → Edit, start Dictation, and choose Hindi from the language shown next to the cursor.
Does Mac dictation support Hinglish?
Apple's Dictation guide does not describe a mixed Hindi-English mode or automatic switching. You switch languages by hand. Apple documents mixed Hindi and English for Siri requests, where written text must be in English.
How do I add a full stop (।) in Hindi dictation?
Say "पूर्णविराम" or "फ़ुल स्टॉप". Apple's Hindi command page maps both to ।.
Does Hindi dictation work offline on a Mac?
Hindi was not on Apple's on-device dictation list when we checked. Look at the text below the Dictation switch in Keyboard settings to see how your Mac processes it.
Related guides
- How to use voice to text on a Mac
- Mac dictation commands and punctuation
- Apple Intelligence dictation on Mac
- How to test SuprFlow with another language
- Is Mac Dictation private?
- Mac Dictation not working? Causes and fixes
Sources
- Apple — Dictate messages and documents on Mac
- Apple — macOS feature availability
- Apple — Mac पर टेक्स्ट डिक्टेट करने की कमांड
- Apple — Commands for dictating text on Mac (India)
- Apple — Use multiple languages to speak to Siri in India
- Apple — Write in another language on Mac
- Apple Newsroom — Siri AI announcement, 14 September 2026
- SuprFlow — System requirements