Mac Dictation is either processed on your Mac or sent to Apple's servers, and your own Mac tells you which. Apple's privacy notice says: "When you use Dictation, your device will indicate in Keyboard Settings if your audio and transcripts are processed on your device and not sent to Apple servers. Otherwise, the things you dictate are sent to and processed on the server, but will not be stored unless you opt in to Improve Siri and Dictation." So the answer depends on your chip, your language, your settings and where you are typing.
Publisher note: SuprFlow publishes this guide and is one of the products discussed. Competitor details come from each company's own pages, checked on 1 October 2026. Prices and features change; confirm before you buy.
Everything below is Apple's published wording, from its Siri, Dictation & Privacy notice (dated 14 September 2026) and the Mac User Guide for macOS 27. We have not inspected Apple's network traffic and claim nothing beyond what Apple states.
How do you check whether your dictation stays on the Mac?
- Choose Apple menu → System Settings, then click Keyboard in the sidebar. You may need to scroll down.
- Go to Dictation. It must be turned on for the text to appear.
- Read the text below the Dictation setting.
- For the full notice, click About Ask Siri, Dictation & Privacy at the bottom of Keyboard settings.
Apple's Dictation guide describes this check: you can see "whether your voice inputs and transcripts for general text Dictation (for example, composing messages and notes, but not dictating in a search box) are processed on your device and not sent to Siri servers."
The macOS 26 and macOS 15 editions use the same sentence. If your screen differs, search System Settings for "Dictation".
What decides on-device or server processing?
| Factor | What Apple says |
|---|---|
| Chip | The macOS 14 edition of the guide says: "On a Mac with Apple silicon, Dictation requests are processed on your device for supported languages—no internet connection is required." And: "When you dictate on an Intel-based Mac or in a language that doesn't support on-device dictation, your dictated utterances are sent to Apple to process your requests." |
| Language | Apple's feature availability page has a general Dictation language list and a shorter "On-Device and Modeless Dictation" list, with the note "Requires download of speech models." |
| Where you type | The on-device statement covers general text such as messages and notes, "but not dictating in a search box". The macOS 14 guide says that in a search box "dictated text may be sent to the search provider in order to process the search." |
| macOS version | The macOS 15, 26 and 27 guides no longer state the chip rule. They tell you to check Keyboard settings |
| Managed Macs | Apple's deployment guide lists a restriction, "Force on-device-only dictation", that "Prevents dictated content from being sent to Siri servers for processing. Supported on Mac computers with Apple silicon." |
An Apple silicon Mac dictating in a language on the on-device list is the case Apple describes as local. An Intel Mac, or a language outside that list, is the case Apple describes as sent to Apple. Your Keyboard settings screen is the authority for your Mac today.
The last row is from Apple's restrictions for Mac computers, which lists it from macOS 14.
Does Apple Dictation send audio to Apple?
When your Keyboard settings indicate on-device processing, Apple says audio and transcripts are "not sent to Apple servers."
When they do not, Apple says "the things you dictate are sent to and processed on the server." In that case the notice describes the following:
- Audio storage. It "will not be stored unless you opt in to Improve Siri and Dictation."
- Request data. Apple also stores "related request data, such as the category of request you made and whether it was completed successfully, device specifications, device configuration, performance statistics," and approximate location if Location Services is on for Siri.
- Identifier. Request history "is associated with a random, device-generated identifier that rotates multiple times per hour and is not tied to your Apple Account or email address."
- Retention. "Apple may retain and use this data for up to two years" to develop and improve Siri, Dictation and related features.
- Contextual data. When you use Siri and Dictation, "your device may send other contextual data to Apple". Examples listed include contact names, device names and names of installed apps.
- Marketing. Apple says contextual data, transcripts and related request data "are not used to build a marketing profile, and are never sold to anyone."
The notice covers Siri and Dictation together, and we have not tried to separate them where Apple does not.
What does "Improve Siri & Dictation" change?
It is a separate, optional setting. When you first turn Dictation on, the Mac may ask whether to share audio recordings. Apple's guide says Share Audio Recordings allows "Apple to store audio of your Siri and Dictation interactions from your Mac. Apple may review a sample of stored audio." Not Now declines.
Apple's Improve Siri and Dictation notice adds:
- A subset of the data "may be reviewed by graders, with audio review being conducted only by Apple employees."
- Apple "may retain and use this data for up to two years", and the small subset that has been reviewed "may be kept beyond two years."
To check or change it on a Mac: Apple menu → System Settings → Privacy & Security → Analytics & Improvements, then turn Improve Siri & Dictation on or off. Apple's Privacy & Security settings page documents the switch.
Does Mac Dictation work offline?
Where your settings show on-device processing, Apple's wording in the macOS 14 guide is "no internet connection is required." Apple's current troubleshooting page is more cautious: "You may need an internet connection".
On-device languages require a speech model download, so set up the language while connected. On-device dictation vs no internet explains why local speech recognition and no network traffic are different claims for any dictation tool.
What stays on your Mac?
Apple says "A history of your Siri and Dictation interactions is stored on your device, and may be used to personalize your Siri experience."
The notice says that if you turn off both Siri and Dictation, the transcripts stored on your device "will be deleted." It also describes a Delete Siri & Dictation History control, with a settings path written for iPhone. The Apple pages we checked do not give the Mac path, so look in the Siri section of System Settings.
Remember the destination too: the app you dictate into may sync the text elsewhere.
How does this compare with a separate dictation app?
Apple Dictation on an Apple silicon Mac, in a supported language, is a free tool that Apple describes as processing speech on the device. Most people should confirm their settings and stop there.
Some people want to choose the speech model that runs on their Mac. SuprFlow is one app for that: speech recognition runs on the Mac with a downloaded model, on Apple Silicon and macOS 14 or later. It is not a no-network app. Account and licence checks, model downloads, updates and usage telemetry are separate network traffic, and its optional Cloud API formatting sends transcript text to a provider you configure. It costs $125 once and has no free tier. Where does my dictation go? sets out its data path, and SuprFlow vs Apple Dictation says when Apple's free tool is the better choice.
Questions people ask
Does Apple listen to my dictation?
Apple says audio is stored and a sample may be reviewed only if you opt in to Improve Siri & Dictation, and that audio review is done only by Apple employees. If you did not opt in, Apple says dictated audio sent to its servers is not stored.
Is Mac Dictation on-device on an M1 or later Mac?
Apple's macOS 14 guide says Dictation on a Mac with Apple silicon is processed on the device for supported languages. Later guides tell you to confirm it in Keyboard settings, which is the reliable check.
Is dictating in a search box private?
Apple excludes search boxes from its on-device statement, and the macOS 14 guide says dictated text there may be sent to the search provider.
How do I stop sharing Dictation audio with Apple?
Open System Settings → Privacy & Security → Analytics & Improvements and turn off Improve Siri & Dictation.
Related guides
- Where does my dictation go?
- On-device dictation vs no internet
- How to use voice to text on a Mac
- Offline voice to text on Mac
- SuprFlow vs Apple Dictation
- Wispr Flow vs Apple Dictation
Sources
- Apple — Siri, Dictation & Privacy
- Apple — Improve Siri and Dictation & Privacy
- Apple — Dictate messages and documents on Mac
- Apple — Dictate messages and documents on Mac, macOS 14 edition
- Apple — macOS feature availability: Dictation
- Apple Platform Deployment — Device management restrictions for Mac computers
- Apple — Change Privacy & Security settings on Mac
- Apple — If Dictation on Mac doesn't work as expected