How to dictate punctuation, symbols and formatting

Updated: November 6, 2026

There are two ways to get commas and full stops into dictated text: say them, or let the software place them from how you speak. Built-in tools on Mac and Windows do both, with different command words, and dedicated dictation apps lean on the automatic side. Below are the actual command tables published by Apple and Microsoft, a drill to practise them, and advice on when to stop saying “comma” altogether.

Spoken marks or automatic punctuation?

Saying every mark gives you control, and it is the only reliable way to get unusual characters like a semicolon or a section sign. The cost is rhythm: “we shipped it comma finally period” is not how anyone talks, and after an hour it gets tiring.

Automatic punctuation listens for sentence endings and pauses instead. It is good at full stops and question marks, decent at commas, and does not guess colons, brackets or quotes. The practical mix most people settle on: leave automatic punctuation on, pause clearly at the end of sentences, and say a mark only when you need something specific.

Both systems let you choose. On a Mac, Auto-punctuation is a switch in System Settings > Keyboard > Dictation; Apple says it adds commas, periods and question marks in supported languages. On Windows 11, press Windows key + H, click the gear icon and toggle Automatic punctuation.

Mac Dictation: punctuation and symbol commands

Apple publishes a list of commands that are always available while you dictate. A selection of the ones people actually need:

Emoji work in some languages by name: “heart emoji”, “car emoji”.

Mac Dictation: formatting and capital letters

Apple adds that a new paragraph break appears after you finish dictating, so do not worry if it is not visible straight away. Newer Macs go further: with Apple Intelligence in macOS 27, dictation uses an on-device model to improve spelling, punctuation and capitalization, in English on Macs with M3 or later and at least 12 GB of unified memory.

Windows 11 voice typing: punctuation commands

Windows 11 voice typing has a separate command list for each language. These are from Microsoft's English list; other languages use their own words, and some languages have only a handful of marks.

Editing commands live in a separate list: “delete that” or “scratch that” removes what you just said, “select that” selects it, “undo that” reverses the last change, and “press Enter”, “press Tab” or “press Backspace” press those keys. In the voice typing settings, Wait time before acting controls how long Windows waits before carrying out a command, which helps if commands fire too early or too late for your pace of speech.

Windows 10 dictation: spelling mode for symbols

Windows 10 dictation is an older feature with different rules. Its commands work in US English only. You can say most common marks directly, such as “comma”, “period” and “question mark”, but for letters and symbols Microsoft's method is spelling mode: say “start spelling”, then the symbol name (“at sign”, “hash sign”, “underscore”), or a letter using the ICAO alphabet, and finish with “stop spelling”. For a capital letter, say “uppercase” first, as in “uppercase alpha”.

Dedicated apps: mostly automatic

Dedicated dictation apps tend to rely on automatic punctuation from your phrasing and pauses rather than on long spoken command lists, and how each handles spoken words like “comma” differs. Check the app's own help page before learning habits that may not carry over. On Copilot+ PCs, Microsoft's fluid dictation (English locales) does similar cleanup inside Windows voice typing, correcting grammar, punctuation and filler words; say “Revert” to get your original wording back.

If you are weighing Voice Monkeys, the fastest way to see whether its punctuation suits the way you talk is the online demo on the site: 15 seconds, no install, 5 tries a day. Read a paragraph with natural pauses and look at where the full stops land. The app itself works by holding the right Option key on a Mac or right Alt on Windows and Linux, and you can download it for a 7-day trial. If you depend on exact spoken commands for symbols, the built-in Mac and Windows tools documented above are the better fit.

A two-minute practice drill

Turn automatic punctuation off for this drill so you can see the commands work. Say exactly: “Dear Ms Lopez comma new line thank you for the samples period new paragraph two questions colon the delivery date and the price per unit question mark new paragraph best regards”. You should get a greeting line, a sentence, a paragraph break, a sentence ending in a question mark and a sign-off.

Then turn automatic punctuation back on and say the same text without any marks, pausing where the punctuation would be. Comparing the two results tells you which style to use day to day. Be careful when doing this in a chat window: spoken new lines press Return, which sends the message in most chat apps. Our guide to dictating prompts to ChatGPT and Claude covers that trap, and the setup basics are in dictation on Mac and dictation on Windows. Developers dictating symbols should also read dictation for developers.

Questions and answers

Sources

• Apple: Commands for dictating text on Mac (checked November 6, 2026)
• Apple: Use Dictation on Mac (checked November 6, 2026)
• Microsoft: Use voice typing to talk instead of type on your PC (checked November 6, 2026)

More guides

• How to dictate on a Mac, step by step
• How to dictate on Windows with voice typing
• Dictating prompts to ChatGPT, Claude and other AI chat apps
• Dictation for developers: use your voice for the prose, not the code
• Dictation for writers: drafting a book by voice