Mac Voice Control Commands: The Complete List

Voice Control commands on a Mac are short spoken phrases that follow a few patterns. You say an action and its target, such as "Open Mail" or "Click Done", and the Mac carries it out. When the thing you want has no name, you say "Show numbers" or "Show grid" and then speak the number on screen. Apple's help page gives the examples, and the Commands list in System Settings holds the set for your Mac. Standard commands can be turned off, and you can add your own. For the wider set of Mac dictation tools, start with our overview of dictation on Mac.

This guide groups the commands by the job they do, shows the pattern each one follows, and separates what Apple documents from phrases that circulate in older lists. Dictation commands such as "new line" belong to standard Dictation, which is a different feature, so they are covered in our guide to Mac Dictation commands.

Voice Control commands are grouped by job: navigation, clicking, text, keys and system

Voice Control commands cover five jobs: moving around the Mac and its apps, clicking, showing targets on screen, editing text, and pressing keys. Apple's own examples follow a short set of shapes, which the table below lists. Once you know the shape, the phrases on Apple's page are easier to remember.

Turning Voice Control on also changes how you dictate. Apple's page says that when Voice Control is on, you use it to dictate text, and standard macOS Dictation is not available ¹. The Dictation list in our Mac Dictation commands guide therefore does not describe what you will say while Voice Control is running.

The cost is language coverage. Apple lists 63 language and regional variants for Dictation on the Mac ² and 20 for Voice Control ³. That is 43 fewer variants for Voice Control ⁴. Because turning Voice Control on replaces standard Dictation, check the Voice Control list for your language before you switch.

Voice Control also needs a one-time download the first time you turn it on. After that it works without an internet connection ⁵. Apple introduced the feature with macOS Catalina in 2019 ⁶. Articles about Voice Control written for that release can list phrases that do not match the Commands list on a current Mac, so use Apple's page as the reference.

Use Show commands and the Commands list to see the full set

The page gives examples, not a complete printed list, and the commands that work depend on the app and task. Apple says that saying "Show commands" displays the commands available right now, which change with the app and what you are doing ⁷. For the full set, use the Commands list ⁸:

1. Choose Apple menu > System Settings, click Accessibility in the sidebar, then click Voice Control. You may need to scroll down ⁹.
2. Click Commands.
3. If you have added another language, choose it from the Show commands for menu.

Apple also provides an interactive tutorial in the same Voice Control pane. Click Open Tutorial to practice the essential commands ¹⁰.

Some phrases that circulate online, such as "Select All" and "Go to sleep", do not appear on Apple's current help page. This guide leaves them out. Check the Commands list on your own Mac before you rely on a phrase.

Navigation commands open apps and scroll, and Show commands lists the rest

Navigation is the first thing most people try. Apple says that once Voice Control is on, you can speak commands to navigate the desktop and apps, interact with what is on the screen, and dictate and edit text ¹¹. Apple's examples for moving around are "Open Mail", "Scroll Down" and "Click Done", which show the action and target pattern in its simplest form.

When you say several commands in a row, leave a short gap. Apple's example chain is "Scroll up", "Move cursor right 5 pixels", then "Press OK", and it advises a pause between commands. Apple's wording is that you should pause about half a second between commands said in quick succession ¹². Without the gap, the commands can run together and the second can be misheard.

Stopping and resuming Voice Control

Pause Voice Control when you do not want your speech to be read as commands or dictation. Say "Stop listening" to pause it, and "Start listening" to resume listening for commands and dictation again ¹³ ( Apple: Voice Control commands).

Commands for VoiceOver start with the word VoiceOver

If you use VoiceOver, the commands for it begin with the word VoiceOver. Apple's examples are "VoiceOver rotor", "VoiceOver read all" and "VoiceOver select first item". To see the full list of commands that work with VoiceOver, open Accessibility in System Settings, then click Voice Control, as Apple's page explains.

Apple also advises using headphones in this mode, to help ensure Voice Control hears only you ¹⁴.

Overlay commands put numbers, names or a grid on screen so you can click anything

When an item has no clear name, an overlay gives it one. Apple says you can display a name or number next to each item on the screen, and then use that name or number to act on the item ¹⁵. When the target is an area rather than an item, the grid is the tool. Apple says a numbered grid makes it easier to interact with a precise area of the screen ¹⁶.

Apple's page gives "Hide grid" as the way to turn the grid overlay off. It does not give a separate hide phrase for the window grid, so use "Hide grid" for both.

To act on an item, say its name or number, or say a command such as "Click" followed by the name or number. Apple's page gives the form as "Click" followed by the item's name or number. A grid works the same way, with the difference that the grid disappears after you say the command.

Drilling down a grid reaches smaller targets

A grid cell may be too large for the target you need. Apple's page says to say a grid number to show a more detailed grid in that area ¹⁷. You can repeat this. When an area cannot be divided further, its numbers are no longer framed, and saying a number performs a click ¹⁸. Each step adds one spoken number, so a small button can take several commands.

With names, numbers or a grid on screen, you can also drag an item. Apple's form is "Drag" followed by the item's name or number, "to", and then the location's name or number.

Overlay settings control how long labels stay visible

The overlay is adjustable. In Voice Control settings you can set Overlay to always show item names, numbers or a numbered grid, and turn on Fade overlay after inactivity to dim it after a set period ¹⁹ ( Apple: Customize Voice Control on Mac). If labels cover the content you are reading, the fade setting is the first thing to try.

Text commands select, format, correct and delete what you dictated

Text commands act on words that are already on the page. The key idea is that Voice Control has modes, and the mode decides what happens to speech that is not a command. Dictation mode is on by default ²⁰, and any words that are not Voice Control commands are entered as text ²¹.

The diagram sketches how Voice Control handles each phrase, based on the mode and on whether the phrase matches a command.

To act on a piece of text, you name the action and then the item's number. Apple's example is "Delete" or "Uppercase" followed by the item's number ²². When you select a line or another section, Voice Control shows a number for each word in the selection, and when you select a word, it shows a number for each character.

Four modes change how your speech is handled

Each mode suits a different kind of text. The table lists Apple's four modes and when Apple describes using each one.

Spelling mode is not available in every language ²⁷, and Apple's page does not say what to use instead, so check the Commands list for your language. Where Spelling mode is available, Apple suggests the phonetic alphabet for letters. Saying "Alfa Bravo Charlie" enters "abc" and can increase accuracy when you enter letters ²⁸.

Text commands work the same way in Dictation and Spelling mode

Apple says the commands for working with text are shared between Dictation mode and Spelling mode ²⁹. Its example is "Replace cat with dog" in Dictation mode, and "Replace Charlie Alfa Tango with Delta Oscar Golf" in Spelling mode. The words for the letters change, but the action does not.

To see what you can enter in each mode, open Commands in Voice Control settings, then click Dictation mode or Spelling mode. Apple's page says this shows the characters you can enter and what to say to enter them.

Keyboard commands press keys, and Command mode keeps key words from being typed

Apple's page has only a few key examples. The clearest is "Press OK", which Apple lists in its example chain of commands alongside "Scroll up" and "Move cursor right 5 pixels". Apple's advice for that kind of chain is to pause between commands ¹². The page does not list every key name, so check the Commands list for the press commands your Mac accepts.

The more useful keyboard tool is a custom command. Apple's customize page explains that a custom command can press a keyboard shortcut, and that for Press Keyboard Shortcut you press the key itself, without a modifier. Its example is the Space key, to play or pause a video ( Apple: Customize Voice Control on Mac). That is how you get a single phrase to press a shortcut you use often.

Key words can also be typed by accident. When you are saying a sequence of commands, Command mode stops anything that is not a command from being entered as text ^{24 25}. Turn it on before you run a long chain and turn it off when you go back to dictating.

You can switch commands off and create your own in Voice Control settings

Most commands are on by default, and you can change which ones are active. Apple says most Voice Control commands are on by default, and you can customize them ³⁰. Voice Control listens only for the commands you have selected ³¹, so turning a command off is a matter of unticking its checkbox in the Commands list.

Custom commands are a separate feature from the standard list. To create one:

1. Open System Settings, click Accessibility, click Voice Control, then click Commands.
2. Below the list of commands, click the button for a new command.
3. In the When I say field, enter the phrase. Apple advises two or more words, and avoiding single-syllable names ³².
4. Choose whether the command works in any app or in one app.
5. Choose the action. Paste Text needs the text, Press Keyboard Shortcut needs the key, and Run Shortcut needs a shortcut or the option to open the Shortcuts app.
6. Click Done. The command appears in the Custom section at the top of the list.

A faster route is to say "Make this speakable". Apple says this opens the New Voice Control Command window, where you give the command a name, an app and an action ³³.

Names matter. If two commands use the same name, Voice Control shows a warning icon next to the duplicates in the list ³⁴. Check the list for that icon after you save a command. You can also export your custom commands to share them. The export leaves out the files they use, such as apps, documents, Shortcuts and Automator Workflows, so you must move those separately ³⁵.

Do not confuse custom commands with custom vocabulary. A custom command makes a phrase run an action. Custom vocabulary teaches Voice Control to recognize a word, and a Mac accepts up to 1,000 such terms, and you teach it how to say each one ³⁶. See custom vocabulary for how the two differ.

A printable command sheet for daily use

Print this sheet for your desk. Every phrase in it appears on Apple's Voice Control pages. Bracketed words stand for your own item, name, number or text. The Commands list on your Mac is the reference for everything else.

Pause about half a second between commands said in a row ¹². Use two or more words for a custom command name ³².

Where to go next

This guide describes Apple's current Mac User Guide pages, read on 2026-10-16. Apple's pages do not say which macOS release added each command, so this guide gives no version cutoffs. If a phrase works on your Mac but is missing here, the Commands list is the authority.

To find the commands for your task, start with the guide to using dictation on a Mac, or go back to the overview of Voice Control on Mac for setup. If you are deciding between Voice Control, Dictation and Siri, the comparison of the three explains which one does what. For the dictation side of editing, read the guide to dictation commands. iPhone users can compare the iPhone dictation commands guide, since it covers a different command set.

For people who use voice input because of a physical condition, the guide to dictation for RSI and carpal tunnel covers how voice input fits into a typing-related injury. Apple's Mac User Guide lists Voice Control commands in its mobility accessibility section, next to the Accessibility Keyboard and Switch Control.

Three questions follow from this guide. How to click with Voice Control on a Mac explains the naming and grid methods. How to make a custom Voice Control command on a Mac walks through creating and sharing commands. Whether you can use a Mac completely hands-free covers what Voice Control can and cannot do without a keyboard.

If Voice Control's dictation does not suit your work, the best dictation app for Mac compares the built-in options with dedicated apps.