Does Apple keep recordings of what you dictate?

Apple keeps different things depending on how your Mac processes your speech. The audio of server dictation is not stored unless you opt in. Request history, which includes transcripts, can be kept for up to two years, whatever the audio setting. Which of these applies to you depends on the mode and on one sharing switch, so check both rather than assume.

Apple does not store server dictation audio unless you opt in

When dictation is sent to Apple's servers, Apple says it is not stored unless you opt in to Improve Siri and Dictation ¹. Opting in is the step that allows Apple to keep the audio. Apple's Mac Help describes the same choice as Share Audio Recordings, which appears when you enable Dictation ².

If you opt in, Apple may also review a sample of the stored audio. Apple says only its own employees, under confidentiality obligations, can access that audio ³. That is a company commitment you cannot inspect from your Mac, so treat it as policy.

On-device dictation sends nothing to Apple's servers

Dictation can run on your Mac. For general text such as messages and notes, Apple says voice inputs and transcripts are processed on your device and not sent to Siri servers ⁴. In that mode there is no audio or transcript for Apple to store.

Do not assume you are in that mode. Keyboard settings show whether your dictated audio and transcripts are processed on the device or sent to Apple servers ⁵. The indicator is the test to use. Not every language is processed on the device, so check it for each language you use.

Apple keeps request history with transcripts for up to two years

Turning off audio storage does not stop all retention. Apple says Siri and Dictation request history, including transcripts, is linked to a random, device-generated identifier rather than your Apple Account, and that Apple may keep it for up to two years to develop and improve its services ⁶. The text of Apple's page covers Siri and Dictation together, so assume that dictated transcripts may fall in the same group.

Apple also says it may review a subset of Siri transcripts, and that the small subset it has reviewed may be kept beyond two years ⁷. Apple's sentence names Siri, not Dictation, so read it as a warning about the category rather than a confirmed rule for dictated text.

The table sets out what Apple states for each mode.

What to do if you want less kept

1. Check the indicator in Keyboard settings for each language you dictate in ⁵. If it says the text stays on your device, the server-side rules do not apply to that text.
2. Turn off Improve Siri & Dictation in Privacy & Security, under Analytics & Improvements. That stops future audio storage. It does not remove audio already kept, and it does not remove history.
3. Delete recent history. Apple's steps can delete request history that is less than six months old, when your Mac is online. Our guide to deleting Siri and Dictation history gives the steps for macOS Tahoe 26.
4. Keep sensitive dictation off the server. If you handle patient or client information, read whether Apple Dictation is HIPAA compliant before you decide.

For the wider picture, see our guide to Apple's dictation privacy and our overview of dictation on Mac. If you want to know whether Apple's servers are involved at all, read whether Apple dictation works offline. For who can listen to voice recordings more generally, see our guide on human review of voice recordings. The term behind the setting is in our glossary entry for Improve Siri and Dictation.