How do you dictate in ChatGPT?

Tap the microphone icon in the text box, speak, and then read the text before you send it. ¹ That is the whole method in the ChatGPT mobile and desktop apps. The rest of this page covers the steps in order, the cases where the button behaves differently, and what to do when it fails.

Tap the microphone, speak, then check the text

1. Open the ChatGPT app on your phone or desktop, and start a new chat or open an existing one.
2. Tap the microphone icon in the text box. ¹
3. Speak. Your words appear in the box as text.
4. Read the text, correct any mistakes, and then send the prompt.

The fourth step matters most. The transcript is a draft of what you said, not a finished prompt. OpenAI's own help article describes the feature the same way: "Use ChatGPT Dictation when you want to record a prompt, review and edit its transcription, and then send it as text." ²

Dictation is also not the spoken conversation. ChatGPT Voice is a separate feature in which the app talks back. If that is what you want, read our question on dictation and voice mode before you start.

The web version is not confirmed by OpenAI's pages

The OpenAI pages we read name the mobile and desktop apps for dictation. They do not say the microphone button appears on the ChatGPT website in a browser. Test it in your own browser before you depend on it, with a short sentence first.

If the button is missing or silent, check the site microphone permission first. A browser that has been blocked from the microphone records nothing, and the button can look as if it is broken. If you use a browser every day and need dictation there, a tool that works across all apps may be simpler. Our guide to dictating into any app covers that option.

The audio is sent to OpenAI's models

OpenAI's dictation FAQ says that when you press the microphone icon, the recorded audio is sent to its models to be transcribed, and the text is returned for you to edit. ³ So the transcription is not done only on your device. Your audio leaves the device, and you should treat a dictated prompt the way you treat any text you send to ChatGPT.

Training depends on your settings. OpenAI's FAQ says that if you are a consumer user who has chosen to share audio to improve its models, dictation audio may be used for training. ⁴ The same FAQ says you can stop sharing in the data controls page of your ChatGPT settings.

If the prompt contains something sensitive, such as client details or medical notes, read OpenAI's data controls before you dictate it. Our guide to whether voice to text is safe explains how to think about this for any dictation tool.

When the microphone button fails

Most failures fall into three patterns. Each one has a different first check.

• Nothing appears. In an April 2025 OpenAI community post, a user reported that ChatGPT dictation registered nothing in Chrome. ⁵ That is one user's report, so treat it as a pattern to check for, not a measure of how often it happens. Start with the microphone permission in your browser or phone settings.
• The connection drops. On iOS, ChatGPT automatically retries dictation once if it fails "because of a connection issue or timeout." ⁶ If a long prompt is lost, a weak connection is the likely cause. Dictate a short test sentence on the same network before you try a long prompt.
• Empty or wrong text. Test with a short sentence first, and check which microphone your computer is using.

For step-by-step fixes, read our question on why ChatGPT dictation is not working. The guide to dictation that is not working covers the general causes.

OpenAI's newer dictation model rolls out across all plans

OpenAI's release notes say that on June 26, 2026 it began rolling out "a new speech-to-text model for dictation in ChatGPT across all plans," with no change to how you dictate. ⁷ The notes do not name the speech model, so this page does not either. Our question on which speech to text ChatGPT uses lists what we checked.

If you already have a recording, use an upload instead

Dictation is for speech you say now. If you already have a recording, ChatGPT can take an audio file, but that is a separate feature. OpenAI says audio uploads in ChatGPT are available with paid subscriptions and workspaces, including Enterprise. ⁸ Our question on whether ChatGPT can transcribe audio covers the steps for files.

Dictate into every app, not only ChatGPT

The microphone button works only inside ChatGPT. If you want speech in email, documents and the chat window at once, a system-wide tool is the better fit. Yap, which we make, is an on-device dictation app for Mac and Windows that types into whichever app has the cursor. You can compare it with the built-in options on the download page. Built-in tools are enough for many people, so start with the microphone button and add a second tool only if you need one.

For related questions, see how to dictate in Claude, why ChatGPT dictation is not working and the difference between ChatGPT dictation and voice mode. Our full guide is dictation in ChatGPT and Claude, and the apps and browsers overview links every other guide in this group.