Is Apple Dictation safe to use?

Apple Dictation is safe enough for ordinary personal use, such as messages, notes and email, once you know which mode your Mac is using. Safety here means what Apple keeps and who can reach it, and most of the answer depends on one setting. In on-device mode your speech stays on the Mac. In server mode it goes to Apple, where the audio is not kept by default but the request history can be.

On-device dictation is the safest mode, and you can check which one you use

The first question is where your speech is processed. Apple says that for general text, such as messages and notes, voice inputs and transcripts can be processed on your device and not sent to Siri servers ¹. That is on-device speech recognition: the recognizer runs on your Mac, so there is no server copy to manage.

You do not have to guess. Apple says the Keyboard settings show whether your audio and transcripts are processed on your device or sent to Apple servers ². Check that line for each language you dictate in, because the on-device list covers fewer languages than Dictation as a whole. Our guide to Apple Dictation privacy gives the steps for current macOS versions.

Server dictation does not store your audio by default

If the line says your speech is sent to Apple, the audio is still not kept by default. Apple says the things you dictate that are sent to its servers "will not be stored unless you opt in" to Improve Siri and Dictation ³. The opt-in is the Share Audio Recordings choice. When you agree, Apple may store audio of your Dictation and review a sample of it ⁴. That setting is Improve Siri & Dictation, and if it is on, you should turn it off.

Apple also says that only its own employees, under strict confidentiality obligations, can access stored audio ⁵. That is a company commitment, not something you can inspect on your Mac, so treat it as policy rather than proof.

Request history can outlast the audio, so the text is the part to watch

Turning off audio sharing does not stop all storage. Apple says your request history, which includes transcripts, is linked to a random, device-generated identifier rather than to your Apple Account, and that Apple may retain and use it for up to two years ⁶. The audio can be gone while the text remains. Our question on whether Apple keeps your dictation recordings explains the difference between audio and history.

You can remove recent history yourself. Apple's steps delete history that is less than six months old ⁷. Older history cannot be removed with those steps, and the deletion needs an internet connection. The steps are in how to delete Siri and Dictation history on a Mac.

It depends: a personal note and a patient record need different answers

Safe for personal notes is not the same as safe for regulated work. Health information needs a written agreement that makes the provider answerable for protecting it. HHS guidance for cloud services says the covered entity and the provider must sign a HIPAA-compliant business associate agreement ⁸. Apple's consumer privacy pages do not describe that kind of agreement for Dictation, so if you handle protected health information, read whether Apple Dictation is HIPAA compliant before you dictate it.

The table sets out the common cases.

For a related question, can AI models leak what you dictated covers how training and retention can expose text beyond the app itself.

What to do before you rely on Apple Dictation

1. Confirm the Keyboard settings line for the languages you dictate in, and treat anything that says "sent to Apple servers" as server dictation.
2. Make sure Improve Siri & Dictation is off unless you have a specific reason to share audio.
3. Delete any recent Siri and Dictation history you do not need, and remember that older history stays with Apple.
4. For patient, client or legal material, get a written agreement covering the data before you dictate it, and use the offline dictation on Mac route if you need speech to stay on the device.

Apple Dictation is a sound choice for ordinary personal use once you have checked the mode and the sharing setting. It is not a substitute for a compliance review, and this is general information, not advice for your practice or case.

If you want a dedicated app that keeps speech on the device across more apps, Yap, which we make, is an on-device dictation app for Mac and Windows. Read its privacy terms as you would any app's, and compare them with Apple's before you choose.