Modern Mac computers feature a built-in Dictation tool that allows you to speak into your microphone while the operating system automatically types out your words. To make this feature easily accessible, Apple mapped it to a specific keyboard shortcut: pressing the Fn (Function) key or the microphone key twice in rapid succession.
While voice-to-text is great for drafting long emails, this double-tap shortcut can be a massive annoyance for gamers or power users who frequently use the Fn key in combination with other shortcuts. Accidentally double-tapping the key instantly pauses your game, pops up a microphone icon on your screen, and starts recording your room’s audio. If you never use the dictation feature, you should completely disable the shortcut to prevent these accidental interruptions.
Disabling the Dictation Shortcut in System Settings
You can turn off the keyboard shortcut without disabling your microphone or breaking other Siri voice features.
- Click the Apple Logo in the absolute top-left corner of your Mac’s screen.
- Select System Settings… from the dropdown menu (or “System Preferences” if you are running an older version of macOS).
- Scroll down the left-hand sidebar and click on Keyboard.
- In the main Keyboard panel, look for the section labelled Dictation.
- Next to the “Dictation” heading, you will see a toggle switch. If you want to disable the feature entirely, you can simply click this switch to Off. However, if you want to keep the feature but just remove the annoying shortcut, leave the toggle on and proceed to the next step.
- Look slightly below the toggle for a setting labelled Shortcut.
- Click the dropdown menu next to it (which is likely set to “Press Fn (Function) Key Twice”).
- Select Off from the dropdown list.
The change is instantaneous. You can immediately test it by rapidly mashing the Fn key on your keyboard. The microphone icon will no longer appear on your screen, and your audio will not be recorded.