The Accidental Voice Trigger
macOS includes a powerful built-in Dictation feature. In addition to triggering it via a keyboard shortcut (like double-tapping the Fn key), Apple includes an accessibility option called “Voice Control” (and previously, a specific Dictation keyword phrase). This feature allows you to activate dictation completely hands-free by saying a specific keyword, such as “Computer, start dictating.”
While this is an excellent accessibility tool, it means your Mac’s microphone is constantly listening in the background for that specific phrase. Furthermore, if you are on a video call or watching a movie that happens to trigger the phrase, your Mac will suddenly interrupt your workflow and start transcribing audio. If you only ever use the keyboard shortcut and want to stop your Mac from constantly listening for a trigger word, you should disable this feature.
How to Disable the Dictation Keyword Phrase
You can turn off the voice trigger within the System Settings.
- Click the Apple Logo in the top-left corner and select System Settings… (or System Preferences).
- Scroll down the left sidebar and click on Accessibility.
- In the main pane, scroll down to the “Speech” or “Motor” section and click on Voice Control.
- If the main Voice Control toggle switch at the top is turned On, toggle it Off. (This stops the Mac from constantly listening for commands).
- If you are on an older version of macOS (Catalina or earlier), you will need to go to System Preferences > Keyboard > Dictation.
- Uncheck the box labelled Enable the dictation keyword phrase (usually set to “Computer”).
Your Mac will immediately stop monitoring your microphone for the wake word. You can still trigger dictation manually at any time by pressing your designated keyboard shortcut, ensuring your privacy and preventing accidental activations.