Why Disable macOS Dictation?
macOS includes a built-in Dictation feature that allows you to speak to your Mac instead of typing. While “Server-based Dictation” requires an internet connection, Apple also offers “Enhanced Dictation” (or offline dictation on modern Apple Silicon Macs), which downloads a large language model package directly to your hard drive.
This offline language package can consume anywhere from 800MB to over 2GB of valuable disk space. If you are struggling with a nearly full hard drive on a MacBook Air and you never use voice dictation, deleting this package is a quick way to reclaim a significant amount of storage.
How to Turn Off Dictation and Delete the Language Files
You can disable the feature and trigger the removal of the offline files directly from System Settings.
- Click the Apple Logo in the top-left corner of the screen.
- Select System Settings… (or System Preferences on older versions of macOS).
- Scroll down the left sidebar and click on Keyboard.
- Look at the main panel on the right and scroll down to the Dictation section.
- Toggle the main switch next to Dictation to the Off position.
- A warning prompt may appear asking if you are sure you want to turn it off. Confirm your choice.
Reclaiming the Disk Space
Simply turning off the switch usually prompts macOS to automatically delete the heavy offline language files in the background during its next maintenance cycle.
However, if you are running an older version of macOS (like Catalina or Mojave), you can force the deletion of the Enhanced Dictation file by opening the Terminal and running:
sudo rm -rf /System/Library/Speech/Recognizers/SpeechRecognitionCoreLanguages/en_US.SpeechRecognition(Note: Change the ‘en_US’ portion if you downloaded a different language pack).
By keeping this feature disabled, you ensure your Mac doesn’t waste gigabytes of storage on voice recognition models you don’t use.