How to Dictate Into Superhuman on a Mac
Superhuman is built for speed, so it is a natural place to want voice typing. The catch is that Superhuman has no dictation engine of its own. On a Mac you supply that with a system-wide voice-to-text app, and the setup takes about a minute.
Key takeaways
- Superhuman relies on your Mac's dictation, not a built-in voice engine.
- A system-wide tool types straight into the compose field like a keyboard.
- On-device dictation keeps sensitive email audio and text on your Mac.
- AI cleanup turns rambling speech into a tidy, send-ready email.
Why Superhuman needs a dictation helper
Superhuman focuses on keyboard-first triage: shortcuts, snippets and split inbox. Voice input is not part of the app itself, which means the quality of your dictation depends entirely on the tool feeding text into the compose window. That is good news, because it lets you pick the engine that matches how you work. Apple's own built-in Dictation is one option, and a dedicated app like BlaBlaType is another when you want cleaner output and stronger privacy. If you are new to the idea, our primer on what AI dictation is and how it works on Mac is a good starting point.
The core mechanic is simple. Any well-built Mac dictation tool works system-wide, so it types wherever the cursor sits. Superhuman's compose box is just another text field to it. Modern speech recognition models are accurate enough that the bottleneck is no longer transcription, it is turning spoken rambling into a polished email.
How dictation flows into Superhuman
Before the steps, it helps to picture the path your voice takes. With an on-device app there is no server hop in the middle. Your microphone feeds a local model, an on-device AI pass cleans the draft, and the finished text is inserted into Superhuman.
Step by step: dictate an email in Superhuman
Install a system-wide dictation app
Download BlaBlaType from the Mac download page and grant the accessibility and microphone permissions macOS asks for. These let the app type into other apps and hear your voice.
Set your dictation shortcut
Pick one global shortcut in the app's settings. This single key is what you press anywhere on your Mac, including inside Superhuman, to start and stop dictation.
Open a Superhuman compose window
In Superhuman, hit C to start a new email or R to reply, then click into the message body so the cursor is blinking where you want the text.
Press the shortcut and speak
Hold or tap your shortcut and dictate naturally. Say the whole message, filler words and all. You do not need to speak punctuation if the app adds it for you.
Review the cleaned draft and send
Release the shortcut. The transcribed, AI-cleaned text drops into the compose box. Skim it, fix any names if needed, and send with Superhuman's usual shortcut.
That is the entire loop. Because most people speak around three to four times faster than they type, a few short emails dictated this way can noticeably shorten an inbox session. The same routine works for other messaging, and we cover the broader case in our guide on how to dictate emails on Mac.
Apple Dictation vs a dedicated app
You can dictate into Superhuman with the tools already on your Mac, but there are real differences in output quality and privacy. This table lays out the trade-offs.
| Feature | Apple Dictation | BlaBlaType |
|---|---|---|
| Types into Superhuman | Yes | Yes |
| Runs on-device | Mixed by model | Always local |
| AI cleanup of filler and grammar | No | Yes |
| Custom dictionary for names | Limited | Yes |
| Translate as you speak | No | 90+ languages |
| Price | Free | No-card trial, then paid |
Apple Dictation is free and fine for a quick sentence. Where a dedicated app earns its place is the cleanup: raw speech that would embarrass you in a client email gets rewritten into something send-ready before it reaches Superhuman. The custom dictionary also stops it from mangling names and jargon, which matters when your inbox is full of company and product names.
Dictate into Superhuman, privately
On-device speech to text with AI cleanup that types straight into your compose box. No card needed for the trial.
Download for macOSTips for cleaner voice-typed emails
A few habits make dictated Superhuman emails read better on the first pass. Speak in full thoughts rather than one word at a time, since the AI cleanup has more context to work with. Add the recipient's name and any product terms to your custom dictionary once, and they will spell correctly every time. If you write to people in more than one language, lean on translate-as-you-speak so you can think in your native tongue and send in theirs. And keep the review step: dictation gets you 95% of the way, but a quick human glance before hitting send is always worth it. For a wider view of the tools available, see our roundup of the best dictation software for Mac in 2026.
Frequently asked questions
Does Superhuman have built-in dictation on Mac?
Superhuman does not ship its own dictation engine. On a Mac you dictate into Superhuman using a system-wide voice-to-text tool such as Apple Dictation or BlaBlaType, which types into the Superhuman compose field just like any other app.
How do I dictate into Superhuman without sending my voice to the cloud?
Use an on-device dictation app. BlaBlaType runs speech recognition locally with Whisper and Parakeet models, so your audio and transcript never leave your Mac while you dictate an email into Superhuman.
Can dictation clean up filler words in my Superhuman emails?
Yes. BlaBlaType adds on-device AI cleanup powered by Apple Intelligence that removes filler words, fixes punctuation and grammar, and can adapt tone before the text lands in your Superhuman draft.
Which shortcut do I press to start dictating in Superhuman?
You press whatever global shortcut your dictation app uses. In BlaBlaType you set one shortcut, place your cursor in the Superhuman compose box, hold or tap it, speak, and the cleaned text appears where the cursor is.
Can I dictate emails in other languages in Superhuman?
Yes. BlaBlaType supports more than 90 languages and can translate as you speak, so you can dictate in one language and have the email appear in another inside Superhuman.