Push-to-talk dictation on a Mac: set up a hold key

Use a dictation app with a Hold trigger: hold a key you never type with on its own (Right Option, Right Command, Fn or a spare mouse button), speak, and release to paste. Apple Dictation, as of 2026-09-27, starts and stops with a shortcut but has no hold-to-talk mode. In Nota, set it in Settings > Recording shortcuts: pick the key, then set Trigger to Hold or Auto.

Hold, toggle or auto

There are three ways a dictation key can behave. Pick by how long you usually talk.

Trigger	Start	Stop	Best for
Toggle	Press once	Press again	Long dictation, hands free
Hold	Hold the key	Let go	Short messages, prompts, replies
Auto (Nota’s default)	Hold, or double-tap to lock	Let go, or press once after a lock	Both, without choosing

Hold is true push-to-talk. The recording lasts exactly as long as your finger stays down, so you never forget to stop it. Nota ignores a tap shorter than a quarter of a second, so brushing the key starts nothing.

Toggle suits long takes: a whole email, a brief, meeting notes to yourself. The risk is leaving it running.

Auto combines them. Hold to talk for short things. For long ones, tap the key twice quickly: the recording pill stays on after you let go, and one more press finishes. A single quick tap does nothing.

Which key to use

The rule: a key that does nothing useful when pressed alone.

• Right Option or Right Command. Most people never press them alone. Watch out if your keyboard layout uses Option for accented letters (German, Polish, French and others): pick Right Command instead.
• Fn (Globe). Handy on laptops, but macOS may already use it. In System Settings > Keyboard, set the Globe key option to Do Nothing so it does not open the emoji picker or Apple Dictation at the same time.
• A mouse button. The middle click or a side button works well if you keep a hand on the mouse.
• Left Control. Works, and the settings above use it, but Control is part of many shortcuts.

A modifier key used for push-to-talk still works for its normal job. In Nota, a modifier-only shortcut counts only when it goes down and up with no other key in between, so ⌃C or ⌥-letter typing never starts a recording.

Nota will not accept a plain letter or number without a modifier (F1 to F20 are fine alone), Esc, common system shortcuts such as ⌘C, or a shortcut already in use. It tells you which app has it. You can add a second shortcut for the same recorder, for example a key and a mouse button.

Apple Dictation’s shortcut options

Apple Dictation is set in System Settings > Keyboard > Dictation. Per Apple’s guide, you can start it with the Microphone key on the top row, with the dictation shortcut (the choices include pressing a key twice, or Customize), or with Edit > Start Dictation.

It starts on the first press and stops on the next, or when you stop talking for a while. There is no hold-to-talk option, no per-app style and no choice of speech model.

Cancel and undo

Push-to-talk makes accidental recordings short, but you still need an exit.

• Cancel: press Esc twice within 1.5 seconds while the pill is showing. The first press shows a hint. Prefer one press? Set your own cancel key in Settings > Other shortcuts; that key cancels on a single press.
• Undo a cancel: a notice with an Undo button stays for 5 seconds. Undo transcribes the same recording with the same settings and pastes it. Starting a new dictation ends the offer.

Fixing a shortcut that does nothing

Work through these in order:

1. Permissions. Global shortcuts need Accessibility access (System Settings > Privacy & Security > Accessibility). If it is missing, Nota shows “Accessibility permission missing” at launch. If Nota is already on in that list but the key still does nothing, turn it off and on again: macOS sometimes keeps a stale entry after an update.
2. A conflict. Another app may own the key: a launcher, a window manager, or macOS itself (Fn and the Microphone key). Change one of them.
3. A single quick tap. In Auto, one short tap does nothing by design. Hold the key, or tap twice to lock.
4. The key is part of a chord. If you press another key within a second of a modifier-only shortcut, Nota treats it as typing and cancels.
5. Secure input. Some password fields and apps block key monitoring while they are focused. Click elsewhere and try again.

Every shortcut is listed in the shortcuts docs; permissions are in Permissions and other fixes in Troubleshooting.

Sources

• Apple Mac User Guide: Dictate messages and documents, checked 2026-09-27.
• Nota docs, Shortcuts and Permissions, checked 2026-09-27.