How to Enable and Use Voice Control in MacOS Catalina

Apple released MacOS Catalina the latest Operating system on October 07, 2019. The new OS has tons of features that MacOS Mojave doesn’t have if we discuss MacOS Catalina features then users can get thousand of benefits from macOS Catalina features. The well-known feature called SideCar which is the best feature that allows users to make iPad as a second screen display but here Apple announced the next handy feature on macOS Catalina Called Voice Control. with Voice control you can access your Mac computer even you don’t need to use any input devices such as keyboard and Mouse because you can give input to your computer with your voice. Therefore, in this article, I am going to guide you How to Enable and Use Voice Control in MacOS Catalina.

However, Voice Control is available on iOS 13, iPadOS 13, and MacOS Catalina 10.15 it means if you are using iOS 13, iPadOS 13 or MacOS Catalina Operating system then you can enable and use voice control feature. Voice control feature allows you to type text and send it to the opponent, even you can create full documents and send it Via Email or Social Media. Moreover, if you dislike using a mouse again and again to open any application then the feature allows you to give voice commands like “open Google Chrome”, “Play Music”, “Quit Photoshop CC”, and you can do anything with Voice commands.

How to Enable and Use Voice Control in MacOS Catalina

Thanks to Apple for releasing such products and including handy features that make users work more easy. So, here I will show you all the procedures you need to know about Voice Control feature. therefore, enable voice control and use the feature to control your MacOS Catalina Via Voice commands.

Some MacOS Catalina Handy Features

iPad Apps on the Mac: Now you can use your iPad application on your MacOS Catalina because this time Apple has included this feature on MacOS Catalina and it allows you to connect your iPad with MacOS Catalina and use any app you want on macOS Catalina.
Use SideCar: MacOS Mojave is a well-known operating system but MacOS Catalina is in high demand nowadays because of its handy feature. Apple has added SideCar feature on macOS Catalina and with this feature, you can make your iPad as a second screen display.
Voice Control: With this feature, you can control your Mac through Voice commands and you don’t need to use any input devices like keyboard and mouse. Enable and use Voice control feature on iOS 13, iPadOS 13, and MacOS Catalina. Use voice control feature and type text on documents or on social media and send it, or give voice commands to open any application on your Mac.
Screen Time Comes to the Mac: This time Apple has added this feature to know how much time you spend on a single app and which application you are using the most. it will give you all the report and you will get the idea of how much you spend time on any application.

Related Article: MacOS Catalina Features you should know

Introduction to Voice Control Feature

MacOS Catalina is the new operating system and it has several major features that are awesome. So, Voice Control is Apple’s new brand for controlling MacOS Catalina with voice commands and it is available in iOS 13, iPadOS 13 too.

Voice Control is the best feature for those who hate using input devices time by time and those who can’t type and use the keyboard, so, it is the best opportunity to use their Mac computer. However, you can type text to documents or any other applications with voice commands even you can use the application by giving a speech like “Close Window”, “Open Safari”, “Send Message”, and many other commands.

So, this feature is available only on the MacOS Catalina Operating system and MacOS Mojave doesn’t have such a feature but it is in high demand.

Some Voice Control Essential Commands

Here are some handy voice commands that you should know and you can review all voice commands in System Preferences > Accessibility > Voice Control, Here, tap on the commands button and you will see all the commands for various function, so, if you want to see the command option then click on each one.

There will be several voice commands and beside each command you will see a checkbox, So, check any box you want Voice Control to understand and uncheck the box you don’t want voice control to follow. for example, Open Safari, Launch Safari, Close Safari, and many other commands.

Open
Quit
Hide
New item
Search
Open Spotlight
Zoom
Close
Copy
Paste
Format text
Delete That – Voice Control understands this to mean delete what you have just typed.

1: How to Enable Voice Control Feature

Make sure you are using MacOS Catalina 10.15 and you have connected your PC with the Internet. if you are new to MacOS Catalina then you are curious to know about Voice Control feature, Firstly, turn on voice control feature by following the below steps. Afterward, wait for some minutes to enable voice control because your Mac needs to download some files for your selected language.

Once, you turn on the feature then your keyboard dictation will not be anymore. Although when you enable voice control then you will see a microphone icon on your screen. Therefore, follow the below steps to turn on the voice feature in MacOS Catalina.

Go to Mac’s Dock and open System Preferences.
After that, click on Accessibility.
Here, tap on the voice control option from the left side of the window.
Now you are on Voice Control option and Enable Voice Control feature.

The above steps will turn on the voice control feature but if you want to turn it on shortly then tell “Siri” turn on voice control, afterward, Siri will enable voice control feature.

2: How to Change Voice Control Language

Once, you turn on the voice control feature then it will select the default language you setup. So, if you know the English language then it’s fine but there are some people whose language is not English, in this case, follow the below steps to change the language and set your own language. Remember, any language you select for voice control then voice control will understand only that language.

Go to Dock and open System Preferences.
Click on Accessibility.
Tap on the Voice Control from the left side of the page.
As you have enabled voice control, So, click on the drop-down menu next to the Language option.
Click on Customize.
Now, select any language you want to add.
After that, click Ok.

3: How to Select the Language in Voice Control

Suppose, you have selected more than one language and you would like to use multiple languages in a different place, So, at that time, you need to change the voice control language. for that, follow the below steps.

Tap on the voice control icon on the desktop screen.
Afterward, tap the current language shown on the voice control icon.
If you have selected multiple languages then you will see here and choose the language you want to use.

4: How to Enable/Disable Commands in Voice Control

To use the voice control feature in macOS Catalina you need to use different commands because voice control will only understand the commands that are added. Therefore, you will need to enable commands in voice control in MacOS Catalina. In some cases, you might want to disable commands in voice control because you would like to use a keyboard and mouse.

Go to Dock and open System Preferences.
Click on Accessibility.
Tap on the Voice Control option from the left side of the window.
On the bottom-right side you will see commands button, So, click the Commands button.
Here are lots of commands but you have to check the commands boxes you want to enable and uncheck the boxes for commands you want to disable.
At last click on the Done button.

5: How to Create Custom Commands in Voice Control

In voice control, there are lots of commands that you can select and enable them but you can create your own commands in voice control. for example, to use or to open any application or your own picture then you can create custom commands like “open my pic”, “close my pic”, “delete my pic”. So, there are many commands you can use them.

Go to Dock and open System Preferences.
Click on Accessibility.
Tap on Voice Control from the left side of the page.
On the bottom-right side of the window, click the Commands button.
Click the (+).
After that, add your own command in the When I Say box. well, this command is usable across all apps by default.
To use the command to only one app then click on the White Using drop-down menu.
Now, choose the Application you would like to use with your own custom command.
So, what you would like to do with your custom command, therefore, choose how this custom command is Performed from the drop-down menu.
Click Done.

6: How to Delete Custom Commands in Voice Control

Suppose, you have created many custom commands and after few days you would like to delete some of the commands. to do that, follow the below steps.

Go to Dock and open System Preferences.
Click on Accessibility.
Tap on Voice Control from the left side of the page.
On the bottom-right side of the window, click the Commands button.
Click the (-).
Then, click the Delete button to confirm.

7: How to Get Voice Control Alert

If you are new with voice control then it will be very helpful to receive an alert sound every time a command is being recognized in voice control. So, it means, whenever you give command to voice control then you will get a flash sound. To enable the alert, follow the below steps.

Go to Dock and open Preferences.
Click on Accessibility.
Tap the Voice Control from the left side of the window.
Now, click the box next to Play Sound when the command is recognized.
It means when you send a command to voice control and the command is being recoginzed then you will hear a flash sound.

8: How to Wake/Sleep Voice Control in MacOS Catalina

You have got everything about voice control and the above heading will help you a lot to use voice control features. At last, if you don’t want to continue with voice control or you want to disable voice control for a few minutes then voice control gives you the best option to wake up and sleep voice control. to sleep voice control simply say “Go to Sleep” or click the sleep option (This option will pause the voice control). after that, if you want to resume voice control then click the Wake-Up or say “Resume Voice Control”.

To sleep the voice control, click the Sleep on the voice control icon on your desktop screen. Remember, during this time voice control will not work.
To wake the voice control, click the Wake on the voice control icon on your desktop screen.

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Conclusion

MacOS Catalina has tons of features and if you are using MacOS Catalina then don’t miss its handy features. However, you get everything about the Voice Control feature and this feature is only in MacOS Catalina, Therefore, make sure you have MacOS Catalina Operating System. Besides that, if we were missing anything about voice control then please let us know in the comment box. Moreover, if our article was helpful for you then feel free to give your feedback.