Short answer: To dictate in Notability, add a typed text box to your note, then tap the microphone on the iOS keyboard (or press the Mac dictation shortcut) and speak. Notability has no separate dictation feature, so for longer, more accurate notes that do not time out, a dedicated voice keyboard types straight into the same text box.
Notability is a favorite for students, researchers, and anyone who likes mixing handwriting, typed notes, audio recordings, and PDF annotations on one page. But handwriting on a screen is slow, and typing on a touch keyboard during a fast lecture or meeting is even slower. Dictation solves both problems: you capture the words at the speed you can speak them.
The catch is that Notability does not have its own dictation button. It relies on the dictation built into iOS, iPadOS, and macOS, which works inside any typed text box. This guide shows you exactly where to tap on each device, how to handle the limits you will hit during a long session, and how to get cleaner notes with less editing afterward.
First, you need a typed text box
This is the step most people miss. Notability is primarily a handwriting and ink app, so by default your finger or stylus draws on the page. Dictation only flows into typed text, not handwritten ink. So before you can dictate, switch to the text tool:
- Open the note you want to add to.
- Tap the text tool in the toolbar (the "T" icon).
- Tap on the page where you want the text to start. A text box appears and the on-screen keyboard slides up.
- Now you are in a normal text field, which is where dictation works.
If you skip this and try to dictate while the pen or highlighter is active, nothing happens because there is no text field to receive the words. Once the text box is open and the cursor is blinking, you are ready.
Dictating in Notability on iPad and iPhone
With the text box open and the keyboard showing:
- Look for the microphone icon on the iOS keyboard, usually at the bottom near the space bar.
- Tap it. The keyboard switches to listening mode and shows a sound wave.
- Speak your note clearly and at a natural pace.
- Tap the keyboard icon or pause to stop, then carry on typing or dictating as you like.
If you do not see the microphone, dictation is switched off in Settings. Go to Settings → General → Keyboard and toggle Enable Dictation on. The first time, iOS asks you to confirm and may download a language file. After that the mic appears on the keyboard everywhere, Notability included.
On iPad, a quick tip: if you use an external keyboard with your iPad, the on-screen keyboard mic disappears, so the built-in route is awkward. That is one of several reasons a dedicated voice keyboard, covered below, fits the iPad workflow better.
Dictating in Notability on Mac
Notability also runs on macOS, and dictation works the same way it does in any Mac text field:
- Add a typed text box to your note.
- Click inside it so the cursor is blinking.
- Press the dictation shortcut, which is usually pressing the
Fn(Globe) key twice, or choose Edit → Start Dictation. - Speak, then press
Fnagain to stop.
If nothing happens, enable dictation under System Settings → Keyboard → Dictation. This is the same system-level dictation that powers dictation in any Mac app, so once it is on, it works across your whole machine.
Speaking punctuation so your notes read cleanly
Dictation captures words, but it cannot guess where your sentences end. You speak the punctuation aloud:
- Say "period", "comma", and "question mark" for those marks.
- Say "new line" to drop down a line, or "new paragraph" for a blank line and a fresh block.
- Say "open quote" and "close quote" around quoted material, handy when you are copying a lecturer or a source word for word.
For notes, a light touch is fine. Many people dictate quick bullet points and clean up punctuation later. But if you are capturing something you will reread for an exam or a report, speaking the marks as you go saves a second editing pass.
The limits you will hit during a long session
Built-in dictation was designed for short bursts like a text reply or a search query, not a fifty-minute lecture. Three things tend to frustrate Notability users who lean on it heavily.
It stops on its own
If you pause to think, or simply talk long enough, the dictation session ends and you have to tap the mic again. In a fast meeting or class, those restarts mean missed sentences. This is the same underlying limit we explain in why iPhone dictation keeps stopping.
Accuracy slips on names and jargon
Lecture notes are full of names, technical terms, and abbreviations, which is exactly where built-in dictation tends to guess wrong. You end up with transcripts that need real cleanup, undercutting the time you saved.
It is tied to one device's keyboard behavior
The iOS mic and the Mac shortcut behave differently, and if you move between an iPad in class and a Mac at your desk, you relearn the quirks. A consistent dictation experience across devices is hard to get from the built-in tools alone.
A faster, longer-running way to dictate into Notability
Voice Keyboard Pro closes these gaps. On iPhone and iPad it is a custom keyboard with a built-in mic button, so it replaces the standard keyboard inside Notability's text box. You tap the mic, speak for as long as you need, and the words type into your note. There is no session that times out on you mid-thought, which is the single biggest difference during a long lecture or meeting.
Because it is a keyboard, it works inside Notability exactly the way it works in Messages, Mail, or any other app. You set it up once and it is everywhere. If you are new to third-party keyboards on iOS, our guide to the best third-party keyboards for iPhone walks through how they work and how to switch.
A few features earn their place in a note-taking app specifically:
- Voice Edit. If a word lands wrong, you speak the correction instead of fishing for the cursor on a touchscreen. That is far quicker than tapping between characters in a dense text box.
- Personal dictionary. Add the names, course terms, and abbreviations you use constantly, and they come out spelled correctly every time instead of needing manual fixes.
- Two-way translation. Studying in a second language or transcribing a source in another language? You can dictate in one language and have it appear in another, across 24 languages, without leaving the note.
On the Mac side, Voice Keyboard Pro lives in the menu bar. You hold a hotkey, speak, release, and the text appears at the cursor in your Notability text box, the same as it would in any app. The hold-to-speak gesture keeps recording for as long as you hold the key, so the cut-off problem disappears.
For note-taking in particular, privacy is worth a line: Voice Keyboard Pro's servers store only operational pings. Your audio and the text of your notes are not kept on a server, so private lecture notes, research, and personal journaling stay on your device.
Notability already records audio. Why dictate?
Notability is well known for recording audio alongside your notes, so a fair question is why bother dictating at all. The answer is that an audio recording is not searchable or skimmable. You still have to listen back in real time to find anything. Dictated text, on the other hand, is instantly searchable, editable, and ready to drop into an essay or a summary.
The two work well together. Record the audio for safety, and dictate the key points as text so you have a written record you can actually scan. If you take a lot of notes on an iPad, our broader guide to voice to text on iPad covers more of these workflows.
Why speaking beats typing for notes
The speed gap is the whole point. The average adult types around 40 words per minute, and even quick typists land near 80 to 100, while on a glass touchscreen real-world typing is usually much slower than that. Most people speak comfortably at 130 to 150 words per minute. During a lecture that moves at the speaker's pace, that difference decides whether you capture the idea or lose it.
Dictation also frees your eyes and attention. Instead of staring at a keyboard hunting for keys, you can watch the slide, the whiteboard, or the speaker while your notes fill themselves in. For students and researchers, that shift from transcribing to actually listening is often more valuable than the raw speed.
Handwriting is for diagrams and emphasis. Dictation is for getting the words down before the moment passes.
Frequently asked questions
Does Notability have a built-in dictation button?
No. Notability uses the dictation built into iOS, iPadOS, and macOS. You dictate by adding a typed text box and using the system microphone or dictation shortcut.
Why can't I dictate onto a Notability page?
Dictation only works in a typed text field. If the pen or highlighter tool is active, switch to the text tool first, tap on the page to create a text box, and then dictate.
Can I dictate into Notability with a third-party keyboard?
Yes. A voice keyboard like Voice Keyboard Pro replaces the standard iOS keyboard inside Notability, so its mic button types straight into your note, with no session time-out.
How do I fix wrong words after dictating?
You can edit by hand, or with Voice Keyboard Pro on iPhone and iPad you can use Voice Edit to speak the correction instead of tapping around the touchscreen.
Notability gives you one of the most flexible note pages on Apple devices. Adding your voice to it means you stop falling behind the speaker and stop straining your hands on a glass keyboard. Start with the built-in dictation to get comfortable speaking your notes, and when the cut-offs and cleanup start to slow you down, Voice Keyboard Pro has a free tier so you can try continuous dictation in Notability on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac.