Mac Dictation Not Working in Todoist? 10 Fixes That Work

Short answer: On a Mac, dictation types into whichever Todoist field has a blinking cursor. Most failures come from focus or from Todoist reading your words: a selected task is not a text field, Return saves the task, and date words, hash signs and at signs become due dates, projects and labels.

You open Todoist on your Mac to get a task out of your head, and you would rather say it than type it. You press your dictation shortcut, start talking, and nothing appears. Or Quick Add pops up, but your first words land in the app behind it. Or you dictate a task, save it, and what you see is not what you said: half the sentence is missing, a due date you never set has appeared, or the task has filed itself in a project you were not looking at. Or you add a long comment to a task, move on, and find it still sitting in the box the next morning.

Todoist on the Mac is built to be driven from the keyboard, and it reads everything you type. A list of tasks is not a text field, and when no field has a cursor, single keys act as shortcuts. Return in a task name does not start a new line. It saves the task. Words that look like dates become due dates, a word after a hash sign becomes a project, a word after an at sign becomes a label, and "p1" becomes a priority. Dictation knows none of this. It types into whichever field has focus, exactly as if you had typed it yourself, and Todoist treats the result in exactly the same way.

So most Todoist dictation problems on a Mac are about focus, and about what Todoist does with your words, not about your microphone. This guide works through every cause in order, starting with the most common. The fixes apply whether you use Todoist in Safari, Chrome or another browser, or in the Todoist desktop app for Mac. If dictation is failing in every app on your Mac and not only in Todoist, our complete guide to Mac dictation not working is the better place to start.

How dictation reaches Todoist on a Mac

Todoist's task fields have no dictation button of their own. On a Mac, your words come from one of two places, and both look the same from Todoist's point of view: they place text at your cursor as if you had typed it.

Apple dictation

This is the option built into macOS. You start it with the dictation shortcut, usually the microphone key or a double press of the Fn or Globe key, or from Edit → Start Dictation in the menu bar. macOS handles the audio itself, so Todoist never has to ask for microphone access, and the browser's microphone setting for the Todoist site makes no difference to it. What matters is that a Todoist text field has focus when you start.

A third-party dictation app

Menu bar dictation apps, including ours, also type at the cursor. They need their own microphone permission, and usually Accessibility permission, under System Settings → Privacy & Security. They need a live text field to land in too, so everything below about focus, Return and the way Todoist reads your words applies to them as well.

One note before you start. Depending on your plan and version, Todoist may offer voice features of its own. Those run inside Todoist, need their own microphone permission and work differently from dictation, so if it is a Todoist voice feature that is failing, check its microphone access in System Settings, or in your browser's site settings if you use Todoist on the web. This guide is about dictating words into Todoist's text fields.

The 30-second TextEdit test

Before you change any settings, open TextEdit, create a blank document, start dictation and say a sentence.

• If nothing appears in TextEdit either, the problem is dictation on your Mac, not Todoist. Go to fixes 9 and 10.
• If it works in TextEdit but nothing lands in Todoist, the problem is focus, a shortcut or the browser. Start at fix 1, then read fixes 2 and 8.
• If your words arrive but the task comes out different from what you said, go to fixes 3, 4 and 5.
• If your words disappear into a search box or a menu, go to fix 6.
• If a task seems to vanish after you save it, or a comment never reaches anyone, go to fix 7.

Half a minute here saves you from changing settings that were never the problem.

The 10 fixes, in order

1. Put the cursor in a task, not on the list

This is the cause behind most "Todoist dictation does nothing" reports. Today, Upcoming, your Inbox and your projects are lists, and none of the task names you see there can be edited from the list itself. Clicking around a task, moving through the list with the arrow keys or opening a project shows you tasks, but nothing is being written, so there is no cursor and dictation has nowhere to type.

To write a new task, click Add task at the bottom of a list, or press Q to open Quick Add. Both open with a cursor already in the task name. To change an existing task, click it to open the task view, then click its name or its description until a cursor blinks inside. Opening the task on its own is not enough, because at that point you are looking at the task rather than editing it.

Check for focus by looking, not by typing test characters. When no field has focus, Todoist treats many single keys as shortcuts. Q opens Quick Add, other keys move between views, and some can act on whichever task is highlighted, such as changing its date or completing it. A stray key press can change a task instead of typing into it. This matters for dictation too, because some dictation tools deliver text as a stream of simulated key presses, and with no field focused Todoist may read them the same way it reads yours. Todoist lists its keyboard shortcuts inside the app, and if something changed that you did not intend, the undo button in the notice Todoist briefly shows usually reverses it.

2. Let Quick Add open before you speak

The Todoist desktop app can open Quick Add from anywhere on your Mac with a global shortcut you set in its settings, so you can capture a task without leaving the app you are in. That suits dictation well, with one catch: the Quick Add window has to take focus before your words arrive. If you start dictating the instant you press the shortcut, the first words can go into the app you were using, or nowhere at all, while the window is still opening.

Press the shortcut, wait until the cursor is blinking in the task name, then start dictation. If Quick Add does not appear at all, check that the Todoist app is running, since a global shortcut only works while the app is open, and that the shortcut is still set in Todoist's settings.

Shortcut clashes cause the same symptoms. If your dictation shortcut, or your dictation app's hotkey, uses the same keys as Todoist's global Quick Add shortcut, only one of them will respond. The same goes for shortcuts Todoist uses inside its own window. Apple dictation's defaults, the microphone key and a double press of Fn or Globe, rarely clash. Custom shortcuts are where the trouble starts, so pick a combination Todoist leaves alone. Our guide to a Mac dictation shortcut that is not working covers the macOS side of choosing one.

3. Keep Return out of task names

In a word processor, Return starts a new line. In a Todoist task name, Return saves the task, and Quick Add or the Add task box may stay open, ready for the next one. That is perfect when you dictate a list of short tasks one at a time, and confusing when you dictate a long thought. Saying "new line" or "new paragraph" while you dictate inserts a Return, so a single sentence can end up split across two tasks, or cut off at the point where you paused and pressed Return to finish.

Pasting has a similar effect. If you dictate a paragraph somewhere else and paste several lines into Quick Add, Todoist can turn each line into its own task, and it may ask whether that is what you want. Read the prompt before you confirm.

A task name is meant to be short enough to scan. For everything else, use the description. Quick Add has a description line under the task name, and every task has a description you can click into once it is open. Both are made for longer text, so dictate the context, the steps or the reference number there and keep the name to a few words. Test once with a short phrase, because the description behaves differently from the name, and Return there usually starts a new line rather than saving. Section names and sub-task names follow the task-name rule: Return saves them.

If a sentence has already split in two, open the first task, click at the end of its name, and dictate or paste the rest back in. Then delete the fragment.

4. Watch Todoist turn your words into dates

Todoist's smart date recognition reads the task name as you write it. When it spots something that looks like a date or a time, such as "tomorrow", "Friday", "next week" or "at 3pm", it highlights those words, and when you save, it usually takes them out of the name and uses them as the due date. Phrases with "every", such as "every Monday", can make the task recurring. Dictated text counts as typing, so all of this happens to words you speak too.

That is exactly what you want when you mean it, and confusing when you do not. Dictate "Write up notes from the Monday call" and you may get a task called "Write up notes from the call" that is due on Monday. Dictate "Ask whether the report still goes out every Friday" and you may have created a task that repeats every week.

Watch the highlight before you press Return. If Todoist has picked up words you meant literally, you can usually click the highlighted text to tell it to leave those words alone, or remove the date afterwards and put the word back into the name. If you never want this, Todoist's settings include an option to turn smart date recognition off. The opposite problem happens too: dictation can write times in forms Todoist may not recognise, such as "3 p.m." with full stops, so check the date on the task once it is saved. Our guide to dictating numbers and dates covers how to say them so they come out the way you want.

5. Watch for hash signs, at signs and priorities

Todoist gives a few characters a special meaning in a task name. A hash sign followed by a word files the task in a project with that name, an at sign followed by a word adds a label, and "p1" to "p4" set the priority. Depending on your version, other symbols may have jobs too, such as picking a section or assigning a task in a shared project. As you type these, a list of matching projects or labels opens under the cursor, and while it is open your next words are treated as a search for a match. Return may pick the highlighted suggestion rather than saving the task.

Dictation writes these characters when you say their names, so saying "hashtag work" can move a task into your Work project, and an email address dictated into a task name brings an at sign with it. If the word after the symbol matches nothing, it usually stays in the name as plain text, which can leave a stray hash sign in the middle of a sentence. Priorities are hit and miss by voice, because dictation may write "P1" or "p one" in a form Todoist does not treat as a priority.

The simple fix is to split the job. Dictate the words of the task, then set the project, labels and priority with the buttons under the task name, or in the task view once it is saved. Each takes a click or two, and none depends on dictation getting a symbol right. When you do want a symbol, our guide to dictating quotes and special characters explains how to say it so it comes out as intended.

6. Close search, the command menu and pickers before you speak

Todoist's search box is a text field, and so is its command menu, which opens with Cmd+K in current versions and lets you jump to a project or run an action by typing. If either is open when you start dictating, it has focus, and your words become a search or a command rather than a task. A sentence dictated into the command menu can match an action, and pressing Return afterwards would run it.

The pickers for the date, priority, labels, reminders and project work the same way. Most have a search or input box at the top, so if one is open when you start talking, your words filter the list, or try to become a date, instead of landing in the task.

Before you speak, press Escape until menus and pickers have closed, taking care not to close Quick Add or the task view as well, then click into the field you meant. If you dictated a paragraph into search, select it, cut it, close search and paste it where it belongs.

7. Find tasks and comments that went somewhere else

If you dictated and saved a task and now cannot see it, it usually went somewhere you were not looking. Check these in order:

• The next task down. A spoken line break may have split your sentence into two tasks (fix 3).
• The due date. Date words may have been lifted out of the name, and a task now due next week will not show up in Today (fix 4).
• Another project or label. A word after a hash sign may have filed the task elsewhere (fix 5). Where you add a task matters too. A task added from a project goes into that project, one added from your Inbox goes into the Inbox, and one added from Today or a day in Upcoming usually gets that day's date.
• Completed. A click on the circle next to a task completes it and hides it, and it is easy to hit while aiming for the task's name. Todoist shows a short notice with an undo button straight afterwards. If you missed it, most projects have an option in their menu to show completed tasks.
• A filter or label view. These only show tasks that match their rules, so a task you just added can fall straight out of the view you are in.
• The description. If the cursor was in the description, your words sit under the task name rather than in it.
• An unsent comment. A comment only reaches anyone once you click the Comment button, or use the shortcut Todoist shows beside it. Until then it is text in your comment box that nobody else can see, and moving to another task can lose it.

If you still cannot find it, search for a distinctive word from the task, which looks across all your projects. And remember that dictation replaces any selected text, just as typing does. If a click highlighted a word before you started, what you said may have replaced it. Undo with Cmd+Z straight away, then click once where you want the new words so nothing is highlighted before you start again.

8. Rule out browser extensions and try the desktop app

Grammar checkers, writing assistants, password managers and translation tools attach themselves to text fields in your browser. Usually that is harmless, but some intercept input, draw overlays that confuse focus, or add keyboard shortcuts that collide with Todoist's.

To test, open Todoist in a private window, where most extensions are off by default, in a different browser, or in the Todoist desktop app. If dictation works there, turn your extensions back on one at a time in your usual browser to find the culprit. If it fails in the desktop app but works in the browser, make sure the app is up to date and restart it. If it fails everywhere, the cause is on the Mac side, and fixes 9 and 10 are more likely to help. If Chrome is your browser and dictation misbehaves in other web apps too, our guide to Mac dictation not working in Chrome may be the quicker fix.

9. Clear Secure Input

macOS has a protection called Secure Input that stops apps from reading keystrokes while you type a password. While it is on, dictation cannot deliver text into other apps. Some apps turn it on and forget to turn it off, and macOS gives no obvious sign that it is still active.

Password managers are the usual cause, along with a Terminal window sitting at a password prompt or an app showing a login screen. Finish or close those, click into a text field in another app, and test dictation there. If it still fails everywhere, log out of your Mac account and back in, which clears it. If the trouble started right after you signed in to Todoist in your browser, quitting and reopening the browser is worth a try as well.

10. Check your microphone and dictation settings

If dictation fails in TextEdit too, work through the Mac side:

• Dictation is on. Open System Settings → Keyboard and make sure Dictation is switched on, with the shortcut you expect.
• The right microphone is selected. Dictation has its own microphone source setting in the same place. Set it to the microphone you are speaking into, then open System Settings → Sound → Input and watch the level meter move as you talk.
• Bluetooth headsets are awake. Headphones sometimes connect for listening without making their microphone available. Switch to the Mac's built-in microphone to test, then reconnect the headset.
• The language matches. If text arrives but is consistently wrong, check that the dictation language, including the regional variant, matches the way you speak.
• Nothing else has the microphone. A video call or a screen recording app can hold the microphone or change the default input device, sometimes even after it quits.

If all of that looks right, restart your Mac. It clears stuck dictation processes and resets audio devices in one step.

Todoist quirks that look like broken dictation

• Every task ends with a full stop. Apple dictation can add punctuation on its own, depending on your language and macOS version, and a full stop suits a sentence better than a task name. Delete it, or keep your task names short enough that there is no sentence to finish.
• Long descriptions stop halfway. Apple dictation ends a session on its own after a pause it reads as the end of what you meant to say, and on some setups after a stretch of continuous speech. Our guide to the Mac dictation 30-second limit covers the workarounds.
• A task will not save. Read the message Todoist shows. Plans have limits on things like the number of projects and tasks per project, and an archived project is usually read-only until you unarchive it.
• Someone else changed your task. In a shared project, everyone can add, edit and complete tasks, so something you dictated can be reworded or finished by a teammate.
• The task is on your Mac but not your phone. Todoist syncs through your account. Make sure both devices are signed in to the same account and online. A task added without a connection usually syncs once you reconnect.
• Names come out wrong. People's names, client names and project codenames are the words general dictation handles worst. Read them back, because a task is only useful if you can understand it later.

Quick reference

• Nothing happens when you dictate: a list or selected task has no cursor. Fix 1.
• First words go to another app: Quick Add was still opening, or a shortcut clash. Fix 2.
• One sentence became two tasks: Return in a task name. Fix 3.
• Words missing and a due date appeared: smart date recognition. Fix 4.
• Task moved to another project or got a label: a hash sign or an at sign. Fix 5.
• Words became a search or a command: search, the command menu or a picker had focus. Fix 6.
• Task or comment vanished: completed, filed elsewhere or never sent. Fix 7.
• Works in the desktop app but not the browser: an extension. Fix 8.
• Stopped working everywhere today: Secure Input. Fix 9.
• Fails in TextEdit too: Mac settings. Fix 10.

Todoist on a Mac versus Todoist on iPhone

On iPhone, dictation runs through the mic on the keyboard, so the first question is whether the keyboard appeared at all. On a Mac there is no keyboard to appear, and the usual trap is a click that leaves no field focused, or leaves focus in search or the command menu. What Todoist does with your words is the same on both: Return saves the task, date words become due dates, and hash signs, at signs and priorities are read as instructions. Our guide to iPhone dictation not working in Todoist covers the phone side, and our guide to adding tasks to Todoist by voice covers setup on both. If your team plans its work in Asana rather than Todoist, our guide to Mac dictation not working in Asana covers the same kind of focus and Return problems there.

A dictation workflow that suits Todoist

• One task per breath. Open Quick Add, say a short task name, press Return, and say the next. You can empty your head of a dozen tasks in a minute.
• Dates on purpose. End a task with "tomorrow" or "every Friday" when you want a date, and watch the highlight to make sure Todoist caught it.
• Project, labels and priority by button. Click them once the words are in, rather than relying on dictation to get a symbol right.
• Details in the description. Keep the name short enough to scan, and dictate the context underneath it.
• Send comments before you move on. Read it back, click Comment, then open the next task.
• Read back before you close the window. A misheard name or a missing date is much harder to fix next week than it is right now.

It is worth getting right, because speaking is much faster than typing. Most adults type around 40 words per minute, and even professional typists usually sit around 80 to 100, while normal speech runs at 130 to 150 words per minute. A task manager is only as good as what you put into it, and a task that takes two seconds to say is far more likely to make it in than one you have to stop and type.

A dictation tool built for work like this

Apple dictation is free and built in, and for many people one of the fixes above is all they need. If Todoist is where you run your day, though, its limits start to show: sessions that end halfway through a description, and project names, client names and shorthand it has no way to learn.

Voice Keyboard Pro is a Mac app that lives in your menu bar. Hold a hotkey, speak, release, and the text appears at your cursor, system-wide. In Todoist that means Quick Add, a task name, a description or a comment, in the browser or the desktop app. It still needs a field with a cursor, and Todoist still reads your words once they arrive, so fixes 1 to 6 still apply. A few things make it a good fit for task capture:

• It listens for as long as you hold the key. A pause to think does not end the session, so you can talk through a full description in one go and release when you are done.
• Smart Vocabulary is a personal dictionary with replacement rules. Add your project names, client names and team shorthand once, and they come out spelled correctly every time, which helps when a project name follows a hash sign.
• Meeting Mode records meetings with speaker detection and produces AI notes, and calendar meeting detection helps you catch the meetings you want to capture. The follow-ups from a call are a short step from Todoist tasks.

On privacy, our servers store only operational pings. No audio and no transcript content is stored. There is a free tier with daily limits, and Pro is $4.99 a month or $34.99 a year. If you also capture tasks on your phone, the iPhone app is a custom keyboard with a built-in mic button for dictation in any iOS app, Todoist included.

Frequently asked questions

Why does nothing happen when I dictate in Todoist on my Mac?

No text field has focus. A list, or a task you have clicked but not opened for editing, has no cursor. Click Add task, press Q for Quick Add, or open a task and click its name or description until a cursor blinks. Then dictate.

Why did part of my dictated task disappear?

Todoist most likely read it as an instruction. Date words become the due date, a word after a hash sign becomes the project, and a word after an at sign becomes a label. Check the date, project and labels on the task, and watch for the highlight before you save next time.

Why did my dictation turn into two tasks?

Return in a task name saves the task, and saying "new line" while dictating does the same. Keep names to one short phrase, and dictate longer text into the description, where Return usually starts a new line instead.

Does Todoist need microphone permission for dictation?

Not for Apple dictation, which macOS handles on its own. Third-party dictation apps need their own microphone permission in System Settings. Todoist itself only needs microphone access if you use a voice feature built into Todoist, where your version has one.

Can I dictate a task without switching to Todoist?

Yes, with the desktop app's global Quick Add shortcut. Press it from any app, wait until the cursor is blinking in the task name, dictate, and press Return. Starting dictation before the window has focus is the most common reason the first words go missing.

What to do next

Run the 30-second TextEdit test, then work through the fixes that match what you saw. For most people it is fix 1 or fix 2: a list was open but no task was being written, or Quick Add was still opening when dictation started. If your task came out different from what you said, it is fix 4 or fix 5, and if a task vanished, check fix 7 before you dictate it again. If dictation stopped working everywhere at once, try fix 9 first. And if you want dictation that keeps listening through a full description and learns your project names, try Voice Keyboard Pro's free tier on your next list.