Dictation AI polish

AI Polish sends your dictated text through an AI service before it’s inserted, so what you get reads like typed text: punctuation fixed, filler words gone, lists formatted. It’s a Pro feature. Set up dictation first.

Turn on AI Polish

1. Open Settings › AI Polish.
2. Turn on Polish Dictation Text.
3. In AI Service, choose which service polishes your text. Click Manage AI Services to add one. See AI services.
4. In Polish Prompt, keep Default or pick your own prompt.

When you dictate, the capsule keeps spinning a little longer while the text is polished, then the result is inserted. If polishing fails (for example, the service is offline), TranscribeX inserts the raw transcript instead and shows why.

Choosing a service

Polish runs on every dictation, so speed matters. The built-in Local LLM and Apple Intelligence (macOS 26) keep your words on your Mac. A cloud provider can be faster on older Macs, but your dictated text is sent to it.

What the default prompt does

The Default prompt asks the AI to act as an editor and make minimal changes. Click Default in the prompt list to read it in full. It tells the AI to:

• Fix grammar, spelling, typos and punctuation, without rewriting your wording.
• Remove fillers, stutters and repetitions. If you dictate a question, it’s cleaned up but not answered.
• Handle self-corrections: “Tuesday, wait no, Wednesday” becomes “Wednesday.”
• Use numerals (“five” becomes 5, “twenty dollars” becomes $20) and keep all names and numbers.
• Start a new line or paragraph when you say “new line” or “new paragraph”, and keep paragraphs short.
• Format numbered or bulleted lists when you list steps or say things like “3 things” or “first, second”.
• Match your tone, add nothing, and output only the cleaned text.

Use your own prompt

1. Under Polish Prompt, type a name in New Prompt Title and click Add.
2. Click the new prompt to expand it and write your instructions. Changes save as you type.
3. Select it in the Polish Prompt menu.

Ideas for custom prompts: always write in British English, turn notes into a formal email, or translate what you say into another language. Start from the default text and change only what you need. Delete a prompt with its trash icon.

Tip: End your prompt with an instruction like “Output only the cleaned text.” Otherwise some models add an intro line that gets typed into your document.

Polish text after dictating

If you dictate without a focused text field, the result appears in a small TranscribeX panel. Click the sparkle menu in that panel to run any of your polish prompts on the text, then copy it.