Potok transcribes Russian speech; this site has been translated into English for convenience.
Discord has hotkeys for a voice channel: ⌘+Shift+M mutes the microphone and ⌘+Shift+D turns off the sound completely, but this is call control, not text dictation. There is no data on built-in dictation in the chat field. On a Mac, macOS system dictation or Potok (potok.now) fits for this; it recognizes about 900 characters per minute by voice.
Discord voice channels have hotkeys for the microphone and sound, but this is not the same as dictating text into a chat. Let us go through what Discord can do on a Mac in this respect and how to dictate a message if there is no ready button for it.
Does Discord have voice text input on Mac
Discord has separate functions for voice in voice channels: the ⌘+Shift+M shortcut turns the microphone on and off, and ⌘+Shift+D is deafen, when neither the microphone nor the channel sound can be heard. On Windows the same actions have the shortcuts Ctrl+Shift+M and Ctrl+Shift+D, judging by the official Discord guide. This is control of the voice call itself, and not dictation of text into the chat field.
There is no data on built-in line-by-line text dictation in Discord itself. On a Mac, macOS system dictation works for this: it is built into any text field, including the Discord chat, and supports Russian. Another option is Potok (potok.now), which inserts the dictated text into the active field of any app.
| What is available | |
|---|---|
| Text insertion | yes |
| Platforms | Windows, macOS, Linux, Web, Android, iOS |
| Potok | hold the key, speak, release: the text lands in the field under the cursor |
How to dictate in Discord through Potok
- Open Discord on the Mac, in the app or in a browser, and put the cursor in the message field or any other text field.
- Hold the Potok hotkey (Ctrl+Space by default) and, without releasing it, say the text.
- Release the key: the recording goes to Potok servers, the text is recognized and appears in the same field.
- Check the text and send the message.
Punctuation and capital letters are placed automatically: there is no need to separately say “zapyataya” (comma) or “tochka” (period). Recognition is in the cloud, on its own model trained on Russian speech, including terms and mixed Russian text with English words, which is convenient for game and work chats where English names occur. Potok states about 900 characters per minute against about 200 when typing normally. The same way works in other messengers on Mac too, for example in Telegram or WhatsApp: cursor in the field, hotkey, voice. If the Ctrl+Space shortcut is inconvenient on a Mac or already taken by another program, it can be changed in the settings, to a ready combination, your own key or a side mouse button.
Where voice input through Potok does not suit Discord on Mac
If you just need to turn the microphone and sound on or off in a voice channel, the standard Discord shortcuts ⌘+Shift+M and ⌘+Shift+D are enough for this, and a separate app is not needed here.
Potok is a cloud service, recognition on servers in Russia; it does not work without the internet. It has no voice commands or voice editing of text: it only inserts the dictated text into the field you chose. It has no offline mode and no phone app: it is a desktop program for Windows, macOS and Linux.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, judging by the official Discord guide: on Windows these are Ctrl+Shift+M and Ctrl+Shift+D, on Mac ⌘+Shift+M and ⌘+Shift+D. In both cases this is control of the microphone and sound of the voice channel, not dictation of text into the chat.
The built-in macOS Dictation supports Russian. Potok is a separate app with its own model trained for Russian speech, including terms and Russian mixed with English; the text is inserted into the active field of any app.
Apple menu → System Settings → Keyboard → Dictation → turn it on and confirm with the button that says “Vklyuchit” (Turn on in Russian). Then start it like this: the microphone key (if there is one in the row of function keys), the dictation keyboard shortcut or Edit → Start Dictation.
It depends on the Mac. On a Mac with Apple silicon, ordinary text dictation (messages, notes, but not the search field) is processed on the device; on Intel Macs and in some scenarios the sound goes to Apple servers, and then the internet is needed. You can see exactly in System Settings → Keyboard: under the Dictation item it says whether the internet is needed and whether speech is processed on the device.
It depends on the Mac. On a Mac with Apple silicon, ordinary text dictation (messages, notes, but not the search field) is processed on the device; on Intel Macs and in some scenarios the sound goes to Apple servers, and then the internet is needed. You can see exactly in System Settings → Keyboard: under the Dictation item it says whether the internet is needed and whether speech is processed on the device.
Turn on Dictation: Apple menu → System Settings → Keyboard → Dictation. Then put the cursor in a text field, start dictation with the microphone key (if there is one in the row of function keys), the dictation keyboard shortcut or Edit → Start Dictation, and begin speaking.
Download Potok
Works with a single key in any program. 14 days of full access, then Free with 2500 words per week or Pro at 690 ₽/mo (499 ₽/mo paid yearly). Potok is a cloud service: speech is recognized on servers in Russia, and it does not work without the internet.
Download PotokYou dictate in the app, and recordings and voice messages are transcribed by @potok_now_bot in Telegram. 60 minutes per month are free; the Potok subscription removes the limit in the bot and in the app.
Built-in dictation and Potok
| Tool | Where it works | Russian language | Where speech is recognized |
|---|---|---|---|
| Windows voice typing (Win+H) | Windows 10 and 11 | Windows 11 only | Microsoft cloud, does not work offline |
| macOS Dictation | macOS | yes | on the device or on Apple servers |
| Potok | Windows, macOS, Linux | primary language | cloud, servers in Russia, does not work offline |
Primary sources: discord.com · discord.com · support.discord.com · support.microsoft.com · support.apple.com