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theorist9

macrumors 601
Original poster
May 28, 2015
4,183
3,376
I'm using a 2019 i9 iMac running Excel 16.75.2 in MacOS Monterey 12.6.8. These are the current versions of Excel and Monterey at the time of this post.

I'd like to use Voice Control to dictate numbers into Excel, but it behaves oddly.

After ensuring the cells are set to a number format (e.g., General), if I click into a cell and dictate a number, nothing happens. The only way I can dictate numbers is to first speak a letter, wait for some letters to appear, and only then speak the number. When I do that, I get this (see screenshot). Most of the time, regardless of which letter I use, it is transcribed as "aa". Though occasionally (as can be seen in the 2nd cell), the letter itself appears.

Is there a fix for this? Also, is there a voice command to go the the next cell below or to the right (currently I'm doing this with the mouse)?

This is still better than typing in the numbers, since once I've finished I can just manually delete the letters. But it is cumbersome; it would be better if the numbers appeared directly.



The Mac does have one other dictation protocol, which is called "Dictation" rather than "Voice Control", and is accessed through System Preferences → Keyboard → Dictation (as compared with Voice Control, which is accessed through System Preferences → Accessibility → Voice Control). Alas, I've found Dictation doesn't work at all in Excel.

These screenshots should help you distinguish between the two. MacOS only allows you to operate one at a time, so there will be no conflicte between them.


VOICE CONTROL:




DICTATION:

 
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