Siri not working, unless I click the Mic in the menu bar.

[Wheaty]

Hi.

Siri has not worked correctly for me since one of the updates quite a while ago. I feel like there is an easy fix, but I haven't spotted it yet.

I cannot use "hay Sir"
I can bring up the menu bar with the keyboard, but Siri still doesn't listen.
I must bring up the menu bar & click the mic icon to get Siri to listen, or type what I want.

To be fair, I mostly want Siri to "Play Planet Rock" as that gets the radio station to load in Music, & I can't find it manually, Or save it. I assume that's a licensing thing...I was starting to use it a little more for other stuff until it broke.

Anyway I have been through multiple online tutorials about resetting/using it etc. And not got any further.

I have noticed though, a few of the help tutorials (& Apples own help files) suggest I should have a "listen for" drop down box.
Where has mine gone?
Have I disabled it in another menu somewhere?
I sometimes dictate to my Mac M1 Mini. have I screwed something up in these settings that's not obvious?

Thank you for your help.

Frustrated radio listener

 

[Bigwaff]

Do you have Settings > Accessibility > General (scroll bottom) > Siri > Type to Siri enabled ?

 

[Wheaty]

I have pondered if its something in accessibility stumping it.

but no more useful settings under accessibility. turning the atypical speech on and off & restarting etc didn't help.

 

[MarineBand5524]

I have pondered if its something in accessibility stumping it.
View attachment 2584659
but no more useful settings under accessibility. turning the atypical speech on and off & restarting etc didn't help.

Have you looked into deleting terminal command lines?

 

[Wheaty]

Have you looked into deleting terminal command lines?

Not thought about using terminal.
I have now, enabled, disabled, restarted, been in & out of safe mode, done something else. all through terminal.
Still no change.

Enough fiddling today. More suggestions welcome.

 

[BigBlur]

I cannot use "hay Sir"

I should have a "listen for" drop down box.
Where has mine gone?

This is because you’re using a Mac mini. "Hey Siri" is only available for Macs with a built-in mic (unless you have AirPods or a Studio Display).

I can bring up the menu bar with the keyboard, but Siri still doesn't listen.
I must bring up the menu bar & click the mic icon to get Siri to listen, or type what I want.

This is expected behavior when Apple Intelligence is turned on. Nothing is broken here, nor does it have anything to do with the above issue.

The keyboard shortcut is used to type to Siri. Notice how it says "Press to type to Siri" below that setting. If you have a Magic Keyboard with the mic icon, you can press and hold that to talk to Siri.

Clicking the AI/Siri icon in the menu bar is used to type to Siri as well. If you want to talk to Siri right away, then long-click the icon instead.

 

[MarineBand5524]

This is because you’re using a Mac mini. "Hey Siri" is only available for Macs with a built-in mic (unless you have AirPods or a Studio Display).


This is expected behavior when Apple Intelligence is turned on. Nothing is broken here, nor does it have anything to do with the above issue.

The keyboard shortcut is used to type to Siri. Notice how it says "Press to type to Siri" below that setting. If you have a Magic Keyboard with the mic icon, you can press and hold that to talk to Siri.

Clicking the AI/Siri icon in the menu bar is used to type to Siri as well. If you want to talk to Siri right away, then long-click the icon instead.

Welp I learned something new today.

 

[Wheaty]

This is because you’re using a Mac mini. "Hey Siri" is only available for Macs with a built-in mic (unless you have AirPods or a Studio Display).

Partially true.
It’s will with work out of the box if your Mac has a built in mic. Or a external mic is needed, a studio display etc are just apples options.

I have an external conferencing capable monitor speakers, which used to work perfectly. Hence my frustration.

I’m pretty sure the functionality disappeared in stages too which is odd.
First I lost “Hey Siri” not a big deal, I can activate it with a keyboard then ask. Now I have to activate it, click & then ask. That’s just dumb.

All the Apple help documentation and countless online help pages says it should work.

And I know it did!

 

[BigBlur]

Apple's support page for Siri on the Mac mini running Tahoe (or Sequoia) does state "or an external microphone"...but when searching Google and Reddit, there are tons of people asking how to get "Hey Siri" working on their Mac mini, and I haven't seen anyone claiming it actually works or got it working with their external mic. I think this is just a mistake on Apple's site based on the last two examples below.

https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-mini/siri-apdf7bb2fad4/2025/mac/26

Hey Siri or Siri. If your Mac mini is connected to a Studio Display or an external microphone, you can say “Hey Siri” or “Siri” to get responses to your requests. Open System Settings, click Apple Intelligence & Siri (or Siri), click the pop-up menu next to “Listen for,” then choose an option. Follow the onscreen instructions to finish setting up “Hey Siri” or “Siri.”

Interestingly, if you go view the equivalent page above for the Mac Studio, it doesn't mention the use of an external mic for Hey Siri. It only mentions the Studio Display. I believe this is the correct version.

https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-studio/siri-apdf7bb2fad4/2025/mac/26

Hey Siri or Siri. If your Mac Studio is connected to a Studio Display, you can say “Hey Siri” or “Siri” to get responses to your requests. Open System Settings, click Apple Intelligence & Siri (or Siri), click the pop-up menu next to “Listen for,” then choose an option. Follow the onscreen instructions to finish setting up “Hey Siri” or “Siri.”

In addition, if you view the Mac mini page for Sonoma (before Apple Intelligence was released), it also only mentions the Studio Display and nothing about an external mic.

https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-mini/siri-apdf7bb2fad4/2023/mac/14

Hey Siri or Siri. If your Mac mini is connected to a Studio Display, you can say “Hey Siri” or “Siri” to get responses to your requests even when your computer is in sleep. Click Siri & Spotlight in System Settings, then choose the phrase you want to speak to start using Siri in the “Listen for” menu. When prompted, speak several Siri commands. You can also press and hold the Dictation/Siri (F5) key on a Magic Keyboard with Touch ID.

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I’m pretty sure the functionality disappeared in stages ... Now I have to activate it, click & then ask.

Yes, this behavior changed last year with the release of Apple Intelligence. If Apple Intelligence is enabled, the keyboard shortcut or clicking the icon in the menu bar activates Type to Siri. If you want to Talk to Siri, you need to then click the mic icon. Or to do it with one action, you need to press and hold the mic key on your keyboard (if you have it), or long-click the Apple Intelligence icon in the menu bar. Pressing and holding a custom keyboard shortcut should also work (Settings > Apple Intelligence & Siri > Keyboard shortcut).

The other option (if you don't care to use Apple Intelligence) is to disable Apple Intelligence and leave Siri enabled. That'll restore the old Siri functionality that you're used to. I don't think it'll make "Hey Siri" work, though.