Dictation software for carpal tunnel
Rest your wrist without stopping work. Hold one key and talk.
- One key, one hand
- 99%+ accurate
- Ready to send
Free to try. No card. Works one-handed.
Apple Silicon · macOS 14 or later · Windows 11
Every guide to carpal tunnel says the same thing near the top: do less of the movement that sets it off. At a desk job, that movement is typing. And typing is how the work gets done.
So instead of resting, you ration. Type less in the morning to have something left by four. Put off the long email. Write six words where you meant twenty.
Do you have to type at all?
Step one
Hold one key
One key, not a shortcut. Wrist flat, no reach. Put it on whichever side is having the better day.
Step two
Talk normally
No punctuation out loud. No pausing between sentences. No waiting for it to catch up.
Step three
Let go
Finished text appears where your cursor was.
Numb fingers make you type more
- The numbness lands in the thumb, index and middle finger
- Touch typing runs on feel — the edge of a key, the bump on F and J
- Take that away and every miss is a backspace and a retype
A numb hand does not type slower. It types more, on the hand that already hurts.
No keys to miss
Talking has no home row, so the mistakes that cost you a retype stop happening.
Auto punctuation
Commas, full stops and capitals arrive in place, worked out from how you talk.
Ready to send
No cleanup at the end, so no second round of typing on the sore hand.
Ergonomics moves the load. Talking removes it.
Split keyboard, vertical mouse, wrist rest. All worth doing, and all of them leave you doing the same number of keystrokes in a nicer position.
Better posture
Split keyboards, vertical mice, wrist rests. Same movements, done more kindly.
Fewer hours
Breaks and pacing. Real, but you pay for it in work not done, so it never lasts.
Fewer keystrokes
The only one that leaves your output alone. The writing gets done either way.
It types where your cursor is
Click where the words go, hold the key, talk. The text lands there like you typed it.
To priya@northgate.co
Subject Revised scope
Hi Priya — the revised scope is attached. Can we push Thursday’s call until you’ve read it?
Got it. Reproduced on staging, fix goes out tonight.
Two things left before Friday. The supplier contract needs signing, and the January forecast still has the old rate in it.
The days you only have one hand
One key, held. No shortcuts and no reaching across the keyboard, so a splinted wrist or a bandaged hand can still get through a full day.
Either hand
Put the key on the side having the better week. Move it back when that changes.
Works in a splint
A splint stops your wrist bending. Resting a finger on a key does not need it to.
No shortcuts
Nothing that asks two fingers to stretch apart while your hand is already sore.
What lands is ready to send
Fillers and false starts come out, punctuation and capitals go in, and the names and jargon you taught it arrive spelled right.
It learns your names and jargon
Colleagues, clients, your industry’s acronyms. Every one it gets wrong is a correction, one letter at a time.
Add it once
A name, a product, a system, an acronym. Type it once and never again.
It follows you
The list moves between your Mac and your PC. Teach it once, not twice.
99+ languages
It works out which one you are speaking. You do not set it each time.
Free to try, no card. Enough to get through a week of email and see how your wrists feel.
Works in every app you already use
It types at your cursor, the same as a keyboard does. If there is a text box, it works.
Plus Outlook, Word, Teams and every other app on your Mac or PC.
Work that cannot leave your machine
Nothing you dictate is stored or used for training. Case notes, client files and patient summaries can run entirely on your own computer instead — offline dictation has the detail.
Better than the dictation you already have
Mac and Windows both include it. On anything longer than a sentence:
| Feature | JotMic | Built-in dictation |
|---|---|---|
| Accuracy | 99%+ | ~85% |
| Ready to send | Fillers taken out | Every um typed in |
| Learns your words | Taught once | No way to teach it |
| Languages | 99+, picked up as you talk | One, set in Settings |
| Controls your apps | Open apps, switch, scroll | Types only |
Setup takes two minutes
- Download, allow the microphone, pick your key
- No voice training and nothing to read aloud first
- Free to try, every feature, no card
Read next
Hand arthritis
The joint version of the same problem, and the keys it makes worst.
RSI
The version built out of years of small movements rather than one nerve.
After hand surgery
If a release is booked, or done, and you have one hand for a while.
Compared with the other apps
All of these will type for you. They differ on what you have to set up first, and on whether they work one-handed.
Questions
Does dictation help with carpal tunnel?
It takes away the typing, not the condition. Every guide starts by asking you to do less of the repetitive hand movement that sets it off, and at a desk job that movement is typing. Whether it is right for your wrists is a question for your doctor.
My fingers are numb. Does that matter?
It makes dictation worth more. You cannot feel the keys, so you miss one or hit two, and every miss is a backspace and a retype on the hand that already hurts.
Can I use it with a splint on?
Yes. A splint stops your wrist bending, not your finger pressing. If it feels awkward, move the key to the other side of the keyboard.
Can I use it one-handed?
Yes. It is one key, so one hand is all it ever needs. Plenty of people use it that way after a flare-up or while recovering from surgery.
Which key do I hold?
Right Option on a Mac, Right Ctrl on Windows, and you can change it to any key. Pick one your hand already rests near so there is no reach.
Do I have to say the punctuation?
No. Full stops, commas, question marks and capitals come from the way you talk. You never say "comma" and you never go back for the symbol keys.
Will it change my words?
It cleans up, it does not rewrite. The ums come out, punctuation goes in, everything else stays as you said it. One switch gives you the raw transcript.
Will it spell names right?
Add them to your vocabulary once and they come out right after that. It matters here more than most places, because every wrong word is a correction, and corrections are the fiddliest typing there is.
Does it work in the apps I use?
It types where your cursor is, so anything with a text box works. Outlook, Word, Gmail, Teams, Slack, Jira, your browser, the internal system nobody outside your company has heard of.
Is it better than the dictation already on my computer?
Windows and macOS dictation leave the fillers in and never learn your words. You fix that at the keyboard, which is the part you are trying to avoid. For the odd sentence they are fine, and they are free.
How much typing does it actually save?
Almost all of it, for anything you are writing rather than editing. A day of email, notes and messages runs to thousands of keystrokes.
Can I dictate things that have to stay private?
Yes. It can run entirely on your own computer with the wifi off, which is what makes it usable for case notes and client files. It works best on a machine with room to spare.
Do I have to train it on my voice?
No. Install it, pick your key, and talk. There is nothing to read aloud first.
Do I need a good microphone?
Your laptop mic is fine. A headset helps in a noisy room, but do not buy one before you try it.
Is this a treatment?
No. JotMic is a way to write with your voice instead of your hands. It does not diagnose or treat anything and it is not a substitute for a doctor or a hand therapist.
Free to try, no card. A week without the keyboard, to see how it feels.