Dictation software for wrist pain
You don’t need a diagnosis to type less.
- Either hand, one key
- 99%+ accurate
- Ready to send
Free to try. No card. Set up in two minutes.
Apple Silicon · macOS 14 or later · Windows 11
It starts as something you work around. A bit sore by four o’clock, fine in the morning. Then it is sore by two, and you have started using the other hand for the mouse.
Whatever it turns out to be, the advice is the same from everybody: do less of the thing that hurts. At a desk job that means typing, and typing is how the work gets out of your head.
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 does not hurt.
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 lands where your cursor was.
Two things load your wrist all day
- The keyboard — thousands of presses a day, and dictation removes it outright
- The mouse — a few hundred clicks, all in one hand
On a Mac you can say “new folder” or “export as PDF” instead of going to find it, which takes a bite out of the second half too — voice commands has the detail.
Typing
The big half. Thousands of presses a day, and the one dictation removes outright.
Pointing
Smaller, but all in one hand. Menus by voice on a Mac take a chunk out of it.
Posture
Worth fixing, and it changes how you type rather than how much.
When to stop reading and go and see somebody
- Pain that wakes you at night
- Numbness or pins and needles in your fingers
- Weakness, or dropping things
- Anything that has not settled after a couple of weeks of doing less
Typing less is usually the first thing you will be told anyway. It just is not the whole plan on its own.
It types where your cursor is
Click where the words go, hold the key, talk. Nothing to open, nothing to copy after.
To sam@harlow.io
Subject Re: contract
Thanks Sam. Two changes on page four and then we’re happy to sign. Can you send a clean copy?
Second version works better. Let’s go with that one.
Traffic is flat but signups are up nine percent. Worth checking whether the pricing page change did it.
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, the systems your company runs on. Add them once and they come out right from then on.
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 and see whether four o’clock feels different.
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. If the work cannot leave the building at all, it 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
- It works from your first sentence, so you can start with today’s inbox
Read next
Carpal tunnel
If the pain comes with numbness or pins and needles in your fingers.
RSI
If it has built up over years, and rest keeps working until you go back.
Voice commands
Driving menus and apps by voice on a Mac, for the mouse half of the day.
Compared with the other apps
What matters when your wrist hurts is setup time, and whether the app can drive the rest of the machine or only type into it.
Questions
My wrist hurts when I type. What should I do first?
Get it looked at, and in the meantime do less of what hurts. That second part is the hard one at a desk job, because typing is the job. Dictation lets you keep working while doing much less of it.
I do not know what is wrong yet. Is this still worth trying?
Yes, and that is most people who read this page. You do not need a name for it to type less. The free words are enough to find out whether a low-typing day feels different.
When should I actually see somebody?
If it wakes you at night, if your fingers are numb or tingling, if you are dropping things, or if it has not settled after a couple of weeks of doing less. None of that is something software should be talking you out of.
Does the mouse matter as much as the keyboard?
For most people typing is the bigger share by volume, and dictation removes that half. On a Mac, JotMic can also drive menus and apps by voice, which takes a bite out of the pointing half.
Will an ergonomic keyboard fix it instead?
Better kit changes how you type, not how much. It is worth doing and it has a ceiling. Dictation is the only common change that lowers the amount without lowering what you get done.
Which key do I hold?
Right Option on a Mac, Right Ctrl on Windows, and you can change it to any key. Put it on whichever side is sore-free.
Do I have to say the punctuation?
No. Full stops, commas, question marks and capitals come from the way you talk. You never go back for the symbol keys afterwards.
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 from then on. Every word it gets wrong 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, your browser, whatever internal system you live in.
Is it better than the dictation built into Windows and macOS?
They leave the fillers in and never learn your words, so you fix it at the keyboard afterwards. For the odd sentence they are fine and they are free.
Can I dictate things that have to stay private?
Yes. It can run entirely on your own computer with the wifi off. 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.
Is this a treatment?
No. It is a way to write with your voice instead of your hands. It does not diagnose or treat anything and it does not replace seeing a doctor or a physio.
Free to try, no card. Set up in two minutes, starting with today’s inbox.