Dictate in any app · Code

Voice typing in Sublime Text

Sublime is chosen for speed and simplicity, which means no built-in anything. Typally types what you say straight into Sublime Text — hold a key, talk, let go — so you can dictate anywhere Sublime Text lets you type.

From the people who build Typally. If Sublime Text's own option covers your use, use it — this page will tell you when it does.
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In short

  • Sublime Text's own dictation: None, by design. Sublime's philosophy is a fast editor, not an integrated environment.
  • What Typally does instead: covers Sublime Text and every other program on the machine with one hotkey.
  • Best used for: notes and drafts in a scratch buffer

Does Sublime Text have built-in dictation?

None, by design. Sublime's philosophy is a fast editor, not an integrated environment.

Why dictate in Sublime Text at all?

Sublime is often the scratchpad — the place where notes, drafts and quick text manipulation happen alongside code. That scratchpad use is almost entirely prose.

In practice people use it for: Notes and drafts in a scratch buffer, README files, config comments, commit messages in a terminal-adjacent workflow, and markdown documents.

How to dictate in Sublime Text

You do not configure anything in Sublime Text. The hotkey works wherever your cursor happens to be:

1

Install Typally

Windows or macOS, then sign in. No card for the free tier.

2

Click into the right box in Sublime Text first

The cursor position is the whole instruction — Sublime Text routes the keystrokes from there.

3

Hold the hotkey and talk

Say the whole thought, then let go. No time limit.

4

Read it before you move on

Auto-pairing of brackets and quotes is on by default and reacts to dictated punctuation. Turn it off in a markdown buffer.

What Typally adds in Sublime Text

Typally turns an unsaved Sublime buffer into the fastest capture surface on the machine: no app to launch, no filename to choose, just a hotkey and a sentence. Turn off auto-pairing in a markdown buffer, since bracket and quote completion reacts to dictated punctuation.

What this looks like in practice

A developer keeps an unsaved Sublime window on a second monitor purely as a thinking surface. Anything worth remembering gets spoken into it in a couple of seconds, and once a day the useful parts get moved somewhere permanent.

One habit that makes it work better

Keep one unsaved scratch buffer permanently open and dictate into it. It becomes the fastest capture surface on the machine, with no app to launch.

What to watch out for in Sublime Text

Auto-pairing of brackets and quotes is on by default and reacts to dictated punctuation. Turn it off in a markdown buffer.

Frequently asked questions

Does Sublime Text have dictation?

No. It is deliberately minimal and has no speech features.

Is Sublime good for dictated notes?

Yes — it opens instantly and an unsaved buffer needs no filename, which makes it a good capture surface.

Do I need a plugin?

Not for a system-level dictation tool; it types into whatever window has focus.

Try it in Sublime Text

Start on the free plan (100 minutes a month, no card). Pro lifts the cap and adds meeting notes for $7.99/month.

Try Typally free

Also dictate in: VS Code · Neovim · Obsidian · see all apps