The nicest way to write in Google Docs is to talk it through. With Clavio you click into the document, start dictating with a hotkey or a spoken word, and just say what you mean — and finished, punctuated prose lands in the doc. It adds the commas and periods for you, quietly drops the “um”s and false starts, and shapes your thinking-out-loud into clean paragraphs, so you never say “comma” or clean up a raw transcript afterwards. It works in whatever browser the doc is open in — Chrome, Safari, Arc, Firefox — and the same voice carries on into the Slack post and email around the doc.
Put your cursor in the doc and talk — in any browser
Clavio doesn't live inside Google Docs, so it doesn't care which browser your document is open in. You pick how to start — a hotkey like ⌥ Space or the Globe key, or a wake word you say out loud — then click into the document, trigger Clavio, and speak. When you stop, the text lands right at your cursor. There's no Tools menu to open and nothing that only works in one browser: the same habit writes into a doc in Safari, Arc, Firefox, or Chrome, and into every other app on your Mac too. Choose the wake word if you'd rather not touch a key at all — say it and start talking, and the words appear in the doc.
Natural polish: clean paragraphs, not a raw transcript
A document is prose, so keep Clavio on its natural tone — a light polish that tidies without rewriting you into someone else. It adds the commas, periods, and capitalisation for you, drops the “um”s and the false starts, and reshapes a rambling thought into a readable paragraph, all while keeping your wording and your voice. You talk an idea through messily and a clean paragraph appears in the doc; you never say “comma”, “period”, or “new paragraph” out loud, and you never stop to untangle a wall of unpunctuated text. That's the whole difference between dictating a document and transcribing one.
Draft the messy way — Clavio makes it readable
Drafting by voice means half-formed sentences and mid-thought corrections, and that's exactly what a natural polish is for: you think out loud through a first draft, a set of meeting notes, or an outline, and finished paragraphs are what reach the page. Add the words that matter to your writing — people's names, product and project names, acronyms, the odd technical term — to Clavio's dictionary, and they come through spelled right every time instead of guessed at. Auto-send stays off for a document, because a doc has no submit button: the text simply arrives at your cursor and you keep going — reading it back, moving a sentence, dictating the next paragraph on top.
One voice for the doc and everything around it
The document is rarely the end of the job. When it's ready you announce it in Slack, share it over email, reply to a comment, or fill in the Google Sheet beside it — and the same voice does all of it. Clavio remembers the tone per app, so it stays natural for the doc, turns casual for the Slack message, and tidies up for the email, without you changing a setting. One dictation habit follows you across every browser and every app, and because Clavio answers only to your voice — an on-device voiceprint — a colleague talking nearby never sets it off. You draft the doc by talking, then talk your way through everything the doc sets in motion.
Recommended Clavio settings for Google Docs
| Setting | Recommended | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Activation | A hotkey or wake word | Start dictating anywhere in the doc without the Tools menu or a browser-locked engine — say a wake word to skip the key entirely. |
| Polish level | Natural (light) | Adds punctuation and capitalisation and drops the “um”s while keeping your wording — no spoken commas, no raw transcript. |
| Auto-send | Off | A document has no submit button; text lands at your cursor so you can read back, edit, and keep drafting. |
| Personal dictionary | Add your names & terms | Keeps people's names, product terms, and acronyms coming through spelled right instead of guessed at. |
| Browser | Any — Chrome, Safari, Arc, Firefox | Clavio pastes into the Google Doc at your cursor in whatever browser you use, unlike Chrome-only Voice typing. |
Draft in Google Docs by voice
Clavio is an AI dictation app for Mac. It sits in your menu bar and types finished, punctuated text wherever your cursor is — a Google Doc in Chrome, Safari, Arc, or Firefox, plus every other app you write in. It transcribes, then rewrites your words into clean prose toned to fit where you're writing, so you never speak punctuation or tidy a raw transcript. Start it with a hotkey, the Globe key, a trackpad double-tap, a wake word, or always-on listening, and add your own names and terms to keep them exact. Free to try: 3,000 words a month, no card, macOS 14+ on Apple Silicon. Pro is £12/month for unlimited.
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Common questions
Can I dictate into Google Docs hands-free?
Yes. Give Clavio a wake word, say it, and start talking — nothing to hold or click, and the words appear in the doc as clean paragraphs. Auto-send stays off because a document has no submit button, so you simply keep drafting and editing as the text lands at your cursor.
Doesn't Google Docs already have voice typing?
It does, but it only runs in Google Chrome and types you word for word, so you say every “comma” and “period” aloud and clean up the rest by hand. macOS's own Dictation works much the same way. Clavio runs in any browser and adds the punctuation and clean phrasing for you, so a finished paragraph appears in the doc instead of a raw transcript.
Will it reword my writing or get names wrong?
On its natural tone Clavio keeps your wording and just tidies the punctuation and false starts — it doesn't rewrite you into a stranger. Add the names, product terms, and acronyms you use to its dictionary and they come through spelled right every time.
Is it good for a long first draft?
That's where it shines. Talk through the whole thing — a draft, meeting notes, an outline — half-formed sentences and all, and Clavio turns the messy thinking-out-loud into readable paragraphs at your cursor. No spoken punctuation, and no cleanup pass on a wall of text afterwards.
Can I use the same voice outside the document?
Yes — that's the point of a menu-bar app instead of a browser feature. The same voice writes the Slack post announcing the doc, the email sharing it, the comment reply, and the Google Sheet beside it, and Clavio remembers the tone for each — natural for the doc, casual for chat, tidy for email.