How to
How to remove filler words from your dictation
Dictidy is a free, open-source macOS app that dictates by voice and rewrites selected text anywhere you type, all from one shortcut, with dictation running on-device. One thing it does that plain transcription does not: it removes filler words (um, uh, like, you know) and fixes grammar in the same flow, so what lands on the page is what you meant to say.
macOS 13.3+ · Apple Silicon · MIT licensed · No telemetry
Why raw transcription keeps the fillers
Most dictation and transcription tools are built to be verbatim. Their job is to write down exactly what you said, so every "um", "uh", "like", "you know", false start, and repeated word gets faithfully typed out. That is correct behavior for a transcript, but it is not what you want when you are dictating an email or a message. The result reads the way people actually talk (in loops and restarts) rather than the way finished writing should read. Removing fillers is a separate step, and plain transcription simply does not do it.
The fix: transcribe, then clean up, in one flow
The reliable way to get clean text from speech is two steps that feel like one: first transcribe what you said, then run a cleanup pass that strips fillers, fixes grammar and punctuation, and tightens the structure. Dictidy does both from a single shortcut. You speak, and the finished text is typed where your cursor already is. There is no separate "clean this up" button to remember and no copy-paste into another tool.
Before and after
What you said (raw transcription)
"So, um, I think we should, like, probably move the meeting to, uh, Thursday because, you know, Friday is kind of, like, already really full and, and I don't want to, um, rush through it."
What Dictidy types (after cleanup)
"I think we should move the meeting to Thursday, because Friday is already full and I do not want to rush through it."
Same meaning, none of the noise. The fillers are gone, the false start ("and, and") is fixed, and the punctuation is correct, all without you editing a thing.
Do it on-device, so your words stay private
Cleanup does not require sending your words to a server. In Dictidy, dictation runs on-device with Whisper large-v3-turbo, and the cleanup step runs on-device by default with a local model, so nothing leaves your Mac. If you would rather use a cloud model, you can opt in to your own Claude API key for cleanup, but that is a choice, not a requirement. There is no telemetry either way.
Steps
- 1. Download Dictidy (free) and open it. On first launch, because the app is self-signed rather than notarized, macOS shows a one-time "unidentified developer" prompt. Right-click the app and choose Open, or run the one-line Terminal command from the site, and you only do this once.
- 2. Set your shortcut and grant the microphone and accessibility permissions Dictidy needs to type into other apps.
- 3. Put your cursor wherever you want text (Mail, Slack, a browser, your editor).
- 4. Press the shortcut and speak naturally, fillers and all. Dictidy transcribes on-device, cleans it up, and types the finished text for you.
- 5. To clean up existing text, select something you already wrote, press the shortcut, and Dictidy rewrites it in place, fillers removed and grammar fixed.
FAQ
Why does my dictation keep filler words like um and uh?
Most dictation and transcription tools are built to be verbatim: they write down exactly what you said, including um, uh, like, and you know. Removing fillers is a separate cleanup step that plain transcription does not do, which is why the raw output still reads the way you spoke.
How does Dictidy remove filler words?
After transcribing your speech on-device, Dictidy runs a cleanup step that removes filler words, fixes grammar and punctuation, and tightens the structure, then types the finished text where your cursor is. It happens in the same flow, so you speak once and get clean text.
Does removing filler words happen on-device or in the cloud?
By default it happens on-device with a local model, so your words never leave your Mac. If you prefer, you can opt in to using your own Claude API key for cleanup, which is a cloud path. Dictation itself is always on-device.
Can Dictidy clean up text I already typed or dictated elsewhere?
Yes. Select any text you have already written, in any app, press the shortcut, and Dictidy rewrites it in place, removing filler words and fixing grammar, without you having to redo the dictation.
Try Dictidy
It is free, open source, and dictation runs entirely on your Mac. See for yourself.