---
title: I dictated but nothing appeared in the terminal
question: dictation records but no text appears
area: dictation
order: 3
surface: desktop
audience: beginner
keywords: [dictation, voice, speech to text, superwhisper, super whisper, microphone, § key, section key, accessibility permission, nothing appears, no text, not pasting, not working, wrong field, focus, faster than typing]
related: [how-do-i-set-up-superwhisper-for-dictation, how-do-i-dictate-to-codus-instead-of-typing, how-do-i-answer-the-agent-in-the-terminal]
updated: 2026-07-21
---

# I dictated but nothing appeared in the terminal

Almost every time, this is the accessibility permission. SuperWhisper needs macOS accessibility access to type text into other apps, and if that was skipped it records you but the words have nowhere to land. Turn it on in **System Settings**, then **Privacy & Security**, then **Accessibility**, switch **SuperWhisper** on, and try again. If that permission was already on, you most likely clicked somewhere other than the terminal before you spoke, so the text went to whatever had focus.

SuperWhisper is a free third-party app, not part of codus, so both fixes below happen in the app itself and in macOS System Settings, not in codus.

## First, work out which one it is

Press **§** and speak a sentence, then watch what happens.

- SuperWhisper clearly records you and shows a result, but no text lands anywhere: that is the **accessibility** permission. Go to Fix 1.
- Your words appear, but in some other app or box rather than the codus terminal: that is **focus**. Go to Fix 2.
- Nothing records at all, no listening indicator: that is either the **microphone** permission or the shortcut. Turn the microphone on in **System Settings**, then **Privacy & Security**, then **Microphone**, and check the shortcut in Fix 3.

## Fix 1: Turn on accessibility (the usual cause)

This permission is the one that lets SuperWhisper type into other apps, the codus terminal included. Without it, dictation records but the text has nowhere to go.

1. Open the Apple menu, then **System Settings**.
2. Go to **Privacy & Security**, then **Accessibility**.
3. Find **SuperWhisper** in the list and switch it **on**. If it is not in the list, open SuperWhisper and dictate once, which prompts macOS to add it.
4. If it was already on, switch it **off** and back **on**. This clears a common macOS state where the permission looks granted but is not being applied.
5. Quit SuperWhisper fully and reopen it. macOS often only applies a fresh accessibility permission after the app restarts.
6. Back in codus, click into the terminal, press **§**, and speak. Your words should appear now.

## Fix 2: Click the terminal first (wrong focus)

Dictation types into whatever had focus when you spoke. If you pressed **§** while looking at the terminal but had last clicked elsewhere, the text went to that other place instead.

1. Click once directly into the codus terminal, so the cursor is sitting in it.
2. Do not click anything else after that.
3. Press **§**, speak, then press **§** again. The text lands in the terminal this time.

## Fix 3: Pressing § does nothing

If **§** never starts a recording:

- The record shortcut may not be set, or set to a different key. Open SuperWhisper's **Configuration**, find the **record shortcut**, and set it to **§**. See [How do I set up SuperWhisper?](how-do-i-set-up-superwhisper-for-dictation.md).
- Your keyboard may not have a **§** key. This is common on US layouts. Set the shortcut to any other key you never press instead, and use that as your talk key.

## How do I know it worked?

Click into the terminal, press **§**, say a short sentence, then press **§** again. The words appear on the input line, and pressing **Enter** sends them to the agent. If they show up there, both the permission and the focus are right. For the normal flow, see [How do I dictate to codus instead of typing?](how-do-i-dictate-to-codus-instead-of-typing.md).

## Still stuck

- **You granted accessibility but nothing changed.** Quit SuperWhisper completely, reopen it, then redo the off-and-on toggle in step 3 of Fix 1. The restart is what makes stubborn cases take.
- **It types into other apps but never the terminal.** Click into the terminal first every time, and check nothing else is stealing focus between your click and pressing **§**.
- **It worked yesterday and stopped.** A macOS update can reset accessibility permissions. Run through Fix 1 again and it comes straight back.