---
title: "Voice commands"
summary: "Which spoken commands Dictate writes as a line break, a paragraph or punctuation, how to end a dictation by voice and how to take back the last insertion."
url: "https://help.medisynchealth.ai/en/dictate/voice-commands"
product: "MediSync Dictate"
platforms: ["windows","macos"]
access: "public"
updated: "2026-11-11"
version: "Dictate 0.4.0-beta.6"
---

# Voice commands

Which spoken commands Dictate writes as a line break, a paragraph or punctuation, how to end a dictation by voice and how to take back the last insertion.

Say the command where the character should go. Dictate writes the character instead of the word.

| You say | Dictate writes |
| --- | --- |
| "New line", "newline" or "line break" | Line break |
| "New paragraph" | Blank line |
| "Period" or "full stop", "comma" | `.` `,` |
| "Colon", "semicolon" | `:` `;` |
| "Question mark", "exclamation mark" or "exclamation point" | `?` `!` |
| "Hyphen" | `-`, a list dash at the start of a line |
| "Slash" or "forward slash" | `/` without spaces, for example 148/92 |
| "Underscore" | `_` |
| "Open paren", "close paren" (also "parenthesis" or "bracket") | `(` `)` |
| "Open quote", "close quote" (also "begin quote", "end quote", "unquote") | `"` `"` |
| "Bullet point" | new line starting with `-` |

## When a word stays a word

"Period" and "colon" are also nouns. Dictate tells them apart by the sentence:

- "a period of dizziness" stays as it is.
- "colon cancer" and "the sigmoid colon" stay as they are.

## End a dictation by voice

In a hands-free dictation, "Stop dictation" at the end of what you say ends the recording. Dictate also understands "Stop recording", "Stop listening" and "End dictation". The command does not appear in the text. [Dictating](https://help.medisynchealth.ai/en/dictate/dictate) explains hands-free dictation.

## Take back the last insertion

Dictate just the word "Undo". Dictate takes back its last insertion in the program and shows `Undone`. "Redo" brings the text back. Dictate also understands "Undo that" and "Undo last".

This works only for the last insertion and up to 2 minutes after it. It does not work with the **Character by character (for older programs)** method. If "undo" is part of a sentence, it stays a word.

## Commands and the dictation language

The commands follow the dictation language:

- English: the English commands above, plus most German ones such as "Neue Zeile" or "Fragezeichen".
- German: the German commands, for example "Neue Zeile", "Neuer Absatz", "Punkt", "Komma" and "Diktat beenden", plus most English ones.
- Every other language: the English commands.

The German list is in the German version of this page. You set the dictation language as described in [Languages](https://help.medisynchealth.ai/en/dictate/languages).

## The list in Dictate

Dictate has a short list too. Click the Dictate icon in the Windows taskbar or the Mac menu bar and choose **Help and voice commands**. The **Help** page shows the shortcuts and the **Voice commands**.

[Edit text by voice](https://help.medisynchealth.ai/en/dictate/edit-text-by-voice) explains how to change selected text with a spoken instruction.