Paste copied text inside a dictation

Say paste clipboard or press Command-V while recording to include copied links or text at that point, with the copied text preserved exactly.

Say “paste clipboard” or press ⌘V while recording to include copied text at that point in your dictation. Keep speaking, then finish the dictation; Epilude inserts your words and the copied text together.

Clipboard insertion starts off. It works with your existing dictation plan, including Pay Once in Local Mode.

Turn on clipboard insertion

Open Settings → Dictation and, under Dictation behavior, turn on Insert clipboard during dictation. The change applies to your next dictation.

If a saved Shortcut already uses “paste clipboard” as its trigger, rename that Shortcut first. The setting shows a message while the phrase is in use.

Include a copied link or text

Copy the text, start dictating into a text field, and choose either input below.

Copy the text

Select a link, code or other text and press ⌘C.

Dictate into your text field

Place your cursor where the text should go. Hold your dictation hotkey, or start hands-free dictation, and say “paste clipboard” or press ⌘V where you want the copied text.

For example, say “I merged pull request”, press ⌘V, then continue “Watch the test runs and tell me when they pass.” Pause briefly before pressing ⌘V so it falls between words.

Finish the dictation

Release the hotkey, or stop hands-free dictation. Epilude inserts one completed block with the copied text at each paste command.

⌘V captures the clipboard when you press it and shows Clipboard added while you record. You can copy different text before another press. While recording in your original app, this defers the paste until the dictation is ready. Outside recording, or in another app, ⌘V keeps its normal behavior.

The spoken command reads the clipboard after transcribing your speech. Keep the copied text on the clipboard until your dictation is ready; every spoken occurrence uses that same text. You can combine spoken commands and ⌘V, up to four insertions per dictation in total.

Keep copied text exact

Clipboard insertion preserves capitalization, punctuation, indentation and line breaks in the copied text. Complete spoken sentences use your Cleanup setting. Incomplete phrases beside the copied text use basic formatting, so Cleanup doesn't have to guess the missing context. Copied text stays out of Cleanup model requests in both Cloud mode and Local Mode.

The completed text is retained in your local dictation history, like other dictations. Diagnostic logs and dictation support reports replace the copied part with a placeholder.

Words inside the copied text never act as commands. A copied block ending in “send text” cannot send your message. To send by voice, enable send text to submit and speak those words yourself at the end.

Troubleshooting

  • The command appears as words. Check that the setting is on and no Shortcut uses the same phrase. Say the complete English phrase “paste clipboard”, with a short pause before and after it if needed. Epilude only expands the recognized phrase. Turn the setting off when you want to dictate those words as text.
  • ⌘V pastes immediately. Check that you're still recording in the app where you started dictating. If the indicator says Say paste clipboard instead, use the spoken command or follow Text not inserting to check Accessibility permission.
  • A short word beside ⌘V is wrong. Very short speech on either side of a keyboard paste can be misrecognized. Try a fuller phrase and pause briefly before pressing ⌘V so it falls between words.
  • The clipboard changed while being captured. Copy the text again and repeat the dictation. Epilude withholds the completed message when it cannot capture the requested clipboard text.
  • Transcription took longer than expected. Epilude withholds a late paste. When transcription finishes, recover your words and copied text from History.
  • Clipboard has no text. Copy text rather than an image or file, then try another dictation. Your unexpanded dictation is saved in History without inserting a partial message.
  • The text is too long. Use a smaller clipboard entry, up to 64 KB, or fewer insertions. If the combined text is too long, Epilude saves your unexpanded dictation in History without inserting it.

For insertion or permission problems, follow Text not inserting.

Next steps

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