What permissions does Hold to Talk need on Mac?

Updated June 16, 2026

Direct answer: Hold to Talk needs Microphone permission to record speech and limited Paste Access, which macOS displays under Accessibility. The App Store build uses Paste Access only to post Command-V; it does not use Input Monitoring or inspect other apps' interface elements.

What happens after install

See the demo
  1. Focus any Mac text field.Cursor, ChatGPT, Slack, email, docs, terminals, browser forms, and more.
  2. Hold the shortcut and speak.Use Option-Space or a custom hotkey only while you are talking.
  3. Release to paste.The transcript appears in the active app instead of a separate dictation workspace.
  4. Review before sending.Hold to Talk never auto-submits prompts, messages, emails, or commands.

Source

This answer is backed by the public source page: https://holdtotalk.com/privacy/.

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View in the Mac App Store Watch the 8-second demo