Set up Voice

TabMail Voice puts speech into the app you are already writing in. It is a separate app that lives in the menu bar (macOS) or the system tray (Windows and Linux); you do not need Thunderbird or an email account connected to TabMail.

Voice runs on Macs with macOS 15 or later (Apple Silicon and Intel), Windows 10 and 11 (x64 and Arm64) and Ubuntu 26.04 with GNOME (x64 and Arm64). Download it from the download page.

Install on your Mac

  1. Open the disk image and move TabMail Voice to Applications, then launch it.
  2. Follow the welcome walkthrough. Review the dictation consent, add your name for agent mode, and choose whether to allow screen reading.
  3. Grant Microphone and Accessibility access when prompted.
  4. Open Settings from the menu-bar app and sign in with your TabMail email. Enter the one-time code sent to your email.

Install on Windows

  1. Run the installer. Voice installs for your account and starts in the system tray.
  2. Follow the welcome walkthrough, as on the Mac.
  3. Open Settings from the tray icon and sign in with your TabMail email. Enter the one-time code sent to your email.

Install on Ubuntu

  1. Open the .deb file with App Center, or install it with sudo apt install ./TabMail-Voice-*.deb, then launch TabMail Voice. Installing it adds TabMail’s signed apt repository, so later versions arrive with your regular system updates.

    No admin (sudo) rights? Download the AppImage instead, put it in a folder of your own (for example ~/Applications), make it executable (in Files, Properties → Executable as Program, or chmod +x TabMail-Voice-latest-linux-*.AppImage), and open it. It adds TabMail Voice to your apps, updates itself, and needs no installation. It runs without Chromium’s sandbox, which Ubuntu allows only for apps an administrator installs, so prefer the .deb when you can.

  2. Follow the welcome walkthrough. Voice turns on its GNOME integration, which holds the dictation key and places the pill at your cursor: log out and back in once when Voice asks, then allow keyboard control when Ubuntu asks.

  3. Open Settings from the tray icon and sign in with your TabMail email. Enter the one-time code sent to your email.

Why the permissions matter on a Mac

Microphone lets Voice hear you while listening. Accessibility lets it detect the dictation key across apps and insert the result into the text field you are using.

If either permission is missing, open System Settings → Privacy & Security, select Microphone or Accessibility, and enable TabMail Voice. See Troubleshooting if it still does not respond.

Try it once

Click into an ordinary text field. Hold Right Option (⌥) on a Mac, or Right Alt on Windows and Linux, wait for the listening waveform, say a short sentence, and release the key. Voice inserts the transcript as soon as transcription finishes. With screen context enabled, names and terms visible in your current app can help it recognize what you say.

Next: Dictation and keyboard controls.

Last updated: October 11, 2026