The Windows side matters more than it might seem. Raycast is now a full launcher on Windows, not a port that lags behind the Mac. Below is what shipped, what costs money, and what to check before you start talking at your desktop.
What Dictate to AI actually does
Raycast's official changelog says the new command combines what you say with context from your focused app to give you relevant AI responses in fewer steps. You can turn context on or off in the command settings.
Here's the problem it solves. Until now, asking an AI about something on your screen meant:
- Select the text
- Copy it
- Open AI Chat
- Paste it
- Type your question
With Dictate to AI, you press a hotkey, say the question, and Raycast sends your words plus the app context to the model. Raycast's release notes say it gets you from talking to a response "in seconds." That's the vendor's claim, and it will depend on the model you pick and your network.
Suggested hotkeys. The Windows changelog suggests Alt + A. The macOS changelog suggests a hotkey like Control + A. These are only suggestions, not defaults, and both can clash with existing shortcuts:
- Mac: Basic Tutorials points out that Control + A jumps to the start of the line in many macOS text fields and in Terminal.
- Windows: in many traditional Windows apps, Alt combinations open menus. If Alt + A already does something in an app you use daily, pick another combination.
Section summary: Dictate to AI replaces the copy, paste and open-chat routine with one spoken request, and you can switch the app context off.
The new Dictation AI extension
The second new feature on both platforms is a brand new dictation AI extension, allowing you to effortlessly use your transcriptions in AI chats and manage your styles and get feedback on them. The changelog also says dictation post-processing is better and faster. That's the step that removes filler words and fixes punctuation.
In Raycast's Dictation manual, "styles" are formatting presets that change how dictated text comes out. There's a tidy email format, a short Slack-style format, and you can create your own with a prompt that tells the AI how to clean up the transcript. The new extension lets you manage and refine those presets from AI Chat instead of going through Settings.
Some useful details from the manual:
- Each dictation session is limited to 20 minutes. When you hit the limit, the session ends and the transcription is processed.
- You can dictate straight into the AI Chat composer with Ctrl + M on Windows.
- Dictation History saves every transcription. You can paste, copy, delete one, or delete all local transcriptions at once.
- Your vocabulary list holds up to 50 custom words, each up to 20 characters long.
What's new on Windows
Screen Awareness
The Windows changelog lists two new commands:
- Send Element to AI: hover over something on screen, such as a paragraph, an image or a button, and click to send it to AI Chat.
- Send Window to AI: send a whole window to AI Chat as context.
According to Basic Tutorials, both have been on the Mac since version 2.7, released October 9, 2026. Together with Dictate to AI, they give Windows users three ways to hand screen content to the AI without the clipboard.
Dictation itself isn't new on Windows
Some coverage suggests otherwise, so to be clear: dictation arrived on Windows months ago. Raycast's version 0.63 changelog, dated June 4, 2026, says Dictate, Dictate to Note, Dictation History and other dictation commands are now available on Windows. What's new in 2.11 is the link between dictation and AI Chat, not voice input.
Windows reliability fixes
The Windows 2.11 changelog includes several fixes that matter if you leave Raycast running all day:
- A slow resource leak that built up the longer Raycast ran is fixed.
- Automatic updates now install after you open and close Raycast. Previously they could fail to install in that situation.
- If an update fails to install, Raycast now reopens itself.
- Foreground window switching is more reliable, and closing Raycast should no longer send focus to the wrong window.
- Settings search no longer loads slowly or incompletely when Bluetooth, Wi-Fi or Energy Saver status checks stall.
If you've noticed Raycast getting slower over a long session, the leak fix is probably the reason to update.
Section summary: Windows gets screen awareness, AI-linked dictation and fixes for a resource leak and unreliable updates.
Mac-only additions
The macOS changelog has a few items that don't appear in the Windows 2.11 notes:
- AI usage in the menu bar, turned on under Raycast Settings → AI → Show AI Usage in Menu Bar.
- A Contacts AI Extension to search, create, update, and delete contacts from AI Chat.
- Organizations in root search, so you can jump straight to an organization's settings.
- Notes changes: checked tasks move below unchecked ones, and the pinned Notes window stays visible when you switch Spaces.
- A fix for freezes when opening extensions such as Downloads Manager.
Windows users who want to track usage aren't left out entirely. An earlier Windows release added Show AI Credits/Claude/ChatGPT Usage commands, just not as a menu-bar item.
Fixes on both platforms
| Area | Change in 2.11 |
|---|---|
| Extensions | When forking an extension, you can copy settings, history and shortcuts and disable the original |
| AI Chat | You can rename a chat before the first response finishes; unavailable models are handled better |
| AI Chat | No more premature timeouts while models from custom provider extensions load |
| Proxy | PAC scripts work when "Use System Proxy Settings" is on; proxy changes apply without a restart |
| MCP | Connections to older HTTP servers, including Sketch, work again |
| Search Screenshots | HEIC/HEIF images are indexed; new screenshots appear reliably |
| Clipboard History | Selection no longer jumps to the top with 20+ pinned items |
| Extensions | Lists and grids start loading again once memory frees up |
The PAC proxy support matters most for corporate networks. Plenty of companies push proxy settings through auto-configuration scripts, and a launcher that ignores them can't reach its AI back end.
Privacy: dictation audio and app context are handled differently
Raycast's Dictation manual says dictation is private by default in its framing. Your voice isn't used to train AI models, audio isn't kept on Raycast servers, and transcriptions and statistics stay on your device. Raycast's privacy documentation adds one detail: audio does go to a speech-to-text partner to produce the transcript. It isn't kept after the request, and partners are contractually barred from training on it.
App context is a different matter. The manual's description of App Context covers the transcription feature: Raycast reads the frontmost app's name, the field you're in and visible nearby text, uses it only for that request, and then discards it. The 2.11 changelog doesn't say whether Dictate to AI's context follows exactly the same rules once it goes to an AI model. What's clear is that the context goes to an AI service along with your words.
Practical advice for Windows admins and anyone handling sensitive material:
- Open the Dictate to AI command settings and decide whether app context should be on by default.
- Turn it off before using the command over confidential email, HR documents or client data.
- Remember that Send Window to AI sends a whole window, which can include sidebars, notifications and other content you weren't thinking about.
- In managed environments, make sure using a third-party AI service matches your organization's data-handling policy.
What it costs
Dictation and AI both sit behind a paywall. Raycast's Windows 2.0 changelog confirms that after the beta, those features are now part of Raycast Pro, including Dictation and AI Chat. The Dictation manual also labels the feature "Pro Exclusive." The launcher itself stays free.
| Plan | Monthly | Annual | AI credits/month |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | $0 | No AI |
| Pro | $10 | $96 | 500 |
| Pro+ | $20 | $192 | 3,000 |
| Max | $50 | $480 | 7,500 |
Raycast's billing documentation says models use credits at different rates. Unused credits roll over for one extra billing cycle and expire 60 days after they're granted. Basic Tutorials adds that new accounts can try Pro free, students get 50 percent off, and existing Claude or ChatGPT subscriptions can be linked to a paid plan. Raycast's Windows changelog also notes support for OpenAI-compatible custom providers, local models via Ollama, and OpenRouter API keys.
The bigger picture
Dictate to AI isn't a new idea. Basic Tutorials notes that Google's Gemini app for macOS and Meta AI's Mac app already offer system-wide dictation. Raycast's advantage is that the launcher, extensions, AI chat and model choice all live in one tool, and that tool now runs properly on Windows. Raycast left beta on Windows with version 2.0 in August 2026, and according to Floatboat's review it supports Windows 10 21H2 and later and Windows 11, installed through its own installer or WinGet.
The pace is fast. Basic Tutorials counts 2.11 as the third release in two weeks, after 2.9 and 2.10. That means fixes arrive quickly, but rough edges probably will too.
Is it worth $10 a month for Windows users? If you already use Raycast and keep copying text into chat windows, probably yes. If you just want speech to text, the voice typing built into Windows 11 costs nothing. Either way, set the app context toggle on purpose, because with context on, more of your screen goes to the cloud than when you type a question.