Retry failed transcriptions

Desktop (Mac and Windows)

Audio storage: Audio is saved to your history when recording ends and stays available for retry if transcription fails.

What you see when transcription fails:

1. The Flow Bar briefly flashes red, then disappears.

2. A notification appears titled "Something's not right" with the body "Transcript failed to load. You can always recover it from History."

3. The notification includes two buttons:

   1. Retry — attempts to recover and paste the transcript from your saved data.

   2. Open History — opens the Hub home page where you can retry later.

If transcription is slow, a "Taking longer than usual… Your audio is saved for retrying" notification appears. Its Don't show again button permanently dismisses this notification across sessions.

When paste fails: If transcription succeeded but Flow couldn't paste into your target app, Flow writes the transcript to your clipboard and shows a notification so you can paste it manually.

When there is no transcription text at all, Flow shows a notification titled "Click a textbox and use {{shortcut}} to paste" (where {{shortcut}} is your Paste Last Text shortcut — Cmd+Ctrl+V on Mac, Shift+Alt+Z on Windows — not the OS clipboard paste shortcut). This notification writes nothing to the clipboard.

Other error notifications:

• "No internet connection": Check your network and try again.

• "Is your microphone muted?" or "We couldn't hear you": Includes Select microphone and Troubleshoot buttons, and names the mic that had the issue.

• "Microphone disconnected": Click Insert to recover any partial text transcribed before the mic disconnected.

• "Unable to access mic": Click Restart App and try again.

• "No microphone detected": Flow couldn't find a connected microphone. Click Open Sound Settings to open your OS sound panel (Windows: Sound Control Panel → Recording; Mac: System Settings → Sound → Input).

• "Selected microphone is unavailable": Your previously selected mic was disconnected. Click Choose Microphone to select a different one.

• "Microphone unavailable": Another app may be using your microphone, or your audio driver needs attention. Click Troubleshoot for help.

• "Microphone error": An unexpected problem occurred accessing your microphone. Click Troubleshoot for help.

• "Microphone access is disabled" (Windows): Appears when microphone privacy is disabled in Windows Settings, with an Open Settings button. On Mac, the equivalent is "Microphone Permission Required" with a Grant Permission button.

How to retry from history:

• Failed transcripts: On the Hub home page, failed transcripts show a clickable Retry link followed by descriptive text — for example, "Retry" (clickable) then "your [duration] transcription". This inline link appears only when the recording is at least 5 seconds long and less than 14 days old.

• Menu option: All transcripts have a Retry transcript option in the ⋯ menu.

• Download audio: Download the original audio from the same menu; it's greyed out for recordings older than 14 days.

• Long retries: For longer recordings, an estimated wait time appears during retry.

• Dismissed transcripts: These show a Recover link instead of Retry, with no 5-second minimum.

iOS

Audio storage: Audio is saved to your device as you record, regardless of network connection. With Auto-delete transcripts off, audio persists until you delete it manually.

Error messages during onboarding setup (these appear in onboarding dictation steps, not the regular Flow Keyboard), shown at the top of the screen:

• "Oops, we didn't hear you.. Get closer to your mic and try again!": No audio was picked up. Move closer to your microphone and tap the mic to try again.

• "Poor connection! Tap the mic to try again": A network issue prevented transcription. Check your connection and tap the mic to retry.

• "Your mic is being used by another app. Close other apps and try again!": Close other apps and tap the mic to try again.

• "Enable microphone access to use Flow": Go to your device settings and grant Flow microphone access.

• "Oops, something went wrong.. Tap the mic to try again!": An unexpected error occurred. Tap the mic to try again.

States in the regular Flow Keyboard after a dictation error:

• Any error (server, cancelled, network, or audio-capture failure): An orange triangle warning icon appears next to the mic button. Tap it to open a dropdown showing what went wrong and your options.

• Server or cancelled errors: The dropdown says your text is saved but transcription didn't complete, with Dismiss to clear the warning or Retry to re-submit the saved audio.

• Network errors: The dropdown says no audio was received and to try again, with only Dismiss — check your connection and dictate again once you're back online.

• Audio-capture start failures (for example, swiping away immediately after launching, another app holding the mic, or an active phone call): The dropdown shows "Couldn't start audio capture. Tap the mic to try again, or quit and reopen the Flow app if it keeps happening." with only Dismiss, because no audio was recorded. Tap the mic to start a fresh dictation.

• Successful dictation (including silent audio or very short accidental taps): The keyboard resets to the microphone icon.

Transcription Error modal: For certain error types, iOS also shows a full-keyboard Transcription Error modal with a subtitle describing the error source (audio, network, microphone, processing, or permission denied) and a Retry button. Dismiss it by dragging down or tapping the X button.

How to retry:

• Keyboard toolbar: Tap the orange triangle warning icon to open the dropdown. For server or cancelled errors, tap Retry to re-submit the saved audio. For network errors or audio-capture failures, tap Dismiss, then tap the mic to start a fresh dictation.

• History: Retry a past transcription from your history; the updated transcript appears immediately after the retry completes, with no app restart needed. Failed rows with no text also show a dedicated inline retry button (circular arrow icon) on the row.

• Swipe, long-press, or tap: Swiping left on a history row reveals up to three actions — a Report/feedback button, Retry, and (if the row has text) Copy. The long-press context menu also offers retry. Tapping a row triggers retry only when the row has no text; tapping a row with text copies it to the clipboard. While retrying, a "Retrying..." toast appears and existing transcript text is shown with a placeholder or blurred effect until the retry completes.

Android

Audio storage: Audio is saved to your device as you record. When transcription fails, the audio file is saved with a "transcription failed" status and a toast appears: "Failed to transcribe. Saved in the app."

How to retry: The Flow Bubble shows different options depending on what went wrong:

• Transcription failed: Tap the Retry button on the bubble to re-send the saved audio, or tap the Wispr icon on the error bubble to start a fresh dictation session. If your login session had expired, Flow refreshes it automatically and retries.

• Text insertion failed: Flow retries insertion automatically a few times. If it still fails, Flow copies your dictated text to your clipboard and the Flow Bubble shows a Paste action button (checkmark icon). Tap Paste to re-attempt insertion, tap the Wispr icon to dismiss the error while keeping your text on the clipboard, or long-press in any text field and select Paste to insert manually.

When you tap Retry, an animated "Retrying..." spinner appears on the bubble. If the audio file is no longer available, the bubble returns to its ready state. The error bubble auto-dismisses after a short period of inactivity, with the timer paused during a retry; after dismissal it returns to its ready state if a text field is focused, or hides otherwise.

Retries after a connectivity loss track how the original dictation was started — for example, Push-to-Talk or Press Once — so your usage history stays accurate.

Retry from the home screen: Failed transcription cards show a Retry Transcript option in the ⋯ menu. If retry fails there, a message explains why: audio file missing, audio file not found, or a general retry failure.

Retrying after a network drop on desktop

You finish dictating a long paragraph, but your Wi-Fi briefly drops. The Flow Bar flashes red and a notification appears. Click Retry — Flow re-sends the saved audio and inserts the transcribed text.

Retrying after a server error on iOS

You finish dictating and see an orange triangle warning icon in the Flow Keyboard toolbar. Tap the triangle — the dropdown says your text is saved but transcription didn't complete. Tap Retry; Flow re-submits your saved audio and inserts the transcribed text.

Retrying from history on iOS

You dictate a message while walking and it fails in an area with no signal. Once back online, open your transcription history, find the failed entry, and tap Retry. The original audio is re-submitted and the result appears immediately in your history.

Recovering text when insertion fails on Android

A transcription succeeds but the text can't be inserted into the target app, even after automatic retries. Flow copies the text to your clipboard and the Flow Bubble shows a Paste action button. Tap Paste to re-attempt insertion, or long-press in any text field and select Paste.

On Android, dictation failed with an authentication error after the app had been idle or at cold start

When the app's login session expired, transcriptions failed repeatedly — including when retrying from the bubble or history — because the expired session was resent on every attempt. Flow now refreshes your login automatically and retries, so the dictation recovers without signing back in. Update Wispr Flow to the latest version to resolve.

On iOS, the Flow Keyboard showed a generic error for audio-capture failures instead of a specific message

Audio-capture start failures (such as swiping away right after launch, another app holding the mic, or an active phone call) showed the same generic error as other failure types. The keyboard now shows a dedicated message — "Couldn't start audio capture. Tap the mic to try again, or quit and reopen the Flow app if it keeps happening." — with only a Dismiss option, since no audio was recorded. Update Wispr Flow to the latest version to resolve.

Dictated text was missing or cut short, even though recording appeared to succeed

A transcription quality check could incorrectly discard valid dictation — particularly with quiet audio or dictated numbers — losing up to a full minute of audio in some cases. Flow now preserves transcriptions when it has high confidence in the result, and only discards output showing clear signs of being faulty (such as repeated text). Update Wispr Flow to the latest version to resolve.

An accidental tap on the mic triggered an unexpected error or produced random text

Very short recordings went through an error path that could occasionally produce made-up text. These accidental taps now resolve immediately as empty results, with no error and no retry prompt. Update Wispr Flow to the latest version to resolve.

On iOS, the Flow Keyboard showed separate inline error labels and a standalone retry button after a failed transcription

The previous error UI displayed inline text labels ("Server is busy" or "Network error") alongside a separate retry button. The keyboard now shows a single orange triangle warning icon for all error types; tapping it opens a dropdown with an explanation and action options — Retry and Dismiss for server or cancelled errors, Dismiss only for network errors and audio-capture failures. Update Wispr Flow to the latest version to resolve.

On iOS, the mic button briefly flashed a warning icon after an error before showing the retry option

A warning-triangle icon appeared briefly on the mic button after an error, network error, or cancelled dictation before the keyboard settled into its post-error state. The keyboard now goes directly to the appropriate post-error state. Update Wispr Flow to the latest version to resolve.

On iOS, the keyboard showed "Audio was silent" when no speech was detected instead of resetting quietly

Silent dictations displayed a warning message and icon in the Flow Keyboard. The keyboard now resets to the microphone icon when no speech is detected — the same as after a successful dictation. Update Wispr Flow to the latest version to resolve.

On iOS, a network failure showed "Audio was silent" instead of a network error message

Network-related failures weren't distinguished from silent-audio failures in the Flow Keyboard. The keyboard now identifies network errors and displays the appropriate message in the error dropdown. Update Wispr Flow to the latest version to resolve.

On Mac or Windows, dismissing the paste-failed error left old clipboard contents instead of the dictated text

Previous clipboard contents could be restored over the transcription when Flow fell back to clipboard copy. Flow now writes the transcription back to the clipboard before showing the failure notification. Update Wispr Flow to the latest version to resolve.

On Android, the error bubble stayed on screen indefinitely after a failed transcription or paste

The bubble had no auto-dismiss behavior. It now auto-dismisses after a short period of inactivity, and you can tap the Wispr icon to dismiss it immediately. Update Wispr Flow to the latest version to resolve.

On iOS, retrying a transcription didn't update the History view without restarting the app

The History view didn't refresh after a successful retry. It now updates immediately when a retry completes. Update Wispr Flow to the latest version to resolve.

Dictation failed silently during iOS setup with no message explaining what went wrong

Error feedback was missing during the initial setup dictation steps on iOS. Flow now shows a message at the top of the screen describing the specific problem (such as no audio detected, poor connection, or microphone in use) and what to do next. Update Wispr Flow to the latest version to resolve.

Dictation showed "Listening" but then failed with a transcription error, even though the microphone wasn't working

Microphone access failures were misreported as transcription errors. Flow now ends the dictation session immediately when a microphone can't be accessed and shows a specific notification with a relevant action button. Update Wispr Flow to the latest version to resolve.

Clicking Retry while dictating stopped the recording or caused data loss

Clicking Retry on a history item during an active dictation could interrupt the in-progress recording. The Retry menu item is now disabled during active dictation, and a "Cannot retry while dictating" toast appears if you attempt it. Update Wispr Flow to the latest version to resolve.

What happens if I lose internet while dictating?

Your audio is still recorded and saved locally, and Flow automatically tries again when the dictation ends. If that fails, you'll see the orange triangle warning icon in the keyboard toolbar. Retry from your history once you're back online.

Is my audio stored permanently?

No. On desktop, audio is cleaned up after 14 days — the transcript text remains but the audio can't be retried. On iOS, audio persists until manually deleted or removed by Auto-delete transcripts. On Android, older audio files are removed automatically when storage runs low. Enterprise organizations with Zero Data Retention enabled on desktop don't have audio saved at all.

Can I retry from my transcription history?

Yes, on all platforms. On desktop, the error notification includes an Open History button. On iOS and Android, failed transcriptions are accessible from your history or home screen.

What if the app crashes during a dictation?

On desktop, the transcript from an interrupted session can't be recovered — start a new dictation. On mobile, if audio was already written to your device before the crash, it may be available for retry from your history.

I see a microphone error instead of a transcription error — can I still retry?

No. Microphone errors mean no audio was recorded, so there's nothing to retry. Resolve the issue using the action button in the notification (Open Sound Settings, Choose Microphone, or Troubleshoot), then start a new dictation.

On iOS, what does the orange triangle icon mean in the keyboard?

It appears next to the mic button whenever a dictation fails. Tap it for a dropdown explaining what went wrong and your available actions.

On Android, what happens if I don't interact with the error bubble?

It dismisses itself after a short period of inactivity, returning to its ready state if a text field is focused and hiding otherwise. You can still retry from the home screen via the ⋯ menu on any failed transcription card.

On Android, what happens if my login session expires while I'm dictating?

Flow refreshes your login automatically and retries the dictation — you don't need to sign back in. If your session can't be refreshed (for example, your account credentials have changed), you may be signed out and prompted to log in again.