Customize keyboard and mouse shortcuts
Last updated: October 30, 2026
Available on: Mac and Windows. Custom shortcuts are saved per device, do not sync between devices, and survive app updates.
Choose the keys or mouse buttons you use for Push to talk, hands-free dictation and other Flow actions.
Change or add a shortcut
Note: While you are recording a shortcut, other fields are locked. Finish or cancel the recording before retrying.
Click the Flow icon in the Mac menu bar or Windows system tray, then Shortcuts.
Click a binding to replace it, + (Add another) to keep it, or Click to add a shortcut on an empty row.
Press your combination; keyboard shortcuts save on release, mouse shortcuts on press, including any held keys.
Check for Shortcut saved to confirm acceptance, then click Done.
Adds, replacements and removals take effect immediately, with no separate Save, discard or undo. Each action supports up to four shortcuts and Cancel supports one; at four, + disappears.
Other ways to open shortcuts
From Flow’s sidebar, open Settings → General → Shortcuts, then click Change. On Mac, Wispr Flow → Settings (Command+,) also opens Settings. Help → Shortcuts in Flow’s sidebar or the Mac app menu opens the shortcut dialog directly.
Cancel recording without changing a shortcut
At Press key or mouse button, click X (Cancel), press Escape alone, or left- or right-click inside or outside the field. Each cancels silently without changing the binding, closing Settings, or activating the click’s target. Escape alone saves a binding only on the Cancel row, and Ctrl then Esc records Ctrl+Esc.
Choose an accepted combination
Rejection ends recording and leaves the previous binding unchanged; click the field or pencil again to retry. Only the first failing rule is shown, in the table’s order; {keys} represents the attempted combination.
Message | What to change |
This shortcut is not allowed: {keys} | Avoid standalone letters, numbers, punctuation and reserved combinations. |
This shortcut is already in use | Choose a combination unused elsewhere in Flow. |
Shortcut must include a modifier key or a valid mouse button | Include Ctrl/Cmd/Opt/Shift/Fn on Mac, Ctrl/Alt/Shift/Win on Windows, or a supported mouse button. |
Shortcut must contain 3 or fewer keys | Use at most three keys. |
Shortcut cannot contain both left and right version of the same key | Use only one side of each modifier. |
Caps Lock alone is accepted only for Push to talk or Hands-free mode; it starts dictation instead of turning on all caps.
Mac shortcut restrictions
Reserved combinations include:
Cmd+Backspace/Delete/Space; Cmd+Ctrl+F; Cmd+C/V/X/Z/A/F/G/H/M/N/O/P/R/S/T/W/Q/B/I/U.
Cmd+Shift+Z/R/G/T/3/4/5/Q/F/Delete; Cmd+arrows; Cmd+Shift+arrows; Cmd+Tab; Cmd+comma; Cmd+=/-.
Ctrl+A/E/K; Ctrl+arrows; Fn+F11/F12.
Cmd+Opt with Space/Esc/D/P/F/Left/Right, and Opt+Backspace/Delete are not blocked as reserved; the other rules still apply.
Windows shortcut restrictions
Reserved combinations include:
Standalone Ctrl (either side); Win+E/R/L/D/Tab/I/S/X/P/Up/Down/Q.
Ctrl+C/V/X/Z/Y/R/A/F/G/O/S/P/N/T/W/K/B/I/U; Ctrl+Backspace/Delete/=/-; Ctrl+Home/End; Ctrl+Shift+Home/End.
Home/End; Shift+Home/End; Shift+F3; F5; Ctrl+F5; F11; Alt+Tab/F4/Left/Right; Ctrl+Shift+R/T; Ctrl+Alt+Delete; Ctrl+Shift+Esc; Print Screen; Alt+Print Screen.
Keyboard effects in other apps
Keyboard combinations can still affect other apps. On Mac, Fn assigned alone prevents its usual system action, Escape is withheld from other apps only during dictation, and a Flow binding such as Ctrl+A+B can block another app’s Ctrl+A — on Windows it does not.
On Mac, using a built-in Fn system shortcut — Fn with the arrow keys, Home, End, Page Up, Page Down, Backspace (forward delete) or F1–F12 — in the first second of a dictation cancels that dictation silently, with no notification. Other Fn combinations, such as Fn with a letter key, and all Windows shortcuts still show the cancellation notice.
On Windows, Escape still reaches the focused app while cancelling Flow; other single-key shortcuts do not reach apps on press or release. Ctrl+Win prevents the Start/Search action while held; Win alone still works.
Use a mouse button
Use a supported Logitech MX model or a recognized mouse with more than three buttons. Apple Magic Mouse, trackpads, other mice with three or fewer buttons, and unrecognized devices do not qualify. Eligible Razer, SteelSeries, HyperX, Corsair, generic and Logitech G-series mice need no companion software.
Middle Click, Mouse 4/5 and supported Aux Button bindings work alone or with modifiers; left and right click cannot be assigned. Windows records only middle click and Mouse 4/5 as mouse buttons; Mac also records Mouse 6–10. Release one mouse shortcut before pressing another, and release a mouse button before changing or removing its binding.
Warning: Assigned mouse buttons do not reach other apps, even without the modifiers in their Flow combination. On Windows, quitting Flow while holding a mouse shortcut can let its release trigger the foreground app's action.
Prepare Logitech MX side buttons
On Mac, MX Master side buttons mapped to swipe gestures cannot support push-to-talk.
Set the side button to No action or a keystroke in Logi Options+.
Record the button in Flow using the steps above.
MX Master owners also have an in-app walkthrough. See Logi Options+ troubleshooting.
Remove or reset shortcuts
Click the trash icon (Remove shortcut) beside a binding to remove it without starting recording. Push to talk, Command Mode, Paste last transcript, Copy last transcript and Cancel must retain one binding: their last binding has no trash icon, so replace it with an accepted combination instead. Other editable rows can be emptied.
An emptied Hands-free row stays empty across launches until you rebind it or reset; double-tapping Push to talk still starts hands-free dictation without a dedicated Hands-free binding.
Warning: Reset to default replaces custom shortcuts with platform defaults without confirmation or undo. The “Reset to default” success message confirms the reset.
If a saved shortcut does not work
Hands-free overlaps Push to talk
A changed shortcut set still saves when any Hands-free combination is contained in or identical to a Push-to-talk combination, and shows a five-second warning that your Hands-free mode shortcut is part of a Push-to-talk shortcut and may lead to conflicts. Reversed overlap or re-saving an unchanged set shows no warning.
Replace the overlapping combination using the steps above.
After saving a changed, non-overlapping combination, the warning no longer appears.
A shortcut is ignored or delayed after a long hold
Held modifiers for Push to talk, Hands-free and Command Mode — such as Ctrl+Win or Ctrl+Opt — are exempt from the long-hold delay, but not from automatic reset when dictation is inactive.
Release all keys.
Press the full combination again.
If the shortcut responds, no restart is needed. Automatic recovery starts after Flow receives a key press and can take roughly 10–15 seconds, including for genuinely held keys when not dictating, and during startup or a restart stuck keys can require that full wait. Mouse buttons have no faster automatic recovery; repeat the steps after waiting. A delayed shortcut can still run, and this recovery does not cut active dictation short.
Mac: Secure Keyboard Entry blocks shortcuts
Another app’s Secure Keyboard Entry can block key-based shortcuts while modifier-only holds such as Fn keep working.
Quit the responsible app, such as 1Password, then restart it.
Test the shortcut again; if it responds, the block is cleared.
If the responsible app has already closed but the block remains, a lock/unlock cycle or signing out releases it. See Secure Keyboard Entry troubleshooting.
Mac: Granola interferes with Fn
Granola can prevent Fn from working, separately from Secure Keyboard Entry.
Open Granola → Settings → Voice Typing → Off.
Test Fn again; if it still fails, contact support below.
Windows: a keyboard utility intercepts keys
A keyboard manufacturer’s utility can intercept shortcut keys.
Warning: Disabling an extended-function keyboard device can remove media-key features.
End the keyboard manufacturer's process in Task Manager, then test the shortcut again.
Still stuck?
If a saved shortcut still fails, open Help → Talk to support in Flow’s sidebar. Include your platform, keyboard or mouse model, exact combination, error message, and what you tried.