Fix a microphone that is silent or unavailable

Last updated: October 14, 2026

Available on: Mac, Windows, iOS and Android.

If dictation captures silence, warns that it can't hear you, or loses its microphone, work through your platform below and test a short phrase after each change.

Quick checks

  • Hardware mute: Look for a mute switch on your headset, keyboard or laptop.

  • Test outside Flow: Record a short clip in Voice Memos on Mac/iPhone or Sound Recorder on Windows. Silence or distortion there points to the microphone or system setup, not Flow.

Mac and Windows

1. Allow access

Mac: Microphone Permission Required

Grant Permission prompts for first-time access; otherwise it opens privacy settings, which denied or restricted access can also open automatically.

  1. Click Grant Permission.

  2. Allow the prompt, or enable Flow in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Microphone.

Windows: Microphone access is disabled

Both microphone switches must be on.

  1. Click Open Settings.

  2. Enable Microphone access and Let desktop apps access your microphone.

After changing permission, restart Flow using step 3 and test a short phrase. If text appears, stop; otherwise test the input below.

2. Test the input

An unusable microphone is dimmed and un-clickable, with the reason shown — for example "Laptop lid is closed" for a built-in microphone. Input too faint to hear counts as silence, in the test and during dictation.

  1. Open Flow's Settings → General → Microphone → Change, or Help → Essentials → Microphone (hidden during onboarding).

  2. Select your microphone by name; switching inputs restarts the live test.

  3. Speak and watch the level indicator; only the selected microphone shows levels.

  4. Close the dialog, then dictate. If the level never moved, open the accordion below.

Note: Dismissing the dialog any way — closing it, pressing Esc even while another app is in front, or choosing Dismiss on the notification — stops the test and releases the microphone, so your next dictation works normally.

If input stays silent

Open system input settings — Mac: System Settings → Sound → Input; Windows: Settings → System → Sound → Input.

  1. Select the intended microphone there.

  2. Speak and watch the input meter.

  3. Raise a low input level without constantly reaching maximum.

  4. Compare a built-in or wired microphone with Bluetooth. A closed MacBook needs an external microphone, and a wireless receiver can capture silence when its transmitter is out of range.

If every microphone is silent — including the built-in one — while permissions and the microphone picker look correct, switch your output device and test again. On Mac, open System Settings → Sound → Output and select the built-in speakers.

Releasing the shortcut too quickly can also trigger a no-audio notice; dictate again. If levels move but text is missing, check saved audio in step 4.

Other microphone controls

Right-click the flow bar and open Microphone to select an input or check which mic is in use. Unavailable inputs stay listed but cannot be selected.

Auto-detect is the default, and the picker uses the labels Built-in mic (recommended) and Headphones (wired). Bluetooth identification is limited on Windows. Flow can show AirPods warnings or suggest a wired mic; see the microphone guide.

3. Restart Flow

Note: Dismissing the recording bubble can leave dictation running; stop it explicitly to release the microphone.

For "Unable to access mic," use Restart App; otherwise:

  1. Quit Flow from the menu-bar menu on Mac or the system-tray menu on Mac and Windows.

  2. Reopen Flow and dictate. If Flow cancels a start while recovering microphone access, trigger dictation again.

If the phrase appears, stop. If text is still missing, check the recording below.

4. Check saved audio

History stores recording audio for playback and retry. Dismissed recordings shorter than 0.5 seconds are never stored, and no audio is saved when your organization's never-store policy is active; those recordings cannot be played back or retried.

  1. Stop any active dictation.

  2. Play the affected recording in History, if available. If you quit mid-recording, reopen Flow and check History for the recovered audio.

  3. Retry the missing text when speech is clear but text is missing or wrong — that points to transcription, not capture.

Missing or silent audio needs the capture checks above. Retry is blocked during dictation or while the same recording is being retried, and missing stored audio produces an audio-unavailable message. A retry can time out, and starting a new dictation can interrupt a retry without updating History, so wait for it to finish.

What each desktop warning means

Select microphone and Choose Microphone open Flow's picker; Troubleshoot opens this article in your browser.

Warning

Action

No microphone detected

Opens Sound Settings — Mac Sound → Input, Windows Sound → Recording — not privacy settings.

Selected microphone is unavailable

Choose Microphone → a connected input.

Is your microphone muted? / We couldn't hear you

Check mute and levels; use Select microphone or Troubleshoot.

Microphone unavailable

Close other apps using the microphone; Flow does not identify which app holds it.

Microphone error

Reconnect the microphone; contact support if it recurs.

Microphone disconnected

Insert retries saved audio and pastes recovered text into the focused field.

How silence and access notices behave

A dictation that never picks up audible sound sends nothing for transcription and shows the no-audio warning at release, which names the selected microphone; dictate again once the microphone is working.

Speech captured before a stretch of silence is still transcribed normally.

If the microphone takes longer than 8 seconds to open, Flow shows a microphone access timeout notice. It and "Unable to access mic" clear when the microphone opens successfully.

When microphones connect or disconnect

Unplugging the microphone during dictation stops recording and shows a disconnection notice. Connecting a higher-priority mic does not interrupt dictation; Flow uses it next time and can show a notice naming the new mic.

5. Support-guided reset

Warning: Reset only if Flow support advises it. Reset deletes local data — save anything you need first, because only content already synced to your account can return. Dictionary, stats and settings re-sync on restart.

Follow the steps support provides; Flow restarts automatically once the reset is confirmed. See Reset and restart the Wispr Flow app.

iPhone

Keyboard dictation requires Full Access, which Flow checks first, and microphone permission, which only the main app can request.

  1. Enable Settings → General → Keyboard → Keyboards → Flow → Allow Full Access. No restart is needed.

  2. Start dictation in the main Flow app if Flow is missing from microphone settings.

  3. Choose Allow when prompted.

  4. Enable iOS Settings → Flow → Microphone if access was denied, then reopen Flow.

Test a short phrase. If text appears, stop; otherwise use the matching recovery below. Permission alerts can also appear during dictation; after Go to Settings from the keyboard's permission message, you can return straight to the keyboard.

Note: If a dictation ends without any speech, Flow inserts nothing and shows a notice that it didn't hear you — in the app, the keyboard in other apps, and Shortcut or Action Button dictations. Just dictate again.

Capture failure

"Can't turn on Flow right now" means another app is using the microphone.

Warning: Audio that was never captured cannot be recovered; retrying here starts a new recording.

  1. Close the call or other app holding the microphone.

  2. Retry using the offered action, or dismiss the error and tap the mic to start fresh.

If capture repeatedly fails, quit and reopen Flow, and avoid swiping it away immediately after launch.

Captured audio, missing text

Retry saved audio from History (row action or swipe), "Tap to retry," or keyboard Error options when available. Capture and network errors offer only Dismiss there: start fresh for capture errors, and use History for saved audio.

After Flow closes mid-dictation, opening History can automatically retry the latest unfinished, textless recording once it is over two minutes old and nothing is recording.

Calls, Siri or input changes

Connecting or disconnecting an input requires a manual restart. Captured speech is still processed: after an interruption with the keyboard off-screen, check History for the transcript.

Android

After onboarding and overlay access, the bubble stays available without microphone permission, including after you revoke it. Tapping or pressing and holding the bubble then asks for access: Flow shows the Android microphone prompt when Android still allows it, or a "We can't hear you / Go to Settings" sheet when it doesn't — for example after permanent denial, or when the microphone is set to "Ask every time" and a one-time grant has lapsed.

  1. Select Allow Microphone ("We can't hear you" card) or Go to Settings (sheet) to open Flow's Android settings.

  2. Grant access in the prompt, or enable the microphone under Permissions in Flow's app settings.

  3. Return to Flow; granting permission clears the card.

Note: A full restart may be needed after changing previously denied permissions. While a one-time ("only this time") grant is active, dictation records normally.

Test a short phrase. If capture still fails, compare the built-in or wired microphone with Bluetooth, reconnect Bluetooth if needed, and retry after a microphone-read failure.

Still need help?

If capture still fails after your platform's checks, contact support — on desktop, use Help → Get in touch → Talk to support. Include your OS, microphone model, the exact message, whether another app records correctly, and what you tried.