Reset and restart the Wispr Flow app
Last updated: October 26, 2026
Available on: Mac, Windows, iOS, Android. On iOS and Android, use the restart or reinstall steps below.
If Flow won't respond, reports a storage error, or stops saving your history, restart it first and reset only if support advises it.
Warning: Finish any recording before restarting. On Mac, Windows and iOS, local transcripts do not sync between devices and may not return after a reset or reinstall; desktop history is not restored from your account. Account-synced data can return after you sign in, but do not assume every local record has a cloud copy.
Quick checks
Check the symptom: For microphone, network or paste failures, use microphone troubleshooting or text insertion troubleshooting instead of resetting.
Check other apps: If every app is slow, restart your device. If only Flow has the problem, continue below.
Restart Flow on desktop
Quit Flow completely, rather than closing its window.
Reopen Flow.
Dictate a short test phrase. If text appears, you're done; if an error returns, see the error guidance below.
Check for desktop updates
An update restart often clears a persistent error.
Warning: Installing a downloaded update quits Flow immediately unless a dictation or meeting recording is active, or a stopped meeting's audio is still being saved. During a recording or dictation, Restart to update? warns that unsaved audio may be lost; while meeting audio is still saving, Meeting audio is still being saved appears. In both cases, choose Cancel or Restart anyway.
Open Flow's menu-bar menu on Mac (also in the Wispr Flow application menu), or right-click its system-tray icon on Windows.
Select Check for updates..., then Update ready, restart now? when the download is ready.
Test a short dictation after updating; stop if Flow works.
You can also install a downloaded update from the Update button beside the version number at the bottom of Settings, which installs it and restarts Flow. If you see Error updating, please restart, restart Flow. On managed devices, Next update check: <date> means manual checking is disabled until that date.
Recover an interrupted desktop dictation
A normal desktop quit — including Windows shutdown or sign-out — tries to save interrupted dictation audio and meeting work; dictation audio is saved only if a recording was active and audio was captured.
Warning: Saving can fail even on a normal quit, and a forced shutdown can cut the save short. Force-quitting or crashing can lose unfinished dictations, which do not resume.
Stop any active dictation before recovering audio.
Select Recover in History if offered after reopening Flow. It is offered for dismissed or unfinished dictations within 14 days, and transcribes saved audio rather than resuming the recording.
With Never store (Settings → Data and Privacy; the stricter personal or organization policy applies), there is no local history or audio to recover. Delete after 24h removes dictation history older than one day, shortening recovery availability.
Respond to a desktop error
Storage notifications offer Restart Flow and Contact us, which opens the in-app Feedback surface in the Hub, not email. Restart promptly: dictionary words may not apply and new history may not save until Flow recovers.
Warning: Storage notifications do not themselves delete data. At startup, confirmed corruption can make Flow delete local data and restart automatically without asking. Cloud-sync software or file permissions can make local storage read-only; Flow first tries to fix this, but if read-only storage still prevents startup, it can delete local data and restart without asking. Other startup failures, including a full disk, leave local data intact.
Message or symptom | Message text | Next step |
Local database corruption | Some of your local data is corrupted. | Select Restart Flow. |
There was an error (also shown for read-only storage) | Restarting the app should fix it | Select Restart Flow. |
Storage Full | You are running out of space on your computer | Free disk space, then restart; resetting is not a substitute for available storage. |
Low space during a meeting recording | Storage almost full — About N min of recording left | Free disk space now; the recording continues meanwhile. |
A stopped meeting can't finish | Storage full | Free space, then select Retry on the meeting row or note card. |
Dictation won't start or load | Flow is having trouble starting / Flow is having trouble loading | Select Restart Flow or Contact us. |
The full-window Flow hit a snag screen replaces the Hub after an error or 20 seconds of stalled startup. Your data is safe: try again before selecting Restart Flow or Contact support, which opens your default email app to support@wisprflow.ai with the subject Flow Desktop Error. Retry a short dictation after each action; if the same error returns, contact support.
Reset the desktop app
Warning: A reset deletes local data, but your dictionary, stats, and settings stay saved and re-sync on restart. Reset only if advised by Flow support.
Contact Flow support and confirm that a reset is the right step.
Follow the reset instructions support gives you for your computer.
Sign in if prompted, then try a short dictation.
Reset removes the local database and related files, not the entire data folder, and requests a fresh sync of cloud-stored notes and meetings on restart; it does not restore a local backup. Some locked or read-only files can remain, but Flow restarts regardless and opens the Hub. If the reset fails, an error notification appears instead of a dialog. If the problem continues, restart the computer before reinstalling Flow.
Warning: Desktop sign-out clears local content — history, dictionaries, notes, meetings, all local backups and saved import credentials — plus your voice profile, statistics, calendar state, and Notetaker setup and consent state. Pending meeting and chat changes are sent before local data is cleared.
If Flow does not reopen
Flow shows a dialog and quits for an unsupported macOS release, an Intel version running through Rosetta on Apple Silicon, non-x64 Windows, or a Mac installation outside an Applications folder. Follow the requirement shown in the dialog.
Restart or reinstall on mobile
Work through these in order, testing a short dictation after each.
iOS
Warning: Signing out or reinstalling deletes local Flow data. Startup storage recovery can also delete transcripts, notes, and personal or team dictionaries without asking, even if Flow opens normally. Repeated storage failures can leave Flow unable to save anything between launches with no obvious warning; closing it loses that session's data, and reopening cannot restore it. Contact support before discarding local data you need.
Update Flow from the App Store.
Force-close Flow from the app switcher — only if it is unresponsive — then reopen it.
Delete and reinstall Flow from the App Store if the problem persists, then sign in.
Android
If Flow isn't responding, tap Restart Flow; after an unresponsive startup that option can take about 60 seconds to appear, and re-granting accessibility afterwards is unnecessary.
Update Flow from Google Play.
Open Settings → Apps → Wispr Flow → Force stop, then reopen Flow.
Check battery, autostart and background-running settings if Flow stops after a reboot or time in the background; tap Allow on Keep Wispr Flow running to remove battery restrictions.
Uninstall and reinstall from Google Play if it still fails, then sign in.
If prompts appear after restarting, tap Allow Microphone on We can't hear you, or Go to Settings to allow Display over other apps or turn on accessibility for Flow. If accessibility is revoked, tap Tap to re-grant accessibility on the bubble, or Wispr Flow needs attention. On Flow Bubble Disabled, tap Turn Back On; the bubble returns next time you enter a text box.
Still need help?
Contact support if Flow does not reopen after a reset, an error returns after restarting, or your history keeps disappearing. Include your platform, device, exact symptom, what you tried, and whether it began immediately after an update.