Use Flow with multiple languages

Last updated: September 10, 2026

Available on: Mac, Windows, iOS, Android

Dictate in 100+ languages, including regional variants such as British English, Canadian English, Swiss German, and Simplified or Traditional Chinese. Set your active languages once in Settings; Flow detects which one you're speaking at the start of each session.

Note: These settings cover dictation only. Notetaker transcribes meetings in a separate set of languages and detects them automatically — see Use Notetaker with multiple languages. If Flow transcribes in the wrong language, turn off Auto-detect and select only the language you're dictating in (Flow is transcribing in the wrong language).

When to use it

Use this feature when you want to:

  • Dictate in a language other than English

  • Switch between two or more languages across sessions

  • Use region-specific spelling (British English, Canadian English, or Swiss German)

  • Dictate in a code-switched language like Hinglish

How it works in Flow

Overview

Flow picks a language at the start of each dictation session and transcribes the whole segment in that language. Selecting only the languages you use narrows the set Flow chooses from and improves accuracy; Auto-detect lets Flow choose from all supported languages.

Key behaviors

  • Detection is per session, not per word: switch languages mid-sentence and Flow still transcribes the whole segment in one language. Speak primarily in one language with occasional words from another; with Chinese and English together, English words may appear in Chinese characters or vice versa.

  • Changes apply instantly: language updates take effect on your next dictation — no restart needed.

  • Selections sync across devices: on iOS, a sync never overwrites existing local selections, and selected languages are used in the order you chose them.

  • Language names: most languages show their English name plus the native name in parentheses (e.g., "Spanish (Español)"). English, Hinglish, Afrikaans, Nynorsk, Tagalog, Malagasy, and Hausa show only the English name.

  • Edit learning for non-Latin scripts: Flow treats edits in Devanagari, Cyrillic, CJK, Arabic, Hebrew, and Thai as word changes rather than punctuation changes, so edit history and Smart Formatting learn accurately in any language.

Language variants and orthography

  • German – Swiss: Swiss orthography, replacing ß with "ss" ("Straße" becomes "Strasse"). Pre-filled during onboarding in Switzerland and Liechtenstein.

  • English – British: UK spelling ("colour", "centre"). Pre-filled during onboarding in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and — on desktop — Ireland and South Africa. On iOS, Canadian users also get British English.

  • English – Canadian: Canadian spelling. Desktop only, pre-filled during onboarding in Canada.

  • Hinglish: a code-switched blend of Hindi and English commonly spoken in India. Hindi speech is romanized into Hinglish; English speech is formatted as normal English.

  • Chinese – Simplified (简体中文): separate from Chinese – Traditional. On iOS, the variant is pre-filled from your iOS region (China or Singapore pre-fills Simplified; Taiwan, Hong Kong, or Macau pre-fills Traditional). On desktop, Malaysia is also treated as Chinese Simplified. For regions not listed, desktop defaults to Traditional and iOS defaults to Simplified.

  • Cantonese (粵語): a distinct language option, separate from Chinese – Simplified and Chinese – Traditional.

Best practices

  • Select only languages you actually use. Fewer languages means more accurate detection.

  • Avoid Auto-detect if you code-switch frequently. Manually selecting 2–3 languages beats letting Flow choose from 100+.

  • Choose one variant per language. These pairs are mutually exclusive — selecting one deselects the other: Hindi ↔ Hinglish; Chinese – Traditional ↔ Chinese – Simplified; German ↔ German – Swiss; and on desktop English – American ↔ English – British ↔ English – Canadian (iOS and Android: English – American ↔ English – British).

  • Search the picker by either name. Searching "hindi" or "romanized" surfaces Hinglish. On desktop, English, Spanish, and Chinese Simplified appear at the top as common languages.

How to set your languages

Note: During onboarding, Flow pre-fills your languages from your system settings. On iOS, languages set on another device are applied at sign-in when no local selection exists.

Mac and Windows

  1. Click the Flow icon in your menu bar (Mac) or system tray (Windows), then click Settings.

  2. Go to General → Dictation languages.

  3. Select the languages you speak most, or enable Auto-detect. At least one language or Auto-detect must be on.

  4. Click Save and close. Changes take effect on your next dictation.

Note: Auto-detect disables the search field and language grid; toggling it back off before closing the dialog restores your previous selections. With 2 or more languages selected, a language picker appears on the Flow Bar for switching without opening Settings.

iOS

  1. Tap Settings.

  2. Go to General → Set Language.

  3. Select the languages you speak most, or choose Auto-detect. Use the search field at the top of the sheet to filter the list.

  4. Back out of the language screen to close the sheet. Changes take effect on your next dictation.

Note: Each tap saves immediately — there is no save step. Your chosen languages stay pinned at the top, but the list re-sorts only the next time you open the picker. Removing all languages enables Auto-detect. If you sign in on an older iOS version that doesn't recognize a synced language, Flow keeps your existing selection.

Android

Flow on Android uses Auto-detect only — there is no language selection screen.

Examples

Switching from English to German between sessions

With both English and German selected, Flow detects the language at the start of each session.

Session 1 — You say: "Schedule a meeting for tomorrow morning"

Flow types: Schedule a meeting for tomorrow morning

Session 2 — You say: "Bitte den Termin auf nächste Woche verschieben"

Flow types: Bitte den Termin auf nächste Woche verschieben

Using Swiss German orthography

You say: "Die Strasse ist gesperrt"

With German – Swiss selected, Flow types: Die Strasse ist gesperrt

With standard German selected, Flow types: Die Straße ist gesperrt

FAQs

Flow transcribes my English words in Chinese characters

Remove Chinese from your language list, or select only English. Chinese–English code-switching is the hardest combination for Flow, so a single-language setup is the most reliable fix.

I speak Hinglish but Flow only transcribes in Hindi or English

Select Hinglish explicitly from the language list, rather than Hindi or English alone.

My Hinglish dictation ended in Devanagari script — is that normal?

On dictations of roughly two minutes or more, the tail of the session is appended as raw transcript, which uses Devanagari script; everything Flow formatted appears in romanized Hinglish. The content is accurate — only the script differs. Keeping dictations under two minutes avoids this.

Do languages show country flags in the picker?

No. Languages don't map cleanly to countries, so the picker shows names only.

Why aren't product names like Scratchpad and Meeting Recorder translated?

Scratchpad, Meeting Recorder, and Transforms stay in English across all languages, so they're consistent and easy to reference in support documentation and community discussions.

Do these settings change the language of my meeting transcripts?

No. Dictation languages control only what Flow listens for when you dictate. See Use Notetaker with multiple languages.

Limitations and notes

  • Rapid language switching within a single sentence is not supported. English paired with Spanish, French, or German performs better than English paired with Chinese or Japanese.

  • Non-English transcription is not yet as accurate as English.

  • Text Styles require English (American or British) as a selected language on iOS. Personalized styles apply only when dictating in English, on all platforms.

  • Most of the Flow interface is in English regardless of your dictation language; broader UI localization has not yet rolled out.

  • On iOS, language pre-fill from system settings happens on first launch only; returning to the language screen later does not re-detect.

  • English – Canadian is available on desktop only. Ireland and South Africa users get British English pre-filled on desktop but not on iOS.

  • On desktop, switch languages from the Flow Bar language picker or Settings → General → Dictation languages; the Flow Bar right-click context menu does not offer language switching.

  • Edit learning for non-Latin scripts applies to the desktop app going forward. Previously recorded edit history is unchanged.

Still need help?

Reach out to support if:

  • Flow consistently outputs the wrong language even with only one language selected.

  • You see transcription in a language you never added to your settings.

  • Language settings don't save after restarting the app.

In the Flow desktop app, click the ? icon, then select Talk to support. Include your platform, your selected languages, and a brief example of what you said versus what Flow transcribed. Most language issues are resolved in one reply.