"Connection lost" / network connection issues blocking Wispr Flow

Mac & Windows

Work through these steps in order. Stop as soon as dictation works.

Step 1: Quit Flow and disable proxies

1. Right-click the Flow icon in the menu bar (Mac) or system tray (Windows) and select Quit.

2. Open System Settings → Network (Mac) or Settings → Network & internet → Proxy (Windows).

3. Disable any active proxies temporarily.

4. Reopen Flow and dictate a test phrase. If text appears, a proxy was the cause — continue to Step 3 to whitelist Flow permanently. If not, continue to Step 2.

Step 2: Pause security and firewall tools

1. Pause any antivirus, firewall, or security software temporarily.

2. Reopen Flow and sign in.

3. Dictate a short test phrase. If text appears, your security software is blocking Flow — continue to Step 3 to make this permanent. If not, continue to Step 4.

Step 3: Add Flow to your allowed apps

1. Open your security or firewall software settings.

2. Add the Wispr Flow application itself to the allowed/trusted apps list.

3. Whitelist these Wispr-owned domains if your software supports domain rules:

   1. wisprflow.ai

   2. api.wisprflow.ai

4. If you're on a managed or corporate network, contact your IT administrator. On strict deny-by-default firewalls, whitelisting only the two domains above may not be sufficient — dictation also relies on additional transcription endpoints. Contact Wispr support for the current full list of endpoints to allow.

5. Re-enable your security tools.

6. Dictate another test phrase. If text appears with your security tools active, you're done.

Step 4: Try a different DNS server

If Flow still can't connect, your DNS server may be blocking Flow's domains.

1. Open your system network settings.

2. Change your DNS server to a public DNS provider such as Google (8.8.8.8). See instructions for your platform.

3. Restart Flow and dictate a test phrase. If dictation works, your previous DNS was blocking Flow. If not, contact support — see the section at the end of this article.

Chrome extension

If the Chrome extension shows "No Internet Connection," try these steps in order:

1. Reload the extension. Click the Wispr Flow extension icon in your Chrome toolbar, close the popup, wait a few seconds, then click the icon again.

2. Check Chrome proxy settings. Go to Settings → System → Open your computer's proxy settings. If a proxy is configured by your organization, contact your admin.

3. Disable any VPN or security software temporarily, then reload the extension. If the extension connects, you're done.

iOS

If a VPN or network filter is blocking Flow on iOS:

1. Open Settings → VPN and turn off any active VPN.

2. Pause any security or filtering app temporarily.

3. Check your Wi-Fi proxy. Go to Settings → Wi-Fi, tap the info icon next to your network, scroll to HTTP Proxy, and set it to Off.

4. Dictate a test phrase. If text appears, you're done.

Android

If a VPN or firewall is blocking Flow on Android:

1. Open Settings → Network and internet → VPN and disconnect any active VPN.

2. Pause any firewall or security app temporarily.

3. Check network proxy. Go to Settings → Network and internet → Internet, tap your current network, then Advanced to check if a proxy is set.

4. Dictate a test phrase. If text appears, you're done.

Mac: Dictation silently stopped capturing audio mid-session

A bug on macOS could cause audio capture to return silence during an active dictation, so the session appeared to run but no speech was transcribed. Fixed in the latest version.

1. Update Wispr Flow to the latest version.

2. Restart Flow after updating.

Windows: Dictation interrupted after waking from sleep

On Windows, a bug could interrupt an active dictation after the system woke from sleep. Fixed in the latest version.

1. Update Wispr Flow to the latest version.

2. Restart Flow after updating.

Windows: Flow disconnected or restarted unexpectedly during prolonged system slowdowns

A bug on Windows could cause Flow to appear as "connection lost" during prolonged system slowdowns. Fixed in the latest version.

1. Update Wispr Flow to the latest version.

2. Restart Flow after updating.

Subscription status appeared unset or missing for the entire session

A bug caused Flow to fetch your subscription status before it could reach the server and then not retry, so the session ran with an unknown subscription state. Fixed in a recent update.

1. Update Wispr Flow to the latest version.

2. Restart Flow after updating.

Android: Flow Bubble disappeared, was greyed out, or didn't return after switching apps

Several Android bugs could cause the Flow Bubble to disappear, appear greyed out, or fail to resume after Android paused Flow in the background — most often on Xiaomi, Vivo, Oppo, and Samsung devices with aggressive battery-optimization modes. Flow now shows a system notification ("Wispr Flow needs attention — Your device paused Wispr Flow's accessibility service. Tap to re-enable.") so you can recover from this state. Fixed in the latest version — update from the Play Store.

1. Update Wispr Flow from the Play Store to the latest version.

Android: History or audio incorrect after a connection retry

Two related bugs affected history after connection retries: Push-to-Talk sessions that retried due to connection loss were incorrectly logged as hands-free sessions, and audio could be lost when multiple dictations occurred at the same time during retries. Fixed in the latest version — update from the Play Store.

1. Update Wispr Flow from the Play Store to the latest version.

What happens if I lose internet while dictating?

Flow saves your audio recording even if the connection drops mid-transcription. On desktop, you'll see a "No internet connection" notification and can recover the transcript from History. On iOS, an orange triangle appears next to the mic — tap it to see the error and dismiss it, then speak again. On Android, the bubble dims to grey — if transcription fails, tap Retry; if text insertion fails, the text is copied to your clipboard and a Paste button appears.

Is there a maximum recording length?

Yes. Desktop dictation shows a warning at 19 minutes and stops automatically at 20 minutes. On iOS, the maximum recording duration is 5 minutes. Android has no comparable hard cap. If you see a "connection lost" right at the desktop or iOS cap, you've hit the recording limit rather than a network issue.

How does fallback work if the primary connection fails?

If the primary connection drops or errors, Flow automatically attempts an alternative transcription path so your dictation can still go through. You don't need to do anything — on all platforms, Flow will fall back and, where possible, replay buffered audio so nothing you said is lost.

What if transcription fails after the automatic retry?

Tap Retry to try again without re-recording. On desktop, audio is saved to History for up to 14 days; after 14 days, only the audio is purged — your transcript text remains, but retry-from-audio is no longer possible. Records that haven't yet synced are exempt from the 14-day purge until they sync. On Android, audio is saved locally and you can retry from the bubble or from transcription history. While Retry or Paste is in progress, the button changes to "Retrying..." or "Pasting...". Tapping the Wispr icon dismisses a paste error (clipboard text is preserved) or starts a new dictation when a transcribe error is shown.

Could a Wispr service disruption be causing my "connection lost"?

Yes. A persistent "connection lost" may be caused by a Wispr service disruption rather than your local network. On desktop, Flow shows an in-app toast ("Wispr Flow is experiencing degraded performance" or "Wispr Flow service disruption") with a View status button linking to our status page. You can check that page any time before troubleshooting your local network.

Why is Flow generating network activity in the background?

Flow occasionally sends small background requests to select the fastest transcription server for your location. This keeps your dictation latency low. If a firewall flags this traffic, allow the domains listed in Step 3 and contact Wispr support for the full endpoint list if needed.

Which VPNs and security tools cause issues?

The following tools can interfere with Wispr Flow:

• VPN services: NordVPN, ExpressVPN, Surfshark, Cisco AnyConnect, GlobalProtect, OpenVPN, WireGuard

• Corporate proxies and firewalls: Zscaler, Netskope, Palo Alto, Fortinet, Cisco Umbrella

• Antivirus with web filtering: Norton, McAfee, Bitdefender, Kaspersky, ESET

• DNS filtering: Pi-hole, AdGuard, NextDNS, CleanBrowsing

• macOS firewalls: Little Snitch, LuLu, Vallum

How long is my audio saved on desktop?

Audio saved to History is retained for up to 14 days. After that, the audio is removed but your transcript text remains. If you've enabled Zero Data Retention (NeverStore), audio is never saved locally.

Can I sign out while offline?

Yes. Flow clears your local session and signs you out successfully even if it cannot reach the server.

I'm an Enterprise user. Why was I signed out and shown a "Your network isn't allowed" screen?

Your organization has restricted Wispr Flow to approved networks only. When Flow detects you're connecting from an unapproved network (on Mac, Windows, or iOS), it signs you out and shows this screen.

On desktop, the screen shows your enterprise name when known and offers Retry or Sign out. Clicking Retry restarts sign-in; if you're still on a non-allowed network, you'll be returned to the same blocked screen. On iOS, the blocked-state screen clears only when you tap Retry (which returns you to the normal sign-in flow) or Sign out.

If you're unsure which networks are approved, contact your IT administrator.