Troubleshooting mic issues

Mac

Follow these steps in order. Stop as soon as dictation works.

1. Grant microphone permission. If Flow shows a notification, click Grant Permission. If you previously denied access, go to System Settings → Privacy & Security → Microphone and enable Flow. If it's already enabled, toggle it off and back on, then restart Flow.

2. Select your microphone by name. Click the Flow menu bar icon → Settings → General → Microphone → Change. Choose your specific mic (avoid "Auto-detect"). The volume indicator next to your selection should move when you speak.

3. Test your microphone. Dictate a short phrase, then open Recent activity from the menu bar icon. If an entry appears but shows no text, click it and download the audio file. If you hear your voice clearly, the mic is working — continue to the next step.

4. Restart Flow. Right-click the menu bar icon → Quit Wispr Flow. Reopen Flow and dictate a test phrase. If text appears, you're done.

5. Reset the local database. Click the Flow menu bar icon → Settings → System → Data → Reset & restart. Dictate a test phrase — if text appears, you're done.

Windows

Follow these steps in order. Stop as soon as dictation works.

1. Grant microphone permission. If Flow shows a notification that microphone privacy is disabled, click Open Settings and confirm desktop app access is enabled. If it's already enabled, toggle it off and back on, then restart Flow.

2. Select your microphone by name. Click the Flow system tray icon → Settings → General → Microphone → Change. Choose your specific mic (avoid "Auto-detect"). The volume indicator next to your selection should move when you speak.

3. Test your microphone. Dictate a short phrase, then open Recent activity from the system tray icon. If an entry appears but shows no text, click it and download the audio file. If you hear your voice clearly, the mic is working — continue to the next step.

4. Restart Flow. Right-click the system tray icon → Quit. Reopen Flow and dictate a test phrase. If text appears, you're done.

5. Reset the local database. Click the Flow system tray icon → Settings → System → Data → Reset & restart. Dictate a test phrase — if text appears, you're done.

iOS

Follow these steps in order. Stop as soon as dictation works.

1. Grant microphone permission. The first time you start a dictation, Flow asks for microphone access — tap Allow. If you previously denied access, open the iOS Settings app and enable Microphone for Flow. If permission is already on, toggle it off and back on, then restart Flow. Dictate a short phrase — if text appears, you're done.

2. Use the built-in iPhone microphone. The built-in mic provides the most reliable dictation experience. Dictate a short phrase — if text appears, you're done.

3. Configure a Bluetooth microphone (optional). Open Settings → Bluetooth and pair your device. In the Flow app, tap Settings and toggle off Use built-in mic. Dictate a test phrase — if text appears, you're done.

4. Retry failed transcriptions. Tap an empty transcript in history to automatically retry. You can also swipe left on any transcript or long-press it for a Retry option.

Android

Follow these steps in order. Stop as soon as dictation works.

1. Grant microphone permission. If you see a "We can't hear you" card on the home screen, tap Allow Microphone. If permission was previously denied, tapping Allow Microphone takes you to Flow's app settings page where you can enable Microphone manually. If it's already enabled, toggle it off and back on, then restart Flow. Dictate a short phrase — if text appears, you're done.

2. Use the built-in mic or a wired headset. Bluetooth microphones add connection delay and may reduce accuracy. Dictate a short phrase — if text appears, you're done.

3. Configure a Bluetooth microphone (optional). Open Settings → Connected devices → Bluetooth and pair your device. Make sure it's connected for calls or audio. Dictate a test phrase — if text appears, you're done.

4. Reconnect a Bluetooth mic that isn't being used. Open Settings → Connected devices and confirm the device is connected. Disconnect and reconnect, or toggle Bluetooth off and back on. Dictate again — if text appears, you're done.

"Oops, we didn't hear you" error appeared immediately after granting microphone permission during iOS onboarding (iOS)

This was caused by a bug where iOS onboarding incorrectly recorded microphone permission as denied even when you had just tapped Allow. As a result, the first dictation attempt would immediately show an "Oops, we didn't hear you.. Get closer to your mic and try again!" toast and prompt you to grant access again — even though permission was already granted. New iOS users can now successfully complete their first dictation immediately after granting microphone permission during onboarding. Update Flow to the latest version to get this fix.

Dictation hotkey did nothing and the microphone test spun indefinitely (Mac, Windows)

This was caused by the audio recorder becoming unavailable in certain situations — for example, after restarting onboarding from Settings or after a mid-session audio reload. When this happened, pressing the dictation hotkey would fail silently and the microphone test would spin without completing, requiring a full app restart to recover.

Flow now automatically detects and recovers from this condition without requiring a restart. You may notice a brief delay on your first push-to-talk press after this recovery, but dictation will proceed normally.

Microphone test bars were always fully filled during setup or mic selection (Mac, Windows)

The audio level bars shown during onboarding and in the microphone selection dialog (accessible from Settings, the Help button, and the Sidebar) previously appeared fully filled at all times, regardless of whether you were speaking or silent. The bars now accurately reflect your actual microphone input — staying low or empty during silence and rising when you speak.

Microphone error shown during setup with no clear action to take (Mac, Windows)

During the "Test your microphone" step in setup, Flow previously showed only a generic 60-second toast saying "Having trouble detecting microphone? Try restarting Flow" with no tailored guidance. Flow now shows a dedicated error panel directly on the setup page, alongside (not replacing) the existing 60-second fallback toast, with specific guidance and actions. There are four tailored error panels — permission denied, no microphone detected, microphone in use, selected microphone unavailable — plus a generic fallback for other errors:

• Microphone access not granted: Click Open Settings to go directly to your system microphone permissions. Returning to Flow triggers an immediate retry — no extra steps needed.

• No microphone detected: Click Refresh devices to scan again, or click Open Sound Settings to go to your system sound input settings. On Windows, this opens the legacy Sound control panel Recording tab (which is the only place to access the WASAPI Exclusive Mode setting). On Mac, this opens System Settings → Sound → Input.

• Microphone in use by another app: Close the conflicting app (e.g., Zoom, Teams, Google Meet, Discord, FaceTime), then use the Open Sound Settings or Restart Flow option to recover.

• Selected microphone unavailable: Click Choose a different microphone to pick another input device.

• Other error: Click Restart Flow to restart the app and try again.

Flow automatically retries every 2 seconds and dismisses the error panel on its own as soon as your microphone starts working.

Flow didn't ask for microphone permission on iOS, or didn't appear under iOS Microphone settings

This was caused by Flow not explicitly requesting microphone access at the right time on iOS. In some cases, this also meant Flow never appeared in Settings → Privacy & Security → Microphone. Flow now requests microphone permission the first time you start a dictation. If access is denied, an alert appears with an Open Settings button that takes you directly to Flow's settings page to enable the microphone.

iOS dictation attempt failed silently during onboarding

When you tried dictation during the "try it yourself" steps in iOS onboarding, Flow previously failed silently if something went wrong. Flow now shows a message at the top of the screen explaining what happened and what to do next:

• Flow didn't hear anything: Flow captured audio but couldn't detect any speech. Move closer to your microphone and tap the mic button to retry.

• Poor connection: Flow couldn't reach the transcription service. Check your internet connection and tap the mic button to retry.

• Microphone in use by another app: Another app (e.g., a video call or voice assistant) is holding the microphone. Close other apps and retry.

• Microphone permission not granted: Flow doesn't have permission to use your microphone. Go to Settings → Privacy & Security → Microphone, enable Flow, and return to the app.

• Something else went wrong: A general fallback for unexpected errors. Tap the mic button to retry.

Flow showed "Listening" then "Transcript failed to load" when the mic wasn't available (Mac, Windows)

This was caused by Flow not detecting microphone access failures early enough — it would show the "Listening" bubble as normal, wait up to 24 seconds, then show a generic error even though the real problem was a microphone issue. Flow now immediately ends the dictation session when it can't access your microphone, and shows a specific notification:

• No microphone detected: Shown when no microphone is connected. Click Open Sound Settings in the notification to open your system sound input settings. On Windows, this opens the legacy Sound control panel Recording tab (which is the only place to access the WASAPI Exclusive Mode setting). On Mac, this opens System Settings → Sound → Input.

• Selected microphone is unavailable: Shown when the microphone you previously selected is no longer connected. Click Choose Microphone to pick a different one.

• Microphone unavailable: Shown when another app is using your microphone or the audio system needs a reset. Click Troubleshoot for help. This notification is throttled to at most once per 60 seconds to avoid repeated alerts.

• Microphone error: A general fallback when Flow can't access your microphone for another reason. Click Troubleshoot for help. Like the above, this notification is throttled to at most once per 60 seconds to avoid repeated alerts.

Flow showed "Microphone is not working" or "No audio received" mid-dictation (Mac, Windows)

This was caused by the microphone stopping mid-dictation — for example, due to a macOS audio system issue or another app setting your system input volume to zero. Flow now alerts you in two stages:

• After 5 seconds of silence: The waveform animation in the status bubble goes flat, and a first "No audio received" notification appears. This notification auto-dismisses after 6 seconds and offers a Contact us option.

• After 15 seconds of silence: An escalated "Microphone is not working" notification appears with a Select microphone button. Click it to switch to a working input. The escalated notification clears automatically after 60 seconds, or sooner if audio recovers.

If audio recovers on its own, the waveform resumes and all notifications are dismissed automatically.

Long-session behavior: A 1-minute warning notification fires at 19 minutes of active dictation, before the 20-minute hard session stop.

Audio silently stopped capturing while Flow still showed "Listening" (Mac, Windows)

This was caused by audio capture interruptions — for example, after the system woke from sleep or during heavy background activity — while Flow still showed a "Listening" status. Flow now automatically recovers audio capture if it's interrupted during an active recording, and is more resilient to wake-from-sleep events.

Microphone stayed on after the Flow bubble was hidden (Mac, Windows, Android)

Android: Hiding the Flow bubble now immediately stops dictation and releases the microphone (fixed in Android v1.6.0).

Mac, Windows: When the bubble is dismissed during an active dictation session, the microphone can keep recording in the background until the session times out (after 20 minutes on desktop).

Microphone selection dialog was blank after upgrading to v1.4.894 (Windows)

This was caused by an upgrade issue in version 1.4.894 that left the microphone picker empty even though dictation sometimes still worked. The microphone picker now populates correctly after upgrading.

Flow incorrectly said microphone privacy was disabled (Windows, v1.4.894)

This was caused by Flow reading system settings that didn't reflect the actual microphone permission state — common on machines managed by IT policies, Dell Optimizer, or similar privacy tools. Flow now checks microphone access by actually trying to use it, so this false error no longer appears. The notification still appears correctly when microphone access is genuinely blocked.

Error message appeared after canceling or dismissing dictation (Mac, Windows)

This was caused by a cleanup race condition when canceling or dismissing a dictation session, which triggered an unexpected error message even though nothing had gone wrong.

Activation or keyboard shortcuts stopped working or were delayed (Mac, Windows)

Pressing the activation, transform (Opt+S), or paste-last-text shortcut could intermittently feel delayed or unresponsive due to keyboard event pipeline issues. This has been fixed in recent updates.

Clamshell warning appeared even though the MacBook lid was open (Mac)

This was caused by Flow reading outdated hardware information instead of checking the current state. Flow now uses a reactive hardware-state model: a helper monitors lid open/close, sleep/wake, and device connect/disconnect events and pushes the latest state, so dictation always uses up-to-date hardware information. As part of this fix, if a clamshell warning does appear, any follow-up "No Audio" notification is suppressed for 60 seconds to prevent duplicate alerts.

Clamshell detection requires macOS 12 (Monterey) or later. On macOS 11, the warning is never shown.

Other bugs fixed in recent updates

The following issues were fixed in recent versions:

• Mic took 8–30 seconds to activate after rapidly canceling and retrying (Mac, Windows): Each retry took progressively longer, and the microphone indicator light didn't turn off right away after canceling.

• Right-click menu showed an empty mic list right after launch (Mac, Windows): Opening the menu within the first second after starting Flow could show an empty list or cause an error.

• Microphone stayed active after canceling dictation (v1.5.1): The mic could remain on — with the indicator still visible — even after canceling.

• Waveform animation was unresponsive in the first few seconds of dictation (Android): The waveform did not react when you started speaking, which could appear as if audio wasn't being captured.

• Dictation bubble got stuck in "Listening" (desktop): Quickly pressing and releasing the push-to-talk key — especially with a Bluetooth or slow-initializing microphone — could leave Flow unresponsive.

• Stale or incorrect transcription text in a new dictation (desktop): New dictation starting while a prior session was still cleaning up.

• Microphone test bars stayed grey during onboarding (Windows): Caused by Windows audio driver warmup.

• Microphone test page showed audio levels stuck at 0 after onboarding (desktop).

• Voice dictation was blocked after completing onboarding (desktop): Microphone test page not properly marked as complete.

• Dictation hung or took up to 24 seconds to start (desktop): Caused by a race condition.

• Hotkey press did nothing for 30+ seconds (Mac): Internal hotkey handling issue that delayed dictation after pressing the activation shortcut.

• App crashed when granting microphone permission after returning to home screen (Android).

What does it mean when my transcription is empty?

Flow detected no speech in the recording. For recordings 5 seconds or longer (and less than 14 days old), a clickable Retry link appears. If the recording had an error, you'll see a different message.

What does "Unable to access mic" mean?

This notification appears when your microphone takes more than 8 seconds to respond — most often after your Mac wakes from sleep or is under heavy load. Click Restart App to restart Flow. The notification also disappears on its own after a short time.

What does "Microphone is not working" mean?

This notification appears after 15 seconds of silence during dictation — meaning Flow is running but your microphone isn't delivering any audio. Click Select microphone to switch to a different input. The notification clears on its own after 60 seconds, or sooner if audio recovers automatically.

Why does dictation only produce "You" or short random text?

This happens when the microphone picks up very low audio or only background noise. Check your input volume, speak clearly, and position yourself closer to the microphone.

Why is dictation slow with Bluetooth headphones?

Bluetooth microphones add connection delay. For faster performance, switch to your built-in mic or a wired USB or 3.5mm microphone.

How do I change which microphone Flow uses?

On desktop, click the Flow menu bar icon (Mac) or system tray icon (Windows) → Settings → General → Microphone → Change. Your selection takes effect immediately. On mobile, Flow uses whatever microphone your operating system reports as active.

Audio is recorded but no text appears — what should I do?

Open the entry in history and check if the audio is clear. If so, restart Flow and try again. For empty or error recordings 5 seconds or longer (and less than 14 days old), click Retry. For dismissed transcriptions, click Recover. You can also access Retry and Download audio from the three-dot menu.

Retry, Recover, and Download audio are unavailable for recordings older than 14 days. If your organization has a NeverStore data policy enabled, audio is not saved and these options are unavailable.

Why does dictation return "Transcription by CastingWords"?

When audio contains little or no speech, the recognition model fills in silence with placeholder phrases. This indicates your mic isn't capturing audio properly. Check for hardware mute, verify Flow is using the correct microphone, close conflicting apps (Zoom, Google Meet, FaceTime), and try a wired mic.

Why doesn't dictation work when my MacBook lid is closed?

When your MacBook lid is closed, macOS disables the built-in microphone. Flow shows a "Your laptop lid is closed" notification with a Select microphone button to help you switch to an external mic. To keep dictating, connect an external or Bluetooth microphone and select it in Flow: menu bar icon → Settings → General → Microphone → Change. Clamshell detection requires macOS 12 (Monterey) or later, and the warning only appears if you're using the built-in microphone.