Troubleshooting mic issues

Mac

1. Grant microphone permission: System Settings → Privacy & Security → Microphone, and enable Flow. If already enabled, toggle it off and back on, then restart Flow.

2. Select your microphone by name: Flow menu bar icon → Settings → General → Microphone → Change. Choose your specific mic, not "Auto-detect." The volume indicator beside your selection should move when you speak.

3. Test your mic: dictate a short phrase, then open Recent activity from the menu bar icon. If an entry appears with no text, the mic captured no usable speech — continue.

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

Windows

1. Grant microphone permission: if Flow reports that microphone privacy is disabled, click Open Settings and confirm desktop app access is enabled. If already enabled, toggle it off and back on, then restart Flow.

2. Select your microphone by name: Flow system tray icon → Settings → General → Microphone → Change. Choose your specific mic, not "Auto-detect." The volume indicator beside your selection should move when you speak.

3. Test your mic: dictate a short phrase, then open Recent activity from the system tray icon. If an entry appears with no text, the mic captured no usable speech — continue.

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

iOS

1. Grant microphone permission in the main Flow app — it cannot be granted from the keyboard. Tap Allow at the first dictation, or start a dictation in the app if you were never asked.

2. Turn on Microphone if access was denied: iOS Settings → Flow → Microphone (toggle off and back on if already on), then restart Flow and dictate a short phrase. The main app offers Open Settings; the Flow Keyboard shows "To use Flow, turn on Microphone in Settings" with Go to Settings.

3. Enable Full Access for the Flow keyboard: iOS Settings → General → Keyboard → Keyboards → Flow → Allow Full Access. Without it, the keyboard cannot record audio or reach transcription. Flow picks up the change live, so no restart is needed.

4. Use the built-in iPhone microphone for the most reliable dictation. Dictate a short phrase — if text appears, you're done.

5. Configure a Bluetooth microphone (optional): pair it in Settings → Bluetooth, then turn off the built-in mic setting in Flow's iOS Settings. Dictate a test phrase — if text appears, you're done.

6. Retry failed transcriptions: tap an empty transcript in history to retry automatically, swipe left or long-press any transcript for a Retry option, or tap the retry icon next to the keyboard's mic button after an error.

7. Recover from "Couldn't start audio capture": tap Retry to start a fresh recording (your original audio is not re-sent). If it repeats, quit the Flow app completely and reopen it. Usual causes are another app holding the microphone (such as a phone or video call), or swiping away immediately after opening the app.

Android

1. Grant microphone permission: on the "We can't hear you" home-screen card, tap Allow Microphone. If permission was previously denied, that button opens Flow's app settings page — enable Microphone there (toggling it off and back on if already enabled), then restart Flow and dictate a short phrase.

2. Check other home-screen cards that block dictation and can look like mic problems: "Enable Flow bubble on screen" (overlay permission), "Flow can't insert text" (accessibility permission), "Keep Wispr Flow running" (battery optimization), "Bubble is snoozed", and "Flow Bubble Disabled" (tap "Turn Back On").

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

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

5. Reconnect a Bluetooth mic that isn't being used: in Settings → Connected devices, disconnect and reconnect it, or toggle Bluetooth off and back on. Dictate again — if text appears, you're done.

Why do microphone names in Flow differ from my system settings?

Flow cleans up device names: "External microphone (Built-in)" shows as "Headphones (wired)", USB identifiers show as "(USB)", the word "microphone" is dropped, and your machine's mic shows as "Built-in mic (recommended)". The OS default is labeled "Auto-detect" (or "Auto-detect (<Device Name>)" when it resolves to a specific device); if nothing is selected, the currently-capturing device shows as "unknown".

Virtual and loopback devices (such as BlackHole) are selectable but never auto-selected, and dictation is silent if one is selected.

How does drag-to-snooze on Android affect dictation?

Drag-to-snooze hides the Flow Bubble for 10 minutes and works only while the bubble is in its Ready state; the toast reads "Wispr Flow is snoozed for 10 min. Shake your phone to bring it back." Shake-to-restore works only while your cursor is inside a text box. Tap "End snooze now" on the home-screen card to end it early — the bubble returns to its default right-edge position.

What does it mean when my transcription is empty?

Flow detected no speech in the recording. A clickable Retry link appears for eligible recordings; recordings that hit an error show a different message.

What does "Unable to access mic" mean?

Your microphone is slow to respond — most often after your Mac wakes from sleep or is under heavy load. Click Restart App to restart Flow, or wait for the notification to clear on its own.

What do the desktop microphone notifications mean?

Each notification maps to a different mic state:

• Microphone is not working: Your mic stopped delivering audio during dictation. Click Select microphone to switch inputs; it clears on its own, or sooner if you stop or cancel the dictation.

• No audio received: A shorter silence was detected. Auto-dismisses.

• Microphone disconnected: The selected input device disappeared during recording. Click Insert to insert whatever was transcribed before the disconnect.

• Is your microphone muted?: A dictation ended with zero audio captured. Click Select microphone or Troubleshoot.

• We couldn't hear you: Transcription returned empty. Click Select microphone or Troubleshoot.

• No microphone detected: No microphone is connected. Click Open Sound Settings.

• Selected microphone is unavailable: The mic you chose is no longer connected. Click Choose Microphone.

• Microphone unavailable or Microphone error: Another app is using your microphone, the audio system needs a reset, or Flow can't access the mic for another reason. Click Troubleshoot.

• We didn't hear you clearly: Mic quality is low; click to hear your audio. Offers Change microphone and Don't show again, which dismisses it permanently.

Flow also reacts to other live disruptions during dictation: the default input device changing, the device disconnecting, the device being muted at the OS level, and input volume dropping to zero (with recovery when it returns).

What do error indicators on the iOS keyboard mic button mean?

The mic button stays available after a failed dictation, with error context beside it:

• Retry icon: A general error or cancelled dictation. Tap the retry icon to try again.

• "Server is busy": The server couldn't process your dictation. Wait a moment and tap the mic button.

• "Network error" with warning icon: Your device lost internet connectivity. Check your connection and tap the mic button.

• "Couldn't start audio capture": Another app is holding the microphone, or you swiped away right after opening the app. Only Dismiss is offered because no audio was recorded — see the iOS steps above.

• "Audio engine failed to start, Please try again!": Audio could not initialize. The default action is Retry.

• "Something went wrong with Transcription, Please try again!": A transcription error occurred. The default action is Retry.

• "Please check your network connection and try again.": A network issue prevented transcription. The default action is Retry.

• "Please check if the microphone is being used by another application.": Another app is holding the microphone. The default action is Retry.

• "Unknown error. Please try again.": An unrecognized error occurred. The default action is Retry.

Why does dictation produce "You," short random text, or unrelated placeholder phrases?

The microphone is picking up very low audio or only background noise, and a recording with little speech can return placeholder phrases. Speak clearly and closer to the mic, verify Flow is using the correct microphone, close other apps that may be using your microphone (for example a video-call app), and try a wired mic.

Why is dictation slow with Bluetooth headphones?

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

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 whether the audio is clear; if so, restart Flow and try again. Click Retry for eligible empty or error recordings, or Recover for dismissed transcriptions.

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

macOS disables the built-in microphone with the lid closed, and Flow shows a "Your laptop lid is closed" notification. Connect an external or Bluetooth microphone and select it: menu bar icon → Settings → General → Microphone → Change.

Does the microphone stop when I hide or dismiss the bubble?

On Android, hiding the Flow Bubble immediately stops dictation and releases the microphone. On Mac and Windows, dismissing the bubble during an active session can leave the microphone recording until the session times out — stop the dictation explicitly to release the mic right away.

Why did my auto-selected microphone change after a recent update?

Flow identifies microphones by name and collapses duplicate entries into one row — for example when AirPods reconnect or your system re-registers a device under a slightly different name — which can shift which mic Flow selects automatically.

Disconnected mics stay listed as offline entries and keep their ranking when they reconnect. Choosing a mic ranks it above all currently connected devices, but not above devices that were disconnected at the time, so a higher-ranked mic can reclaim priority when it reconnects. Open Settings → General → Microphone → Change to set your preferred mic explicitly.