Longer dictation sessions — now up to 20 minutes
Last updated: October 19, 2026
Available on: Mac, Windows
A single dictation session now runs up to 20 minutes on desktop, with nothing to configure. The limit applies to Free and Pro, with no setting to extend it.
How session timing works
One-minute warning: At 19 minutes, Flow plays a sound and briefly shows “You have <1 minute left before you reach the 20 minute limit!” near the Flow bar.
Automatic stop: At 20 minutes, Flow ends recording and shows “Transcription session ended.” / “Flow supports up to 20 minutes per session.” with Recover text.
Recording only: The warning and automatic stop apply while recording, not once the session is stopping or processing.
If recording continues to 21 minutes: Flow stops it with the same session-ended notice and keeps the captured audio for transcription.
Flow transcribes captured audio and pastes the resulting text, including sessions you stop yourself just before the limit, but a complete transcript is not guaranteed.
If the connection drops near the end, Flow keeps processing the remaining audio for up to 5 minutes. It stops trying after that wait or two consecutive failed attempts, pasting only the text recovered; some or all text can be missing.
If stopping stalls, Flow cancels the dictation and shows the transcription-error notice instead of pasting.
Continue beyond 20 minutes
Warning: Dismissing the Processing state cancels it. If you try to start while Flow is processing, you'll see “Flow was processing your last transcript”. The notice names your configured cancel shortcut, or Esc if none is set. Clicking Cancel or pressing that shortcut cancels the active dictation—it does not just close the notice.
Wait for the previous transcript to finish.
Press your dictation hotkey again to start a new session.
Very rapid repeated presses may be ignored.
Recover your text
Warning: If your organization's policy prevents storing recordings, audio is not saved and that dictation cannot be recovered or retried from History.
If Flow quits or crashes mid-dictation, that session is not resumed, re-transcribed or pasted on next launch.
Focus the field where you want the text.
Click Recover text on the session-ended notice, or the matching recovery button below.
Recover text, Insert, Undo, and Retry on the transcription-error notice retry the last transcript or reuse its saved text, then paste into the currently focused field.
History records the exact text pasted, so a failed or partial paste can be retried there. History retries re-transcribe stored audio and cannot run while a dictation is active. Open History opens the Dictation/History page without pasting.
Microphone disconnected
The “Microphone disconnected” notice says “Click below to insert the text recorded up to this point.” and offers Insert.
Transcription failed
The “Something's not right” notice says “Transcript failed to load. You can always recover it from History.” and offers Retry and Open History.
Cancelled session
A cancelled session shows “Transcript cancelled” with Undo, or the detailed “You can recover your cancelled transcript” card with Undo and Open History. The detailed card appears at most once a day and 3 times total; otherwise, Flow shows the brief notice.
Formatting may be missing
“Formatting may be missing. Tap to retry” uses a different recovery action that does not paste into your current field.
Select the notice to open History and retry that recording.
Copy the recovered text from History into your destination field.
No audio recorded
If silence or no audio produces no usable transcript, nothing is pasted and no recovery notice appears; a no-audio or microphone notification may appear instead.
If no audio arrives in the first 5 seconds, Flow automatically cancels the dictation. This is a microphone problem, not a length limit.
Other limits
Free-plan weekly word caps still apply. Their separate notice says “Weekly dictation limit reached” / “Dictation resets Sunday, 12 a.m. PT. Upgrade for unlimited access.” with Upgrade. A bonus-words notice instead says “Here are bonus words to keep dictating this week!” with Keep dictating.
Notetaker meeting recordings have separate 30 min / 1 hr / 2 hr / 3 hr maximum-length settings and a “Continue recording?” prompt; these do not extend dictation sessions.
Mobile session limits are unchanged.
Still need help?
Contact support if text is still missing after the relevant recovery action. Include your platform, device, the notice text, and the recovery actions you tried.