Fix slow or failed transcription

Taking longer than usual means Flow needs more time to initialize, finish recording, or process your audio. Wait for the current result before starting another dictation. If the delay persists or transcription fails, follow these checks.

Check the connection and restart

1. Load a website. If it does not load, restore your internet connection first.
2. Update Flow. Check for an available desktop update, or use the App Store or Google Play Store on your phone.
3. Quit and reopen Flow, then dictate a short phrase. See restart instructions for your platform.
4. Compare your network setup. If you use a VPN or proxy, a brief test without it can help identify interference. Re-enable it afterward and configure approved access if the test changes the result. For managed networks, contact your IT administrator.

Use connection troubleshooting for VPN, proxy, and firewall checks. On Android, background battery or data restrictions can also interfere; follow Android setup. Phone background settings are separate from desktop firewall rules.

Understand the processing notice

• Taking longer than usual: the desktop notice can appear while initializing, stopping, or processing. It does not appear during retries. Don't show again hides the notice; it does not fix the cause.
• Flow was processing your last transcript: a previous result is still underway. Wait before starting another dictation or retry.
• Cancel on that notification: dismisses the notice only. The dismiss shortcut, usually Escape, can cancel the in-progress transcription.

Do not dismiss recovery or start another dictation while waiting for an interrupted result. Those actions can stop the old transcript from pasting. If recovery cannot finish, check History for retained audio.

Retry a saved recording

Reconnect first. Retry sends the saved audio again; it cannot recover speech that the microphone never captured. Storage policies and deleted audio can make an entry unavailable for retry.

Platform	Recovery action
Mac and Windows	Open History, find the failed entry, and choose Retry or ⋯ → Retry transcript when available. Use Recover for a dismissed entry when offered.
iPhone	Open History and use the failed row's Retry action, or swipe left/long-press it. A successful row copies its text. Audio-capture failures need a fresh dictation.
Android	Tap the bubble's Retry, or open the failed history card and choose ⋮ → Retry Transcript. Missing-audio errors mean its saved file is unavailable.

Finish any active dictation before retrying on desktop. See Retry failed transcriptions for eligibility, retention windows, and platform-specific controls.

Text exists but did not paste? That is an insertion problem. On Android, Paste uses text already on the clipboard, while Retry transcribes saved audio again. Follow text not pasting rather than recording the same words again.

When an on-device draft is offered

With Turtle Mode enabled, Flow can save a rough on-device draft alongside the cloud transcription. If the cloud is unreachable and the keyboard offers Add draft, use it to insert that draft once. When cloud processing returns, History can receive the full version without inserting it a second time. Drafts are not pasted automatically.

Resolve a storage warning

Desktop storage notices offer Restart Flow and Contact us:

• Local database corruption: restart Flow to attempt repair.
• Storage Full: free disk space, then restart. Repeated restarts alone cannot free space.
• There was an error: restart and contact support if the storage error continues.

For a Notetaker recording affected by disk space, use meeting recording and audio troubleshooting. Dictation and meeting recovery have different requirements.

Reset only after simpler recovery fails

A full reset is for corruption that restarting cannot repair. Get support guidance first. Settings → System → Data → Reset & Restart deletes local history, Wispr Lens history, Notes and attached images, notifications, meetings, calendar events, and backups. Stats and settings are not deleted. Preserve any local content you need before resetting.

Get help with repeated failures

Contact support if delays affect every dictation, retries fail on multiple recordings, or storage warnings keep returning. Include your platform and Flow version, the exact message, whether another network changes the result, and a failed entry when available. If Flow reports microphone access or silent audio instead, follow microphone troubleshooting.