Troubleshooting the Flow Bar (Desktop) and Flow Bubble (Android)

Mac

Work through these steps in order. The most common fixes come first.

1. Confirm Flow is running. Look for the Flow icon in the menu bar at the top of your screen. If it's not there, open Wispr Flow from your Applications folder.

2. Unhide the bar. Open Wispr Flow Settings → System and turn on Show Flow Bar. If the bar was snoozed with "Hide for 1 hour," this toggle brings it back immediately.

3. Check the side edges of your screen. If the bar was dragged to the left or right edge, it reorients vertically and can be easy to miss. Drag it back toward the center to reposition.

4. Check permissions. Open System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility and confirm Wispr Flow is enabled. Then check Privacy & Security → Microphone. Flow detects permission changes automatically and resumes once they're granted.

5. Exit full-screen mode if you're in it. Some full-screen modes hide floating UI elements like the Flow Bar. If the bar reappears outside full screen, the issue is mode-specific.

6. Test in a different browser (Safari, Chrome, or Firefox). If the bar appears in one but not another, check for ad blockers or security extensions that may block overlays.

Dictate a short phrase in a text field. If the bar appears and text is transcribed, you're done.

Windows

Work through these steps in order. The most common fixes come first.

1. Confirm Flow is running. Look for the Flow icon in the system tray near the clock. Click the ^ arrow to see hidden icons if needed. If it's not there, open Wispr Flow from your Start menu.

2. Unhide the bar. Open Wispr Flow Settings → System and turn on Show Flow Bar. If the bar was snoozed with "Hide for 1 hour," this toggle brings it back immediately.

3. Check the side edges of your screen. If the bar was dragged to the left or right edge, it reorients vertically. Drag it back toward the center to reposition.

4. Check permissions. Open Windows Settings → Privacy & security and make sure Flow is allowed to run in the background and interact with apps. Flow detects permission changes automatically and resumes once they're granted.

5. Disable third-party tools that may block overlays, such as window managers or security utilities. If the bar reappears, re-enable those tools one at a time to identify the conflict.

6. Exit full-screen mode if you're in it. Some immersive modes hide floating UI elements like the Flow Bar.

7. Test in a different browser (Chrome, Edge, or Firefox). If the bar appears in one but not another, check for ad blockers or security extensions that may block overlays.

Dictate a short phrase in a text field. If the bar appears and text is transcribed, you're done.

Android

Work through these steps in order. The most common fixes come first.

1. Open Wispr Flow from your app drawer. If Flow couldn't reconnect automatically, a Repair tap target appears on screen — tap it to restore the Flow Bubble. A brief "Flow Bubble reconnected" message confirms when it's back. If accessibility permission was also revoked, Flow takes you to a repair screen with a direct link to the Android accessibility settings.

2. Check the home screen for a Flow Bubble Disabled card. If you see it, tap Turn Back On to restart the bubble.

3. End snooze if the bubble is snoozed. Dragging the bubble to the bottom of the screen puts it in snooze mode. To end snooze, shake your device or tap End snooze now on the home screen card. The bubble may not reappear until you tap a text field.

4. Reset the bubble opacity. Open Wispr Flow Settings → Flow Bubble Opacity. If the slider is set very low, the bubble appears faint or nearly invisible. Tap Reset to restore the default opacity.

5. Check whether the bubble has shrunk. Open Wispr Flow Settings → Bubble Size. If Shrink the bubble when not in use is on, the bubble auto-minimizes after a short period of inactivity. If Shrink the bubble in search fields is on, it minimizes immediately when you enter a search field. Tap or long-press the minimized bubble to restore it, or turn off these toggles to keep the bubble at full size. Tap Reset to restore the default size.

6. Check Accessibility permissions. Go to Settings → Accessibility → Installed apps → Wispr Flow and confirm the accessibility service is enabled. If you see a "Wispr Flow needs attention" notification, tap it to jump straight to the right settings page. If you see a warning triangle on the Flow Bubble itself, tap it to open the accessibility repair flow.

7. Check microphone permission. Go to Settings → Apps → Wispr Flow → Permissions → Microphone and make sure it's allowed. If the bubble is visible but you see a prompt to re-grant microphone access, follow the on-screen steps — the bubble stays on screen to guide you through it.

8. Check overlay permissions. Go to Settings → Apps → Wispr Flow → Display over other apps and make sure it's enabled.

9. Exempt Flow from battery optimization. The exact setting varies by manufacturer:

   1. Samsung: add Flow to "Never sleeping apps."

   2. Xiaomi, Redmi, POCO, Vivo: enable "Autostart" for Flow.

   3. Oppo: enable "Allow Auto-Launch" and "Allow Background Activity."

   4. Huawei, Honor: turn on the "App launch" toggles.

   5. Realme, OnePlus: set to "Don't optimize" and enable App Auto-Launch (auto-launch is the key step).

   6. Motorola, Lenovo: set to "Don't optimize."

   7. Tecno, Infinix, itel: enable Autostart.

   8. Google Pixel: no OEM-specific setup needed beyond the standard Android battery exemption.

   Flow guides you to the right setting for your device.

Tap a text field in any app to open the on-screen keyboard. If the bubble appears, you're done. If it still doesn't appear, update Wispr Flow to the latest version and try again.

Bugs fixed in recent desktop updates

The following issues have been fixed in recent versions of Wispr Flow for desktop. Update to the latest version to get these fixes:

• Flow Bar disappeared after signing out and back in. The bar now reappears reliably after signing back in.

• Flow Bar didn't recover after the system woke from sleep. The bar now reconnects automatically after sleep.

• Flow Bar flickered or showed layout glitches when switching states or screen sizes. Transitions are now smooth, with no flickering or positioning artifacts.

• Flow Bar got stuck in a recording state after cancelling dictation. The bar now returns to idle whenever dictation is cancelled.

• Keyboard shortcuts and dictation triggers were delayed or dropped. Shortcuts now respond reliably.

• On macOS with the Dock on the left side, the Flow Bar rendered behind the Dock or stopped short on the right edge. The bar now anchors correctly regardless of Dock position.

• Flow Bar snapped to the bottom of the screen even when previously docked to the left or right. The bar now respects your saved docked position across restarts.

• Alert notifications couldn't be dismissed. The close button is responsive again, and hovering over a notification cancels the auto-dismiss timer.

• Microphone stayed on after the Flow Bar was hidden. The microphone now stops immediately when the bar is hidden.

• Language switcher on the Flow Bar didn't respond as expected. Hover to reveal a chevron button — click the main circle to cycle through languages, or click the chevron to open the full language picker. With only one language selected, clicking the circle opens the picker directly.

• Waveform animation kept moving when the microphone wasn't picking up sound. The waveform now flattens after silence, and a "Microphone is not working" notification appears with a "Select microphone" button.

Bugs fixed in recent Android updates

The following issues have been fixed in recent versions of Wispr Flow for Android. Update to the latest version to get these fixes:

• Flow Bubble disappeared on its own, especially on Xiaomi, Vivo, Oppo, and Samsung devices. Flow now restarts the bubble automatically when it stops unexpectedly.

• Flow Bubble didn't reappear after a device reboot or app update. Flow now actively restarts the bubble after a reboot or update.

• Flow Bubble appeared active but text stopped being inserted, with no warning shown. Most common on Samsung One UI devices and phones with aggressive deep-sleep modes. Flow now detects this and attempts to reconnect, showing a pulsing loader while it does. If reconnection stalls, a warning triangle appears — tap it to jump to the accessibility settings.

• Accessibility permission was silently turned off on some devices (OnePlus, Xiaomi, Huawei, Oppo, Vivo, Samsung). Flow now detects this and sends a notification you can tap to go directly to the accessibility settings page.

• Flow Bubble was cut off or partially hidden in landscape or reverse-landscape orientation. The bubble now stays fully visible in all orientations, including when docked on the right side and shrunk to a dot.

• Dictation didn't work in Chrome search boxes. Tapping into a Chrome search box and dictating now works correctly.

• Flow Bubble disappeared entirely if microphone permission was revoked mid-session. The bubble now stays on screen and guides you through re-granting permission.

• Shaking the device to end snooze stopped working. Shake-to-unsnooze now works correctly again.

• The bubble appeared in the wrong position after rotating between portrait and landscape. Bubble positioning now updates correctly on rotation.

• Flow didn't start automatically after a device reboot even when accessibility was enabled. Flow now starts on its own after a reboot as long as accessibility permission is active.

• Flow Bubble didn't appear in notification reply boxes or in browser address bars. The bubble now appears in notification reply fields — including on Samsung, Xiaomi, OPPO, OnePlus, Vivo, and Asus — and in the address bar of Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Brave, Samsung Internet, and other supported browsers. Password, numeric, and phone fields remain excluded.

• Dictated text failed to appear in Gmail and other web-based fields, especially on Samsung devices. Text now inserts correctly in these apps.

• Dictated text was sometimes inserted twice, or fell back to a clipboard paste. Text now inserts correctly regardless of processing time. If Flow can't insert text, it copies it to your clipboard and shows a Paste button on the bubble.

• Dictated text silently failed in WhatsApp or Telegram after switching chats. Flow now detects when these apps recycle their input field and re-establishes its connection.

• Wispr Flow crashed in apps with complex layouts (TikTok, WeChat, Xiaohongshu). Flow now handles these apps without crashing.

• Persistent "Wispr Flow Service Status" notification cluttered the notification tray. Flow no longer shows a persistent service notification.

• Microphone stayed on after the Flow Bubble was hidden. The microphone now stops reliably whenever the bubble is hidden.

How do I move the Flow Bar to a different position on desktop?

Click and drag the Flow Bar. As you drag, three pill-shaped drop zones appear — one each for the bottom, left, and right edges of your screen. Release the bar over a drop zone to snap it there. The bar remembers your chosen position across app launches. Press Escape while dragging to cancel and return the bar to its previous position.

The Flow Bar is on the side of my screen and looks different — is that normal?

Yes. When the Flow Bar is docked to the left or right edge, it reorients vertically to fit. The waveform, controls, and other elements reflow automatically for the vertical layout. Extension status pills stack vertically and their menus open toward the center of the screen. To move the bar back to the bottom, drag it toward the center of the screen and drop it on the bottom drop zone.

The bar appears in apps but not in browsers — what's wrong?

Some browsers require specific permissions or have extensions that block overlays. Try a different browser to isolate the issue, and check that no ad blockers or security extensions are interfering.

The bar suddenly stopped showing — what happened?

The Flow Bar reconnects automatically after the system wakes from sleep and after signing out and back in, so those events on their own shouldn't leave you without a bar. If the bar remains missing, restart Wispr Flow, then check Settings → System → Show Flow Bar and confirm the bar isn't in the "Hide for 1 hour" snooze state. If that doesn't help, check whether a recent system update changed your privacy or accessibility settings.

How do I add the Scratchpad button to the Flow Bar?

The Scratchpad button is opt-in and not shown by default. Open Wispr Flow → Notes and turn on the Add to Flow Bar toggle. The button then appears in the Flow Bar when no meeting is active and Flow is in a ready state.

Why did the Flow Bubble shrink to a small icon or dot on Android?

The bubble has a "shrink when not in use" feature that minimizes it after a short period of inactivity. Control this in Wispr Flow Settings → Bubble Size:

• Shrink the bubble when not in use: Collapses the bubble to a small icon when idle. Turn this off to keep the bubble at full size.

• Shrink to a dot: Shrinks the bubble to an even smaller dot. Only available when the main shrink toggle is on.

• Shrink the bubble in search fields: Minimizes the bubble whenever you tap into a search field. Only available when the main shrink toggle is on.

To restore the bubble at any time, tap or long-press it.

What does the pulsing loader or warning triangle on the Flow Bubble mean?

These indicators appear when Flow has lost its connection to the accessibility service — most common on Samsung One UI and devices with aggressive battery management:

• Pulsing loader: Flow detected a problem and is trying to reconnect automatically. Wait a moment and the bubble returns to normal once the connection is restored. The pulsing loader itself is not tappable.

• Warning triangle: Reconnection has stalled or accessibility permission was revoked. Tap the warning triangle to go directly to the accessibility settings and re-enable Wispr Flow.

If accessibility is already disabled when you open the app, Flow shows a Repair tap target immediately. Tap it to restore the Flow Bubble. If you're in the middle of dictating when this happens, Flow waits until your recording is complete before showing these indicators.

Why can't I snooze the Flow Bubble on Android?

Snooze is unavailable while the accessibility repair prompt is showing — you'll see a message that says "Snooze is unavailable while accessibility needs attention." Re-enable the accessibility permission and snooze works again. Snooze is also unavailable while the bubble is recording or in any non-Ready state.

What happens when the Flow Bubble shows an error on Android?

If transcription fails or text can't be pasted, the bubble shows an error. It clears automatically after a short period of inactivity, or you can dismiss it sooner by tapping the Wispr icon on the bubble:

• Failed to paste: Tapping the icon dismisses the error. Your text stays on the clipboard so you can paste it manually.

• Failed to transcribe: Tapping the icon starts a fresh dictation session.

After the error is dismissed, the bubble returns to its ready state if you have a text field focused, or hides otherwise.

How do I adjust the Flow Bubble's size or opacity on Android?

To adjust size and minimize behavior, go to Settings → Bubble Size. From there you can set the bubble size and control whether it shrinks when not in use, shrinks to a dot, or minimizes in search fields.

To change transparency, go to Settings → Flow Bubble Opacity. Use the slider to set the opacity — the bubble updates live as you drag. Tap Reset on either screen to restore the default.

Why doesn't the Flow Bubble appear when I'm using an external keyboard?

The Flow Bubble appears and hides based on whether your on-screen keyboard is open. With a physical or external keyboard, the on-screen keyboard usually stays closed, so the bubble won't appear. Open the on-screen keyboard manually to use Flow.

Why doesn't the Flow Bubble appear in my banking app, password field, or phone number field?

The Flow Bubble is intentionally hidden in banking and financial apps (including mobile payment apps like PayPal, Cash App, Venmo, and Google Wallet) and in password, numeric, and phone number fields for privacy and security. The bubble reappears when you switch to a standard text field in a non-restricted app.

How do I stop the "Wispr Flow is displaying over other apps" notification on Samsung?

This notification comes from Android itself, not from Wispr Flow. It appears because Flow uses the "Display over other apps" permission to show the Flow Bubble.

On Samsung One UI, silencing just this one system notification takes a couple of setup steps first:

1. Enable Developer options: go to Settings → About phone → Software information, then tap Build number seven times.

2. Enable notification categories: go to Settings → Notifications → Advanced settings, then tap Manage notification categories for each app at the bottom.

3. Long-press the "displaying over other apps" notification in your notification shade and tap Settings, then scroll to the bottom to Notification categories.

4. Open the Android System notification settings and disable the "displaying over other apps" category.

This mutes only this one system notice while leaving Flow's overlay permission (and the Flow Bubble) fully intact, so dictation keeps working normally.

Can I use the Flow Bubble to reply to notifications without opening the app?

Yes. The Flow Bubble appears in notification reply boxes — for example, when you tap the inline reply button on a WhatsApp or messaging notification in the notification shade. This works on a wide range of devices, including Samsung, Xiaomi, OPPO, OnePlus, Realme, Vivo, and Asus. Your dictated text is inserted directly at the cursor, preserving anything you've already typed.

Can I use the Flow Bubble to dictate into my browser's address bar?

Yes. The Flow Bubble appears when you tap the address bar in supported browsers, including Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Brave, Samsung Internet, Opera, Vivaldi, DuckDuckGo, Kiwi, UC Browser, and Yandex.