Customize keyboard and mouse shortcuts

Last updated: September 28, 2026

Available on: Mac and Windows. Custom shortcuts are saved per device, do not sync between devices, and survive app updates.

Customize the keys or mouse buttons you use for push-to-talk, hands-free dictation and other Flow actions.

Change or add a shortcut

  1. Click the Wispr Flow menu-bar icon on Mac or system-tray icon on Windows, then open Settings → General → Shortcuts.

  2. Click Change in the Shortcuts row.

  3. Click an existing binding to replace it, + (Add another) to keep it, or an empty field.

  4. Press your new combination; keyboard combinations save on release, while mouse buttons save on press.

  5. Click Done to close the dialog after Shortcut saved confirms acceptance.

You can also open this dialog through Shortcuts in the tray/menu-bar menu or the hub sidebar’s Help menu.

In this dialog, each action supports up to four shortcuts; Cancel supports one. At four bindings, + disappears. An empty row uses Click to add a shortcut instead of +.

Note: Finish or cancel shortcut recording before editing another field, adding a binding or resetting. During recording, + and Reset to default change nothing and show Please stop the Notetaker first.

Cancel recording without changing a shortcut

While the field says Press key or mouse button, click X (Cancel) or press Escape alone to leave the binding unchanged. On the Cancel row, Escape records a binding instead.

Left- or right-clicking inside or outside the field also cancels silently; that click does not activate its target. Order matters: Ctrl then Esc records Ctrl+Esc, while Esc then Ctrl cancels.

Choose an accepted combination

A rejected combination leaves the previous binding unchanged. Follow the message, then record another combination.

Message

What to change

This shortcut is not allowed: {key}

Avoid standalone letters, numbers, punctuation and platform-reserved combinations.

This shortcut is already in use

Choose a combination unused by any other Flow action.

Shortcut must contain 3 or fewer keys

Use at most three keys.

Shortcut must include a modifier key or a valid mouse button

Include Ctrl, Cmd, Opt, Shift or Fn on Mac; Ctrl, Alt, Shift or Win on Windows.

Shortcut cannot contain both left and right version of the same key

Use only one side of each modifier.

Standalone exceptions: Caps Lock works only for Push to talk or Hands-free on both platforms and no longer toggles capitals when assigned this way. Escape alone works only for Cancel.

Onboarding may recommend control + space until you change Push to talk; the combination must still be unused.

Mac shortcut restrictions

Mac blocks Cmd+Backspace, Cmd+Delete, Cmd+Space and Cmd+Ctrl+F. Cmd+Opt with Space, Esc, D, P, F, Left or Right, and Opt+Backspace/Opt+Delete are not rejected by the reserved list; they must still be unused in Flow.

Windows shortcut restrictions

Windows blocks standalone Ctrl (left or right) and Win with E, R, L, D, Tab, I, S, X, P, Up, Down or Q.

Keyboard effects in other apps

Keyboard shortcuts can still reach other apps. On Mac, assigning Fn alone prevents its usual system action, and Escape does not reach other apps during dictation. A Flow shortcut such as Ctrl+A+B can also block another app’s Ctrl+A.

Ctrl+Win suppresses the Windows Start/Search action while that combination is held, and Win alone still works.

Use a mouse button

Mouse setup requires an eligible mouse: a recognized mouse with more than three buttons or a supported Logitech MX model. Apple Magic Mouse, built-in trackpads, mice with three or fewer buttons, and unrecognized devices do not qualify.

Middle Click, Mouse 4/5, or a supported Aux Button can replace a modifier and work alone or with modifiers. Mouse 6–10 are Mac-only. Left and right click cannot be assigned.

Warning: Assigned mouse buttons do not reach other apps, even without the modifiers in their Flow combination. On Windows, quitting Flow while holding a mouse shortcut can let its release trigger the foreground app’s action.

Eligible Razer, SteelSeries, HyperX, Corsair, generic and Logitech G-series mice work without companion software. For Logitech MX-series side buttons, set the button to No action or a keystroke in Logi Options+ before recording it in Flow. On Windows, Logitech MX Master swipe-gesture mappings cannot support push-to-talk. See Logi Options+ troubleshooting.

Release one mouse shortcut before pressing another, and release a mouse button before changing or removing its binding.

Assign a button to Press Enter

Press Enter always appears in Settings, not onboarding; it starts unbound and sends Enter on press, not release. A mouse binding still works with extra modifiers other than Fn, passing them through—for example, Shift+Enter.

Remove or reset shortcuts

Click the trash icon (Remove shortcut) beside a binding without starting recording. Push to talk, Command Mode, Paste last transcript, Copy last transcript and Cancel must retain one binding; other editable rows, including Hands-free and Press Enter, can be emptied.

If no trash icon is offered, replace the binding with an unused, unreserved combination of three keys or fewer that meets the modifier rules. Restore an empty row through Click to add a shortcut.

Removing the last Hands-free or Notetaker binding is remembered across launches. Rebinding it or resetting restores it, provided Notetaker is not blocked. Double-tapping Push to talk still starts hands-free dictation without a dedicated Hands-free binding.

Warning: Reset to default replaces your custom shortcuts with platform defaults and has no undo.

  1. Click Reset to default; the matching success message confirms the reset.

Reset also restores Transform view changes; Transform shortcuts only when allowed, Open Scratchpad only when enabled and permitted by your organization, Focus Mode only on Mac when enabled, and Notetaker only when unblocked.

Default shortcuts

These are the core platform defaults.

Action

Mac

Windows

Push to talk (hold to dictate)

Fn

Ctrl+Win

Hands-free (press to start/stop)

Fn+Space

Ctrl+Win+Space

Command Mode

Fn+Ctrl

Ctrl+Win+Alt

Paste last transcript

Cmd+Ctrl+V

Shift+Alt+Z

Copy last transcript

Cmd+Ctrl+C

Shift+Alt+X

Cancel

Escape

Escape

During Mac onboarding, if Push to talk is still Fn and no Apple Fn key is detected, Flow automatically switches to Ctrl+Opt for Push to talk, Ctrl+Opt+Space for Hands-free, and Cmd+Ctrl+Opt for Command Mode. Paste, copy and Cancel stay unchanged.

If a saved shortcut does not work

Hands-free overlaps Push to talk

After a shortcut change, a Hands-free combination contained within a Push-to-talk combination still saves but shows: Warning: Your Hands-free mode shortcut is a part of a Push-to-talk shortcut. This may lead to conflicts.

  1. Choose non-overlapping combinations and save again.

The warning should no longer appear.

A shortcut is ignored or delayed after a long hold

Deliberately held modifiers for Push to talk, such as Ctrl+Win or Ctrl+Opt, are unaffected.

  1. Release all keys.

  2. Press the full combination again.

If the shortcut responds, no restart is needed. Stuck keys or mouse buttons can recover automatically after 10 seconds; active dictation shortcut keys are protected so recovery does not cut a long dictation short.

Mac: Secure Keyboard Entry blocks shortcuts

Another app’s Secure Keyboard Entry can block key-based shortcuts while modifier-only holds such as Fn keep working.

  1. Quit the responsible app, such as 1Password.

  2. Restart that app.

  3. Test the shortcut again; if it responds, the block is cleared.

Only if the responsible app has already stopped but its block remains, a lock/unlock cycle or signing out can release it. See Secure Keyboard Entry troubleshooting.

Windows: a keyboard utility intercepts keys

A Windows keyboard utility intercepts the keys: end the manufacturer's keyboard process in Task Manager and test again.

Warning: Disabling an extended-function keyboard device can remove media-key features.

Still stuck?

If a saved shortcut still fails after these checks, use Help → Talk to support in the hub sidebar. Include your platform, keyboard or mouse model, exact combination, error message, and what you tried.