Use Flow hands-free
Last updated: October 10, 2026
Available on: Mac, Windows, Android (hands-free lock); iOS uses tap controls.
Dictate without holding a key or button when writing longer messages or working with your hands occupied. Flow inserts your transcript when you finish.
Mac and Windows
Sign-in and microphone access are required. Non-paying users are blocked after exceeding their weekly word cap; IT-admin accounts cannot dictate. During setup, dictation works only on eligible practice pages; double-tap additionally requires a hands-free-enabled practice page or the hands-free tutorial.
On Mac, grant Input Monitoring so Flow can detect the key being held.
Mac also requires Accessibility access. If access is revoked, use System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility.
Start and stop dictation
The hands-free shortcut defaults to Fn + Space on Mac and Ctrl + Win + Space on Windows. On Macs without Fn, onboarding sets Ctrl + Opt + Space.
Warning: A third rapid push-to-talk tap cancels instead of pasting. Pressing the hands-free shortcut again—or clicking the Flow Bar again—within half a second of starting also cancels.
Place your cursor in any text field.
Press your hands-free shortcut and speak after the ping.
Press your hands-free shortcut again, or click the stop (■) icon in the Flow Bar.
Your transcript pastes into the active text field.
You can also start with either option:
Click the Flow Bar, shown by default.
Double-tap your push-to-talk shortcut within half a second of starting: Fn (Mac), Ctrl + Win (Windows), or Ctrl + Opt on Macs without Fn.
A separate hands-free shortcut is optional; if you remove it, it stays removed after restarting Flow.
To cancel, click X or press Esc, the remappable default on both platforms. The cancellation notice offers Undo, which retries the last transcript and pastes it into the current field. The fuller notice also offers Open History, opening the hub’s Dictation page; it appears at most three times total and once per day.
While recording, Flow warns at 19 minutes and stops at 20, transcribing rather than discarding the audio. It also ends sessions when no audio is detected or microphone access fails. With no audio, nothing is pasted.
If desktop dictation fails
Warning: Paste Last Transcript cancels any dictation still processing. On Mac, clipboard restoration excludes file contents, PDF, RTFD and audio; a timed-out paste does not automatically restore the previous clipboard.
Press Paste Last Transcript: Ctrl + Cmd + V (Mac) or Alt + Shift + Z (Windows).
Confirm your cursor stayed in a text field while dictating.
Check Recent Activity in Flow.
Paste Last Transcript re-pastes completed text; cancelled, failed or unformatted transcripts are retried first. If your text appears in Recent Activity but not in your app, try a different app to see whether the issue is app-specific.
Being offline does not block or stop desktop dictation; Flow warns and saves audio for retry if transcription fails. Shortcuts are ignored while Flow is stopping, processing, retrying, or testing the microphone—wait, then try again. Rapid repeat presses may produce no notice.
If Flow requests sign-in again or requires you to join your organization’s team, complete that prompt before retrying. Where your organization’s app or website restrictions are enabled, blocked locations prevent dictation or pasting and show a notice.
Recover from a paste failure
On Mac, after you complete setup, a failed paste with no transcript text shows a tip with your Paste Last Transcript shortcut instead of replacing your clipboard. This tip appears at most once per dictation and uses your custom shortcut if you changed it.
Your first Cmd+V after that may paste nothing — press Cmd+V once more to restore what you had copied before dictating.
Warning: After setup, a failed-paste notice containing your transcript copies that text for manual pasting, replacing your clipboard. This happens at most once per dictation and only if the notice appears; a suppressed notice does not change the clipboard.
Recover a saved dictation
A dismissed history entry offers Recover. Retrying requires stored, unexpired audio and is unavailable while dictating.
If you or your organization set data storage to never store data, audio is not saved and history shows History disabled.
iOS
Keyboard shortcuts aren't available on iOS. The Flow keyboard requires Full Access, microphone permission and an available weekly word allowance.
Open the Wispr Flow app.
Tap into a text field so the cursor appears.
Tap the microphone icon to start recording, then speak your text.
Tap the checkmark to insert your transcript, or X to cancel.
During processing, tapping the progress indicator also cancels. Wait until the current session ends before starting another.
Flow switches to another keyboard in numeric, phone-number, numbers-and-punctuation and email fields. Offline, a no-network screen replaces dictation controls unless Backup/Offline Dictation is active for you.
Use the Flow keyboard in another app
The same controls work in other apps. Start opens Flow and starts recording; inside Flow, the microphone starts recording in place without Start.
Automatic return waits until recording is live. Tap OK on the first automatic-return alert. Return depends on the app and Flow’s return settings; when manual return is required, follow the swipe-back screen.
Flow returns to the app, not a particular chat, note or page; the exact location depends on iOS restoring that app’s state. Safari has no app-launch return option, so if another return method is unavailable, use the manual swipe-back screen.
Android
The Flow Bubble needs a focused text field and a visible on-screen keyboard. Closing the keyboard hides it unless a dictation is starting or running; in those states, the bubble stays visible and dictation is not interrupted.
Note: The bubble is hidden in recognized banking and financial apps—not every banking app—and in password, phone-number and all numeric fields. Email and plain-text fields are not excluded.
Field exceptions include URL or web-text fields, including outside browsers; supported browsers with a Go key; notification replies; and system text boxes with no app focused. These system exceptions can include password fields.
Flow does not read existing field text for context in recognized banking apps or password fields.
Tap a text field to open the on-screen keyboard.
Tap the Flow Bubble to start recording, then speak your text.
Tap Done (checkmark) to stop and insert your transcript.
Cancel discards during recording or processing and is the only control during processing. Tapping the bubble’s body does not stop an active session; use its buttons.
Sessions have a 5-minute limit. At 3:59, Flow vibrates and warns “1 minute left before you reach the 5-minute limit.” At 4:59, it stops and transcribes rather than discarding the audio.
If Android dictation fails
Offline: controls are greyed out and neither tapping nor holding starts recording. Reconnect before retrying. A blocked start briefly shows “No internet. Try again later.”
Slow transcription: after submission, slow processing shows the temporary notice “Taking longer than usual. Your audio is saved in the app.” This does not necessarily indicate a connection change.
Failed transcription: after “Failed to transcribe. Saved in the app.”, tap Retry. It retries only if a recording was saved; otherwise it returns the bubble to normal. Every failure appears in history and can be reported. The Wispr icon starts a new dictation instead.
Failed insertion: Flow automatically copies the text and marks the clipboard entry sensitive. Tap Paste, or dismiss with the Wispr icon and paste manually. Copy appears for 5 seconds only when insertion cannot be confirmed; restarting dictation, hiding the bubble or an accessibility repair removes it.
If the bubble is reconnecting, wait. If it asks you to re-grant accessibility or restart Flow, tap the bubble to take that action.
Bring back a snoozed bubble
Snooze lasts 10 minutes; typing does not end it. To end it early, tap End snooze now on Flow’s home screen or shake your phone rapidly. The bubble reappears when a text field is focused; a text field is not required to end snooze.
Shake works only while snoozed, with an unlocked phone and Wispr Flow accessibility enabled—not inside restricted banking apps. “Snooze is unavailable while accessibility needs attention” means snooze is off; an accessibility disconnection cancels snooze and reveals the repair bubble.
Press Enter without touching the keyboard
Warning: This can send a message or submit a prompt immediately, including when you choose Great.
On Mac and Windows, Press Enter command is off by default in Flow Hub → Settings → Experimental. Experimental is available with active or past-due personal subscriptions, unexpired personal trials, or active enterprise subscriptions, including enterprise trials.
Once enabled, ending dictation with “press enter” removes the phrase and presses Enter only after a successful paste. Mid-sentence and Command Mode occurrences stay as text.
The first detection removes the phrase and shows a one-time prompt instead of pressing Enter. Great enables the command and presses Enter for that dictation. Disable appends “ press enter” rather than restoring original casing or punctuation, and keeps future occurrences as text. Ignoring the prompt leaves the command off if you have not enabled it.
Still stuck?
Contact support if dictation won't start after restarting Flow, transcripts never paste into any app, or an unlisted error appears. Include your platform, OS version, device, shortcut, apps tested and steps tried.
On desktop and Android, use Report an issue, not Share feedback. Reports automatically include system details; desktop reports can also attach settings, and transcript reports can include audio.
Warning: If a desktop support submission fails, Flow copies your message to the clipboard, replacing its contents, so you can try again.