Auto-mute music while dictating on macOS: how audio detection works

If music goes quiet during dictation or stays silent afterward, check auto-mute and your output device. Mute all audio while dictating controls whether Flow silences other audio while you speak.

How it works in Flow

With mute on and pause off, Flow mutes only when playback is detected at dictation start and restores audio when you stop. Audio started moments before dictation may go undetected. Windows also skips muting without a default playback device.

Muting takes about 300 ms, so you may briefly hear audio after dictation starts. On Windows, stopping within that window cancels the mute.

Audio you muted before dictating stays muted afterward. Quitting Flow normally restores audio it muted and resumes media it paused; this is not guaranteed after a force quit.

Audio detection on Mac

On macOS 14.2 and later, Flow's own dictation sounds are excluded from detection; on macOS 14.1 and earlier they can count as playback. Some music and podcast players keep an audio stream open while paused, so Flow counts them as playing even when nothing is audible.

If playback cannot be identified, Flow temporarily keeps its previous reading; repeated unsuccessful checks eventually count as no playback. On macOS 14.1 and earlier, a failed check counts as no playback immediately.

• Outputs without working mute controls: Flow lowers volume to 0 and restores the exact previous level, including on some USB interfaces and aggregate devices. It skips this if it cannot read or change the volume, another device still needs its volume restored, or the output is already silent.

• Switching outputs: If you change outputs mid-dictation, Flow restores the device it muted, not the new one.

Audio detection on Windows

Flow checks your default playback device for audible sound about every two seconds. A paused player holding an audio stream open does not count as playing.

Apps without adjustable volume or a saved starting volume—including apps that start playing afterward—are skipped during restoration. A failure for one app does not prevent restoring the others.

Turn auto-mute on or off

1. Open Settings from the Wispr Flow sidebar (Mac shortcut: ⌘,).

2. Go to System → Sound.

3. Turn on Mute all audio while dictating.

4. Play audio in another app.

5. Start a dictation; the audio should go quiet.

6. Stop dictating; the audio should return.

Turn the switch off to disable auto-mute. With pause also off, Flow does not silence playback.

Mute and pause settings apply per device, not across machines. If Flow cannot read a saved setting, it uses that setting's default.

If audio stays muted

On Mac, a Bluetooth headset changing audio modes can delay restoration for up to about 5.5 seconds after dictation stops. Flow then restores audio even if the headset has not settled, and skips the dictation stop sound.

A headset's microphone opening can mute output even with both settings off. On Mac, Flow can clear that mute at dictation start or stop only when it identifies the mode change as the cause and confirms audio was initially unmuted. This automatic headset recovery is unavailable on Windows.

1. Reconnect your output device if it disconnected during dictation.

2. Turn off Mute all audio while dictating in Settings → System → Sound.

3. Turn on the mute switch again.

4. Start another dictation.

5. Stop dictating to retry audio restoration.

6. Play audio to check whether sound returned.

7. Adjust the output volume manually if audio remains silent, then test playback again.

After a Bluetooth audio-mode change on Mac, Flow may suggest a wired microphone. Its Select microphone action opens the microphone dialog. This tip appears at most three times total and once per week.

FAQs

Still need help?

If audio stays muted after these steps or remains audible with mute on and pause off, select Talk to support (Command+/) from Flow's menu-bar or tray-icon menu. This opens Support in Flow.

Include your platform, output device, connection type, and the steps you tried.