Quit and relaunch Wispr Flow

Available on: Mac, Windows, iOS and Android.

If Flow freezes, stops detecting your microphone or behaves unexpectedly after an update, a full quit and relaunch usually clears it. If the whole device is frozen, restart the device instead.

Before you quit

Warning: Finish and stop any recording first — a force stop or crash can lose unsaved dictation or meeting audio. Save meeting summary edits before quitting; edits still in progress are discarded.

A normal desktop quit saves pending Scratch Pad and meeting work and normally saves in-progress dictation audio; Windows shutdown or sign-out attempts the same saves. Audio isn't stored when you or your organization choose a no-storage policy, and the stricter policy applies.

After waking or unlocking Windows, give Flow 5–10 seconds before quitting: Flow can restore dictation and an unclickable Flow Bar on its own. Mac recovery starts without that added delay.

Mac and Windows

Closing Flow's main window only hides it; Flow keeps running in the menu bar or tray. A Restart Flow action (labelled Restart App on a microphone-access timeout notice) does a normal quit and reopens Flow without confirmation, showing the main window unless an update is in progress.

Mac

Command + Q also quits without confirmation. A normal quit closes Flow's dictation helper; allow a few seconds. Activity Monitor can show two processes named Wispr Flow.

Choose Wispr Flow → Quit Wispr Flow from the menu bar.
Open Activity Monitor (Command + Space → Activity Monitor) if Flow is still running; otherwise skip to step 5.
Search for Wispr.
Select each matching process and stop it:
1. Click the stop button.
2. Choose Force Quit.
Open Wispr Flow from Finder → Applications.

Clicking the Wispr Flow Dock icon brings the main window back, including the first click after Flow started at login or reopened for a scheduled update. Clicks in the first 10 seconds after launch are ignored — wait a moment and click again.

Windows

Quit from the tray menu before ending tasks. The taskbar jump list also offers Quit Wispr.

Right-click Flow's tray icon and choose Quit.
Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager if Flow is still running; otherwise skip to step 5.
Find Wispr Flow and related Wispr processes in Processes, including Wispr Flow Helper.exe.
Right-click each and choose End task.
Open Wispr Flow from the Start menu.

Windows: Flow reopens without a window

Left-click the tray icon or choose Open Wispr Flow from its menu. Launching Flow again while it's running opens the window instead of starting another copy.

Launch app at login is on for new Windows installs, and after onboarding it makes manual launches start in the background. To get a window on every normal launch, turn off Settings → System → App settings → Launch app at login; the change takes effect immediately, but launches during updates or at login can still hide the window. Startup changes can fail without an error when files are locked, security software interferes, or update files are missing.

iOS

Close the app only if it's unresponsive. Force-closing ends an active dictation, which won't continue in the keyboard, Live Activity or widgets after you reopen Flow.

Open the app switcher: swipe up and pause, or double-click Home on devices that have one.
Find Wispr Flow by swiping left or right.
Swipe the Wispr Flow card up and off the screen.
Reopen Flow from the Home Screen.

Before recording again, check History for a saved interrupted or failed dictation. To retry one, tap the failed entry's text or circular retry icon, or choose retry from its swipe action or long-press menu; retrying can still recover audio left unfinished by an abrupt stop.

Android

Open Flow first: it can recover a background service that stopped unexpectedly, though Android may block recovery while the app stays in the background. If a Flow isn't responding card offers Restart Flow, use it to restore Flow's accessibility connection; if Flow can't start that repair, it opens the accessibility permission screen. If notifications are blocked, open Flow to check its recovery card.

Note: Restarting cannot grant a revoked accessibility permission. If you see Flow can't insert text, choose Go to Settings and follow Android accessibility recovery. Display over other apps is also required for dictation to start. If Flow says Wispr Flow is missing a system permission. Open the app to fix this., open the app.

Warning: If you force stop Flow while you're still setting it up, onboarding resumes at the push-to-talk tutorial notice and you'll repeat the practice recording — unless you already tapped Next past that tutorial, in which case you resume on the permissions screen that follows it.

If a full stop is still needed:

Open Android Settings → Apps → Wispr Flow.
Tap Force stop and confirm.
Reopen Flow from your home screen or app drawer.

Closing the app can leave the dictation service running in the background, and on some devices it restarts at unlock while you're signed in with accessibility enabled. Logging out stops it.

Confirm it worked

Focus a text field and dictate a short phrase. If desktop Flow is still stuck, recheck Activity Monitor or Task Manager for the processes listed above and repeat the force-stop steps before reopening.

On desktop, check History for saved interrupted dictations. Recover and Retry work only for entries no more than 14 days old; failed or empty recordings must also be at least 5 seconds long to retry.

If restarting isn't enough

If Flow repeatedly crashes, check for an update — relaunching alone may not resolve an older-version bug. If Flow still won't open, update it, restart your device, then consider reinstalling. On managed computers, an administrator's update schedule can disable checking until Next update check: …; already-downloaded updates remain available to install.

Warning: On Mac and Windows, updating manually during a dictation or meeting ends that recording and may lose unsaved audio. Flow asks for confirmation first; cancelling leaves Flow running.

If settings keep reverting, restore free disk space or ask IT to check whether security software prevents Flow writing to its data folder, then restart Flow. For microphone failures after restarting, follow Troubleshooting mic issues.

Desktop storage or database warning

These warnings offer Restart Flow and Contact us.

Warning: Restarting after Local database corruption deletes the corrupted local database and restarts Flow again. A database that stays read-only can also be deleted as a last resort. Recordings started after a storage error may not be saved.

Storage Full: free space if needed, then use Restart Flow. Earlier dictations remain in History.
Local database corruption: use Restart Flow, with the data-loss warning above.
There was an error: use Restart Flow. History is preserved, except in the persistent read-only case above.

Desktop startup or interface error

Flow is having trouble loading, or Flow is having trouble starting after repeated failures, offers Restart Flow and Contact us. For Flow hit a snag, your data is safe; use Restart Flow or Contact support. On Windows, if it persists, check whether security software blocks Flow and ask IT to allow it.

Warning: Read Reset and restart Flow before a reset or reinstall that may remove data. On Mac and Windows, use Settings → System → Data → Reset app → Reset & restart only if Flow support advises it. The Reset and restart? confirmation warns that local data is deleted; your dictionary, stats and settings stay saved and re-sync after restarting. You can cancel.

Still stuck?

If Flow still crashes or freezes, contact support with your platform, device model, the exact error and the steps you tried.