Fix text not pasting after dictation

Mac

Try these in order — earlier steps resolve the most common cases.

1. Paste your last transcript. Press Ctrl+Cmd+V, or click the Wispr Flow mic icon in your menu bar (near the clock) and select Paste last transcript. The application menu at the top of the screen also has Copy last transcript, which puts the text on your clipboard without pasting.

2. Grant Accessibility permission:

   1. Open System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility.

   2. Find Wispr Flow and toggle it on. If it's already on, toggle it off and back on.

3. Test in Notes. Dictate a short phrase. If text appears in Notes but not your target app, that app is blocking paste — see the note below.

4. Restart the target app. Quit it with Cmd+Q, reopen it, click inside a text field, and dictate again.

5. Restart Flow. Press Cmd+Q to fully quit, then reopen and dictate a short phrase. If text pastes, you're done.

Windows

Try these in order — earlier steps resolve the most common cases.

1. Paste your last transcript. Press Shift+Alt+Z, or open the system tray menu and select Paste last transcript.

2. Check app-specific paste shortcuts. Some terminals and IDEs use Ctrl+Shift+V instead of Ctrl+V. In those apps, use "Paste last transcript" or paste manually.

3. Change your dictation shortcut if it conflicts with another app. Open Flow Settings → General, find the Shortcuts section, click Change, and choose a non-conflicting shortcut.

4. Update Flow. Open Flow and check for updates — several paste bugs were fixed in recent versions.

5. Test in Notepad. Dictate a short phrase. If text appears there but not in your target app, that app may block clipboard access.

6. Restart Flow. Right-click the Flow icon in the system tray and select Quit, then reopen and dictate a short phrase. If text pastes, you're done.

iOS

On iOS, Flow works as a keyboard. Text appears directly in the text field without using the clipboard.

1. Select the Flow Keyboard. Tap the globe icon and choose Wispr Flow. The Flow Keyboard must be active when you dictate.

2. Grant Full Access. Open Settings → General → Keyboard → Keyboards → Wispr Flow and enable Allow Full Access. Dictate again — if text appears, permissions were the issue.

3. Grant Microphone access if prompted. Both Full Access and Microphone permissions are required.

4. Keep the Flow Keyboard visible until your text appears. If the keyboard is dismissed while Flow is still processing, the transcript may be lost.

5. Test in Notes. Some apps (banking, corporate, password managers) block third-party keyboards. If Flow doesn't work in an app, dictate into Notes first, then copy and paste into your target app.

6. Restart the app and Flow. Force quit both, then reopen and dictate a short phrase. If text appears, you're done.

Android

On Android, Flow uses the Flow Bubble to deliver transcribed text. Flow inserts text directly in most chat, social, and productivity apps — including WhatsApp, Telegram, Messenger, Instagram, Teams, Signal, Slack, Discord, Snapchat, Google Messages, Gmail, LINE, WeChat, KakaoTalk, Notion, X/Twitter, LinkedIn, TikTok, Reddit, Claude, and ChatGPT — as well as the Google search box. If insertion can't be verified, the Flow Bubble shows a copy button so you can recover your dictation.

1. Tap the copy button on the Flow Bubble. If insertion failed, tap copy to grab your text, then paste manually wherever you need it.

2. Update Flow to the latest version. Recent updates significantly improve direct text insertion in chat and social apps and add Flow Bubble support in more locations, including notification reply boxes and browser address bars.

3. Test in a notes app. Some apps hide the Flow Bubble for security reasons (such as banking and financial apps). If the Flow Bubble doesn't appear, dictate into a notes app, then copy and paste.

4. Re-grant overlay or accessibility permissions if prompted. Flow reconnects automatically after a moment — you may need to switch back to your app manually.

5. Restart Flow. Force quit Flow and reopen it, then dictate a short phrase. If text appears, you're done.

Remote desktops (Citrix, RDP, VMware Horizon)

Flow runs on your local computer and pastes using your local clipboard. This creates challenges with Citrix Workspace, Microsoft Remote Desktop (RDP), VMware Horizon, and other VDI solutions.

1. Dictate with Flow on your local machine, outside the remote session.

2. Wait for Flow to transcribe and copy text to your local clipboard.

3. Paste manually inside the remote session (Ctrl+V or Cmd+V).

Recovery popup showed garbled text or was empty when dictating with no text field focused (Mac, Windows)

When dictating in apps with no text field focused, the popup that appears to let you recover your text could show garbled characters instead of your actual words, and that same garbled text would be copied to the clipboard. If your dictation contained only formatting commands with no other text, an empty popup would appear instead of a clear notification. Flow now shows only your clean dictated text in the popup and on the clipboard. If nothing but formatting commands remain after processing, you'll see the standard "paste failed" notification instead of an empty popup. Update Flow to the latest version to get this fix.

Dictated text fell back to clipboard in chat and social apps instead of inserting directly (Android)

Flow would frequently fall back to clipboard paste in popular chat and social apps — even when direct insertion would have worked — requiring a manual paste. Flow now inserts text directly in these apps much more reliably. The fix covers WhatsApp, WhatsApp Business, Telegram, Telegram X, Messenger, Messenger Lite, Instagram, Signal, Slack, Discord, Microsoft Teams, Snapchat, Google Messages, Samsung Messages, Gmail, LINE, WeChat, KakaoTalk, Viber, Notion, LinkedIn, TikTok, X/Twitter, Reddit, Claude, ChatGPT, and more. Update Flow to the latest version to get this fix.

Dictating into the Chrome search box disrupted the search UI or sent text to clipboard (Android)

When dictating into the Google search box or the Chrome New Tab Page search field, text could interfere with the search suggestions UI or fall back to clipboard instead of inserting directly. Flow now inserts dictated text correctly into these Chrome search fields. Update Flow to the latest version to get this fix.

Old clipboard contents pasted instead of dictated text after a failed paste (Mac, Windows)

When a dictation couldn't paste directly into the active text field and was rerouted to the clipboard, you might have seen your previous clipboard contents appear instead of your dictated text. Flow now reliably writes your transcription to the clipboard in this situation, so pressing Cmd+V (Mac) or Ctrl+V (Windows) after a failed dictation gives you your dictated text. Update Flow to the latest version to get this fix.

Recovery notification played a sound and the Copy button got stuck (Mac, Windows)

The recovery notification (shown when you dictate without a focused text field) no longer plays a sound. It displays your transcript with a Copy button so you can recover the text. The Copy button also now correctly flips to "Copied!" when used via the keyboard shortcut, and the notification dismisses automatically shortly after. Update Flow to the latest version to get these changes.

Flow Bubble didn't appear in notification reply boxes or browser address bars (Android)

The Flow Bubble was hidden when dictating in notification inline-reply boxes (such as WhatsApp) and in browser address bars. The Flow Bubble now appears correctly in these locations. Update Flow to the latest version to get this fix.

Error bubble stayed on screen after a failed paste (Android)

The error bubble would stay on screen indefinitely after a failed paste or transcription. It now dismisses automatically after a short period of inactivity. You can also tap the Wispr icon on the bubble to dismiss it immediately — for failed-paste errors this preserves your clipboard text, and for failed-transcription errors you can start a new dictation directly. Update Flow to the latest version to get this fix.

Accessibility connection took too long to recover after re-granting permission (Android)

After granting accessibility permission, Flow now reconnects quickly instead of leaving the Flow Bubble in a stuck state, so dictation returns to working sooner. Update Flow to the latest version to get this fix.

Bugs fixed in recent updates

The following issues were fixed in recent versions. Update Flow to resolve them:

• Dictated text silently fails in some Android apps: Text now appears reliably even after the text field has been idle.

• Long dictations on Android fall back to clipboard paste: Longer passages are now inserted normally without triggering a false failure.

• Dictation bubble clipped or shrunk on certain OEM devices (Android): Fixed bubble sizing on OnePlus devices.

• Dictated text inserted twice (Android): Dictated text is now inserted exactly once.

• A stray period appears when saying only "press enter" (Mac, Windows): No extra text is pasted when "press enter" is the entire dictation.

• Text silently fails after a dropped keyboard connection (Android): Flow now detects this and automatically retries inserting your text.

• Text doesn't insert in Gmail on Samsung or similar apps (Android): Text insertion now works in these apps.

• Copy button briefly flashes after successful dictation (Android): The copy button now only appears when text insertion actually fails.

• Text fails to insert after switching between text fields or apps (Android): Text now inserts correctly after switching.

• Text silently fails in apps where standard insertion doesn't work (Android): If text can't be inserted directly, Flow now copies it to the clipboard so you can paste it.

• Text fails or duplicates when server processing takes a moment (Android): Both issues are now resolved.

• Text fails or inserts in the wrong place on Android 16: Text now inserts correctly and in the right place on Android 16.

• Dictation interrupted when a Flow update installs (Mac, Windows): Flow now waits until your dictation session is finished before applying updates.

• Text inserted multiple times in Google Docs, Gmail, or other slower apps (Android): Text is now committed exactly once per dictation.

• Clipboard doesn't restore to previous contents after dictating (Mac): Your previous clipboard contents are now reliably restored.

• Text silently fails in chat apps after switching chats (Android): Text now inserts reliably after switching chats.

• Text doesn't insert or inserts slowly in chat apps (Android): Text now inserts directly in these apps instead of falling back to clipboard paste.

• Text doesn't appear after rapid back-to-back dictations (Android): Fixed a timing conflict between consecutive dictations.

• Tapping Paste or Retry on the Flow Bubble starts a new recording instead (Android): Buttons in the error state now perform the intended action.

• Dictation falls back to clipboard paste instead of inserting directly (Android, Mac): Dictation now inserts directly.

• Dictated text is lowercased during onboarding (Windows): Capitalization is now preserved during onboarding.

• Text inserts into the wrong field when dictating multiple times in a row: Back-to-back dictations now target the correct field in apps with multiple text fields.

• Dictation status indicator disappears behind other windows (Windows): The status indicator now stays on top.

• Text doesn't appear in YouTube or similar apps (Android): If an app closes its text field mid-dictation, your text is now copied to the clipboard so you can paste it.

• Hotkeys stopped working after dictating (Windows): Fixed in recent versions.

• Flow crashed while pasting (Windows): Fixed in recent versions.

• Flow Bubble doesn't appear when tapping a text field (Android): Fixed in recent versions.

Why does Flow paste into the wrong app?

Flow pastes text into whichever app is focused when transcription finishes. Click inside your target text field before dictating, and avoid switching windows until text appears.

Can I recover text if paste fails?

Yes. On Mac and Windows, Flow leaves your dictated text on the clipboard after a failed paste — press Cmd+V or Ctrl+V to paste it manually. You can also paste the last transcript with Ctrl+Cmd+V (Mac) or Shift+Alt+Z (Windows), or copy the last transcript with Ctrl+Cmd+C (Mac) or Shift+Alt+X (Windows). On Android, tap the copy button on the Flow Bubble. On iOS, transcripts from the Action Button are saved to Flow Notes. Your full transcript history lives in the Hub.

What is the Scratchpad?

The Scratchpad is a small floating window with a rich text editor. Open it with Option+S (Mac) or Win+Alt+S (Windows). It supports up to 5 tabs, keeps version history, and includes a Copy button plus Sparkles (Transforms) and Formatting side panels. The Scratchpad does not automatically show your last transcript — use the paste/copy shortcuts or the menu bar / system tray menu for that.

Why does Flow work in Notes but not my other app?

Some apps block clipboard access or third-party keyboard input — including remote desktops, virtual desktops, banking apps, corporate apps, and password managers. As a workaround, dictate into Notes and manually paste into the target app.