Fix text not pasting after dictation

Mac

Follow these steps in order. The earlier steps resolve the most common cases.

1. Open the Scratchpad. Press Option+S to access your last transcript. Click Copy, then paste where you need it.

2. Use "Paste last transcript" as a backup. Press Ctrl+Cmd+V, or click the Wispr Flow icon in your menu bar and select Paste last transcript. If text appears, auto-paste timing was the issue.

3. Grant Accessibility permission:

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

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

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

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

6. Restart Flow. Press Cmd+Q to fully quit, then reopen. Dictate a short phrase. If text pastes, the issue is resolved.

Windows

Follow these steps in order. The earlier steps resolve the most common cases.

1. Open the Scratchpad. Press Win+Alt+S to access your last transcript. Click Copy, then paste where you need it.

2. Use "Paste last transcript" as a backup. Press Alt+Shift+Z, or click the Wispr Flow icon in your system tray and select Paste last transcript. If text appears, auto-paste timing was the issue.

3. Check app-specific paste shortcuts. Some apps (terminals, some IDEs) use Ctrl+Shift+V instead. For these apps, use "Paste last transcript" or paste manually.

4. Change your dictation shortcut if it conflicts. Open Flow Settings → General, find the Shortcuts section, and click Change. Choose a shortcut that does not conflict with other apps.

5. Update Flow. Open Flow and check for updates. Several paste bugs were fixed in recent versions.

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

7. Restart Flow. Right-click the Flow icon in the system tray and select Quit, then reopen. Dictate a short phrase. If text pastes, the issue is resolved.

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 select 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, allow Flow access to your microphone. 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. Dictate a short phrase. If text appears, the issue is resolved.

Android

On Android, Flow uses the Flow Bubble to deliver transcribed text. If insertion fails, Flow shows a copy button on the Flow Bubble so you can recover your dictation.

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

2. Update Flow to the latest version. Recent updates fix many text insertion issues, including silent failures, focus loss, rapid back-to-back failures, duplicate insertion, and dropped keyboard connections in apps like Gmail, WhatsApp, and Telegram.

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

4. Restart Flow. Force quit Flow and reopen it. Dictate a short phrase. If text appears, the issue is resolved.

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).

Long dictations into Claude Code show a "[Pasted N lines]" collapsed block

Claude Code (running in a terminal) collapses large pastes into a "[Pasted N lines]" block, which could make it look like your dictation failed. This was fixed by detecting Claude Code and automatically splitting long dictations into smaller chunks so your text appears in full. Update Flow to the latest version to get this fix. Short dictations are not affected.

Pasted output is always the letter "v"

This was caused by a dictation shortcut conflicting with the paste shortcut (Ctrl+V). To fix:

1. Open Flow Settings → General.

2. Find the Shortcuts section and click Change.

3. Choose a dictation shortcut that does not conflict with paste shortcuts (e.g., Ctrl+Space).

4. Restart Flow.

Bugs fixed in recent updates

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

• Dictated text silently fails to appear in some Android apps (fixed in 1.8.8): Flow now checks the connection to the text field before inserting text. If the connection has gone stale, Flow automatically restores focus and retries insertion.

• Flow pastes old clipboard contents instead of dictated text (Windows): Flow now detects when stale clipboard data was inserted and recovers automatically — either by opening the Scratchpad with your correct text or showing a "Paste Failed" notification.

• 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 OxygenOS/OnePlus devices by overriding overlay measurement.

• Dictated text inserted twice (Android): Text insertion is now retried up to five times if needed, but is only applied 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.

• Transcript lost when ending dictation from the Dynamic Island (iOS): Transcripts are now correctly saved to Flow Notes when you end a session this way.

• Text doesn't insert in Gmail on Samsung or similar apps (Android, fixed in 1.5.0): Fixed insertion in apps that use Android's built-in browser engine for text fields.

• 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, fixed in 1.6.2): Flow now detects connection loss earlier and recovers correctly.

• Text silently fails in apps where standard insertion doesn't work (Android): Flow now falls back to clipboard-based insertion if the standard method fails repeatedly.

• 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: Flow now detects newer Android 16 interface behaviors and recovers faster.

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

• Improved focus restoration (Windows, fixed in 1.5.1): Dictated text now inserts correctly when focus is briefly transferred during dictation.

• Text inserted multiple times in Google Docs, Gmail, or other slower apps (Android, fixed in 1.5.2): 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 WhatsApp, Telegram, or similar apps after switching chats (Android): Flow now detects when these apps recycle their message input and re-establishes the connection.

• Text doesn't insert or inserts slowly in WhatsApp, Telegram, or other slower apps (Android, fixed in 1.3.3): Flow now waits longer before 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): UI activity during dictation no longer incorrectly clears focus.

• 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): Flow now switches to clipboard paste faster when an app closes its text field mid-dictation.

• 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, open the Scratchpad with Option+S (Mac) or Win+Alt+S (Windows) and click Copy, or paste the last transcript with Ctrl+Cmd+V (Mac) or Alt+Shift+Z (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 is always available in the Hub.

What is the Scratchpad?

The Scratchpad is a small window Flow opens when it can't paste your text automatically. It shows your transcribed or polished text, lets you make any edits, and has a Copy button so you can paste it wherever you need. For Polish results, it also shows a before/after comparison. To always open the Scratchpad for Polish instead of auto-pasting, go to Flow Settings → Polish and turn off Auto paste after polish.

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

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

Why did a word change after I finished typing it on iOS?

The Flow keyboard on iOS includes autocorrect. To turn it off, open Flow Settings and disable Keyboard Autocorrect.