Connect and set up external audio devices

Last updated: September 13, 2026

Available on: Mac, Windows, iOS, Android

Using a headset, USB microphone, or Bluetooth earbuds? Connect your device and pick the right microphone in Wispr Flow. Most setups take under a minute.

Quick checks

  • Is your device connected? Confirm it appears in your system's audio settings before opening Flow.

  • Is your mic muted? Check for a hardware mute switch on your headset, mic, or keyboard.

  • Does your mic work in other apps? Record a short clip in Voice Memos (Mac/iOS) or Sound Recorder (Windows). If it's silent there, the issue is system-level — not Flow.

How to connect and select your microphone

Note: Flow shortens device names, so a name in Flow may not match your OS label — "External microphone (Built-in)" shows as "Headphones (wired)".

Mac

  1. Connect your device: plug in a wired headset or microphone, or pair Bluetooth headphones via Apple menu → System Settings → Bluetooth.

  2. Open the microphone picker: right-click the Flow Bar, or open Settings → General → Microphone → Change.

  3. Choose your input mode:

    1. Auto-detect: follows your Mac's default input, naming the active mic in parentheses (e.g., "Auto-detect (MacBook Pro)").

    2. Built-in mic (recommended): always uses your Mac's built-in microphone, so external devices can't override your selection.

    3. Any other connected microphone: select it by name.

    4. Virtual or loopback devices (such as BlackHole, Krisp, or ZoomAudioDevice): tap Show other devices (n) at the bottom of the picker, then select the device by name.

  4. Verify it's working: the mic submenu shows "Mic in use:" below your selection. Dictate a short phrase — if text appears correctly, you're done.

Note: Edit Ranking mode in the picker lets you reorder preferred devices and remove offline ones. Starting dictation with the built-in mic selected and the lid closed (clamshell mode) offers a Select microphone button.

Warning: AirPods, marked with a ⚠ in the picker, can be slow to start and cause more transcription errors — switch to another microphone (built-in recommended). A reminder with Switch microphone and Don't show again reappears periodically while you use them; Don't show again dismisses it permanently.

Windows

  1. Connect your device: plug in a wired headset or microphone, or pair Bluetooth headphones via Start → Settings → Bluetooth & devices.

  2. Set your Windows default input: go to Start → Settings → System → Sound and select your microphone under Input.

  3. Select your microphone in Flow: right-click the Flow Bar or tray icon and choose Auto-detect to follow the Windows default, or open Settings → General → Microphone → Change to pick a specific mic. For a virtual or loopback device (such as NVIDIA Broadcast or Krisp), tap Show other devices (n) at the bottom of the picker.

  4. Verify it's working: dictate a short phrase — if text appears correctly, you're done.

iOS

  1. Pair your Bluetooth device (optional) in iOS Settings → Bluetooth.

  2. Open Flow Settings → Audio, which holds Interaction Sounds and Use Built-In Mic. Use Built-In Mic is on by default; toggle it off to use a connected Bluetooth microphone.

  3. Verify it's working: dictate a short phrase — if text appears correctly, you're done.

Tip: For best accuracy, keep Use Built-In Mic on even when wearing Bluetooth headphones — you'll still hear audio through them. Set Disable Flow after to Never, 60, 15, or 5 minutes (default), or end immediately; within that window Flow resumes recording automatically after an interruption.

Android

  1. Connect your device: use the built-in microphone, plug in a wired headset, or pair Bluetooth headphones via Settings → Connected devices → Bluetooth. Flow has no in-app picker on Android and uses whatever input Android routes to it, so change your input device in Android's system settings.

  2. Verify it's working: open Flow and dictate a short phrase — if text appears correctly, you're done.

Note: On Mac and Windows, plugging in a new input device shows a "New microphone detected" prompt with Switch and Don't switch, followed by a "Mic switched" confirmation. Mic changes take effect at the start of your next dictation — no restart needed.

Microphone Quiz

Open the Microphone Quiz from the Hub home-page banner on Mac or Windows to test your mic. During the whisper demo it may temporarily switch your active mic to your computer's built-in mic, restoring your original device when you continue past the "Try whispering" step or close the quiz; your saved microphone preference never changes. Results can be emailed, and the banner keeps appearing until you finish the quiz on the recommendation screen.

  • Good for whispering: clip-on lav mics, podcast mics, headsets with a boom mic, and gooseneck mics.

  • Poor for whispering: wired headphones, Bluetooth earbuds, and plain headsets.

FAQs

How do I know which microphone Flow is using?

  • Mac: right-click the Flow Bar — the mic submenu shows "Mic in use:" below your selection.

  • Windows: right-click the Flow Bar to see your current selection.

  • iOS: check the Use Built-In Mic toggle in Settings → Audio.

  • Android: Flow uses Android's default input, which follows any connected headset or Bluetooth device.

What happens if my selected microphone is disconnected?

If it's unavailable when dictation starts, Flow shows a Selected microphone is unavailable notification with a Choose Microphone action that opens the picker.

If it disconnects mid-session, a Microphone disconnected notification offers Insert, which re-runs the last transcription so the text can be pasted — it doesn't paste at the cursor directly.

A device you pick from the picker ranks above other currently-connected devices, not necessarily at the top of the whole list, so an offline device can still outrank it when it returns.

Why does my microphone ranking list show the same device twice?

This can happen after a Bluetooth or external mic reconnects (for example, AirPods or a monitor's built-in mic). Flow collapses duplicate entries the next time you open the hub or settings, keeping the connected device at its highest-ranked position.

Two genuinely different microphones that share the same name are never merged, and generically-named USB mics whose shortened name is blank may legitimately remain separate.

Can I use a virtual or loopback audio device (e.g., BlackHole, Krisp, NVIDIA Broadcast) as my mic?

Yes. Open the microphone picker from the Flow Bar or Settings → General → Microphone → Change, then tap Show other devices (n) and select one. See Limitations and notes for how virtual devices behave with Auto-detect, ranking, and disconnects.

Why do the audio level bars show movement during silence?

  • Desktop (Mac and Windows): the meter uses one algorithm for all microphones, so bars settle near zero in quiet and rise with speech; very sensitive or gain-controlled mics may keep a slightly higher baseline.

  • iOS: a single meter that updates only while the Flow keyboard is active and drops to empty on true silence.

Another app on Windows is holding my mic. What do I do?

Right-click your mic in the Sound control panel Recording tab, then go to Properties → Advanced and uncheck Allow applications to take exclusive control of this device.

Flow shows the diagnostic notification only if the same failure repeats shortly after; a one-off glitch is retried silently. It also notifies you if mic access hangs.

What microphone errors might I see on Mac and Windows?

  • Microphone Permission Required: mic permission is revoked; a Grant Permission action appears. On Windows this reads Microphone access is disabled, with an Open Settings button that opens Windows privacy settings.

  • No microphone detected: Refresh devices rescans for connected mics; Open Sound Settings opens your system's sound input settings.

  • Microphone in use by another app (Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Slack, Discord, FaceTime, Webex, Loom, Spotify, or Skype): close the conflicting app, using the Open Sound Settings and Restart Flow options. On macOS 14.2 and later, Flow can name any app holding the mic; on earlier macOS it names only apps from this list. Browser-based tools (like Google Meet in a tab) are never named.

  • Selected microphone unavailable: Choose a different microphone opens the picker.

  • Mic not readable and generic mic access errors: offer a Troubleshoot action, not a settings link.

  • No audio detected: offers Select microphone and Troubleshoot actions.

  • Mic access hangs: offers only a Restart action.

  • Other errors: a Restart Flow button appears.

Error notifications don't repeat immediately for transient issues. The error modal can't be dismissed with Escape or an outside click; it clears as soon as your mic becomes available.

What microphone errors appear on iOS?

  • No audio detected: an audio-failure screen with Dismiss and Retry buttons.

  • Flow keyboard errors: cause-specific modals, each with Retry — "Audio engine failed to start, Please try again!", "Please check your network connection and try again", "Please check if the microphone is being used by another application", "Something went wrong with Transcription, Please try again!", or "Unknown error. Please try again" for processing and other errors.

  • Microphone access denied: "To use Flow, turn on Microphone in Settings" with a Go to Settings button. Tapping it also resets Flow's tracked permission state, so the prompt won't reappear if you grant permission and go straight back to the keyboard.

  • Full Access not enabled: a prompt with a Finish setup button. Missing Full Access can look like a microphone failure — check it first if dictation doesn't start.

  • Auto Switch Back Disabled: a keyboard message that can appear when the host app doesn't support Flow's switch-back link and the switch-back screen is off — this is not a microphone failure.

Limitations and notes

  • In-app microphone selection is available on Mac and Windows only. iOS offers only the Use Built-In Mic toggle, and Android relies on the OS's default audio routing, with no in-app picker.

  • Virtual and loopback devices (such as BlackHole, Krisp, NVIDIA Broadcast, and ZoomAudioDevice) can be selected manually via Show other devices, but are never chosen automatically: they are excluded from Auto-detect and the ranking editor, and won't trigger the "new microphone detected — switch?" prompt, including when an app like Zoom or Teams launches. If a selected virtual device disconnects, Flow falls back to the microphone at the top of your ranked preference list.

  • Collapsing the Show other devices expander while a virtual device is selected reverts your mic selection to Auto-detect.

  • If two microphones share a generic name and one is unplugged, that device's rank position may be re-added at the bottom of the list when it reconnects.

  • On iOS, the Flow keyboard requires Full Access in addition to microphone permission before dictation can capture audio.

  • On iOS, Bluetooth mic input is excluded when Use Built-In Mic is on — Bluetooth headphones still play audio, but the iPhone's built-in mic captures.

  • On iOS, Bluetooth connect/disconnect events, phone calls, and Siri activations stop an active dictation session when the interruption begins.

  • On Mac, clamshell-mode detection for the built-in mic requires macOS 12 or later.

  • On macOS before 14.2, Flow can identify only well-known conferencing apps using your mic (Zoom, Teams, Slack, Discord, FaceTime, Webex, Loom, Spotify, Skype); identifying any app requires macOS 14.2 or later.

  • Bluetooth-specific handling, including the AirPods warning, is less reliable on Windows than on Mac, because Windows device labels rarely identify a device as Bluetooth.

Still stuck?

Reach out to our support team if:

  • Your microphone works in other apps but Flow can't detect it.

  • Audio is recorded but transcription fails or produces garbled text.

  • You see an error message not covered in this guide.

Include your platform and OS version, microphone model (wired, Bluetooth, USB, or virtual), and what you've already tried. Most mic issues are resolved in one reply.