Configure auto-update policy via MDM (UpdateFrequency)

Last updated: October 30, 2026

Available on: Mac and Windows on MDM-managed devices.

Set UpdateFrequency to control how often Wispr Flow checks for updates across your managed devices, and use AutoUpdate (Windows machine-wide MSI installs) to turn self-updating off and pin a version.

Choose an update schedule

Value

Update-check schedule

auto

Default: Flow checks for updates automatically.

weekly

Every 7 days.

bi-weekly

Every 14 days.

monthly

Every 30 days.

Missing or invalid values fall back to auto; capitalization and surrounding whitespace do not matter.

For the three scheduled options, each successful check starts a new interval — not policy deployment or a calendar date — and checks run normally until the first successful check. If a clock change dates the last successful check in the future, Flow allows checks again instead of waiting for that date.

Configure the policy

Download the policy files from the Admin Portal under Settings → MDM Rollout (Optional) → Start MDM Setup. The guide opens on tabs for macOS and Windows — pick your platform's tab, then the update step. On Windows, use either the registry policy or the PowerShell script.

Mac: configuration profile

The template starts with auto.

Important: The supplied Mac profile disallows user removal.

  1. Download Update policy from the macOS tab.

  2. Unzip wispr-flow-managed-config.mobileconfig.

  3. Set the string UpdateFrequency to auto, weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly.

  4. Deploy the profile through your MDM.

Windows: registry policy

Deploy these machine-wide values through your MDM's registry or policy template, all under the key HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\WisprAI\Flow:

Name

Type

Data

UpdateFrequency

REG_SZ

A value from the schedule table.

AutoUpdate

REG_SZ

Set to 0 to turn self-updating off and keep devices on the version you deploy.

Windows: pin a version at install time

In your MDM's install arguments or MSI properties for Wispr Flow, set AUTOUPDATE=0. Devices stay on the version you deploy until you push a new MSI; the AutoUpdate registry policy locks the same behavior afterwards.

Windows: PowerShell script

The script starts with weekly and creates the registry key if it is missing.

  1. Download Update policy from the Windows tab.

  2. Unzip wispr-flow-set-update-frequency.ps1.

  3. Edit $value to your chosen schedule.

  4. Run the script as a post-install action under SYSTEM.

Rippling: upload the Windows script

Prepare the PowerShell script above, then:

  1. Zip the edited .ps1 as wispr-flow-set-update-frequency.zip.

  2. Upload the ZIP as a post-install script on the Wispr Flow app.

  3. Set a GPO name.

  4. Verify execution in Rippling's script logs.

Verify or change the policy

  1. Restart Wispr Flow after deploying or changing the policy; editing the policy alone does not refresh Flow.

  2. Confirm the values match your choice — on Mac, the delivered value in /Library/Managed Preferences/com.electron.wispr-flow.plist; on Windows, the registry entries or your MDM's script execution logs, which also show write failures.

To restore default behavior, set UpdateFrequency to auto (and AutoUpdate to 1 on Windows) and restart Flow; the managed schedule and next-check display disappear.

If Windows cannot read the policy

Flow uses its last successfully read value, even across restarts, or auto if none exists.

What users can expect

The policy schedules checks, not installation times. Scheduled checks and automatic installations require an unlocked, active or idle user session and an internet connection. All states below appear in every language Flow supports.

  • No user override: When no update is downloaded and the next check is still in the future, the update button in Settings is disabled and shows “Updates managed by your organization.” with the next check date (no time). If you turn updates off, Settings and the Flow menu show a non-clickable “Updates are managed by your organization” state.

  • Downloaded updates: An Update button appears next to the version number at the bottom of Settings; clicking it installs the update and restarts Flow. On machine-wide MSI installs, a staged verified update also offers “Update ready, restart now?” in the Flow menu and “Click to update and restart Flow” in Settings. Replacing a downloaded update with a newer release waits for the next scheduled check.

  • Automatic installation: Flow waits at least 20 minutes after the last dictation and never installs during dictation or a Notetaker recording. After a meeting is stopped, Flow waits up to 60 minutes until that meeting's audio has finished saving and uploading, so an update can arrive a few minutes after a meeting ends. On weekly, bi-weekly or monthly, a focused Flow window or recent typing does not postpone installation, and Flow installs without a restart prompt.

  • After the restart: Scheduled installations relaunch quietly, bringing back only the Flow Bar. When a user applies an update themselves, the main hub window reopens; if an update does not relaunch, the hub appears once on the next launch.

  • Failures: Flow retries automatically. After three failed installations, automatic attempts pause for 24 hours, and the “There was an error updating Flow” notification offers “Restart Flow” and “Contact us”.

  • Machine-wide (MSI) installs: Where you deployed Flow machine-wide with the 64-bit Windows MSI, Flow updates the whole machine rather than per user, also checks at boot, at logon and daily, restarts itself only while the user is idle, and Start at login works normally.

Warning: Restarting during a dictation or meeting, or while a stopped meeting's audio is still saving, can lose unsaved audio. Flow shows a confirmation dialog — “Restart to update?” for a recording or dictation in progress, or “Meeting audio is still being saved” after a meeting is stopped — with “Cancel” (default) or “Restart anyway”.

Still stuck?

  • A Mac asks for an administrator password during updates — deploy Restore app ownership (wispr-flow-restore-app-ownership.zsh.zip) from the macOS tab in the Admin Portal, or follow the admin-password troubleshooting guide. Cancelling that prompt leaves Flow unchanged and shows no update error.

  • Update failures keep recurring, or the policy still does not take effect after a restart — email support@wisprflow.ai with your MDM provider, the configured value, deployment logs, the device, and the steps you tried.