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Getting Started

Your first dictation

Hold Fn, speak, release. The transcript pastes where your cursor is.

The 5-second version

  1. Click into any text field.
  2. Hold Fn.
  3. Speak.
  4. Release.

The transcript appears where your cursor was.

Whiskers HUD floating near the bottom of the screen with an animated waveform and a 00:03 timer

The recording HUD

A small floating HUD appears while you hold the hotkey:

StateWhat you seeWhat's happening
WaitingPulsing dotsListening, no audio yet
RecordingWaveform + timerCapturing your voice
ProcessingPulsing dotsTranscribing
No audioOrange warningMic isn't picking anything up

If you release within 300ms, nothing happens — that's by design to prevent accidental taps. Recordings auto-stop at 10 minutes.

Cancel

Press ESC at any time during recording or processing. Audio is discarded; nothing is pasted.

Hands-free mode

For long recordings, don't hold the key — toggle lock mode instead:

  1. Press Shift + Fn to start (release the keys).
  2. Speak.
  3. Press Shift + Fn to stop.

A lock icon appears in the HUD while lock mode is active.

Whiskers HUD in hands-free mode with a lock icon next to the waveform

Accuracy tips

  • Moderate pace, natural speech. No need to over-enunciate.
  • Mic 6–12 inches from your mouth.
  • Reduce background noise where you can.
  • Repeating names or jargon coming out wrong? Add them to Settings → Dictionary.

Where to next