Hotkeys

Whiskers uses global shortcuts so you can dictate from any app without switching focus.

Panel layout

Settings → Hotkeys is titled "Keyboard Shortcuts" with the subtitle "Configure how you activate voice transcription." Just below the title: "Press ESC to cancel anytime."

Three sections, each in its own card with a colored icon:

• 🎤 Push-to-Talk Recording (red) — "Press and hold to record."
• 🔁 Toggle Lock (blue) — "Press once to start, press again to stop."
• ✨ Retroactive AI Enhancement (amber) — "Use your voice to change the current text selection."

Screenshot

Settings → Hotkeys panel with three colored shortcut section cards stacked vertically, each showing an icon, title, current binding, and Reset button

Defaults

Recording a new shortcut

Each section has a key recorder:

1. Click the shortcut display.
2. The field switches to "Click to record new shortcut" mode.
3. Press the key combination you want.
4. The new binding is captured. A toast confirms: "Shortcut updated."

The X next to the current shortcut clears it. Empty = action disabled.

Reset

Each section has its own Reset button.

• Active = the shortcut differs from the default.
• Disabled = already at default.

Clicking it shows a toast: "Shortcut reset."

Conflict detection

If you try to bind two Whiskers shortcuts to the same key combination, you'll see:

• An inline warning under the offending field: ⚠️ Conflicts with [other action].
• A toast on attempt: "Shortcut already in use."

The recorder won't accept a conflicting binding. Either pick a different key, or change the conflicting action first.

Whiskers can't detect conflicts with other apps — if your shortcut is also bound to a screenshot tool or Mission Control, both will fire. Stick to keys that aren't claimed elsewhere.

Picking good shortcuts

The defaults work well because Fn is otherwise idle on most Macs.

Push-to-talk: double-tap behavior

When push-to-talk is bound to a single key (the default, Fn), a hint appears under the recorder: "Double-tap for hands-free mode. Press again to finalize."

Translation: with single-key push-to-talk, double-tapping the same key starts a hands-free lock-mode recording, regardless of what Shift + Fn is bound to. Press again to stop.

This hint disappears if you change push-to-talk to a multi-key combination.

Retroactive AI Enhancement: conditions

This shortcut only arms during an active recording session, and only if:

• AI Enhancement is enabled in Settings → AI Enhancement.
• Your selected AI provider is currently usable (key valid, network up).
• There's non-empty plain text selected in the frontmost text field.

A small note under the recorder reminds you: "Requires AI Enhancement to be enabled." A Learn more link opens a small popover with the 3-step workflow:

1. Use it during a recording.
2. Describe the change.
3. Apply the rewrite.

If the conditions aren't met, the shortcut quietly does nothing — the recording continues as normal dictation. For the full conceptual overview, see Features → AI Enhancement → Retroactive enhancement.

The ESC rule

ESC always cancels — hard-coded, can't be remapped or disabled. Works during waiting, recording, and processing. You always need a guaranteed escape hatch.

Double-tap prevention

There's a 300ms cooldown between recordings. Press, release, immediately press again — the second press is ignored. Prevents accidental double-recordings from a single intent.

When hotkeys stop working

In order:

1. Accessibility permission. System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility — confirm Whiskers is enabled. Toggle off and on, then restart Whiskers.
2. Another app owns the shortcut. Try a different binding to isolate.
3. OS state. Quit and relaunch Whiskers. macOS occasionally loses track of registered hotkeys after sleep/wake or updates.

More in Troubleshooting → Hotkey issues.