FAQ & Troubleshooting
Dictation & injection
Section titled “Dictation & injection”I stopped recording, but no text appeared at my cursor
Section titled “I stopped recording, but no text appeared at my cursor”Injection can fail in apps that block simulated pasting. When that happens, the text is placed in your clipboard and VocalFlow shows a notice — just press ⌘V to paste it manually. Nothing is lost.
Also check that your cursor was actually in a text field when the dictation finished: the text is injected wherever the cursor is at that moment.
The hotkey does not respond
Section titled “The hotkey does not respond”- Check the menu bar icon. If it shows a warning state, a required permission is missing — the first menu item takes you straight to the fix. Most often the Accessibility permission was revoked (this can happen after an app update).
- If permissions look fine, toggle Accessibility for VocalFlow off and on in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility, then restart the app.
- VocalFlow also monitors its own hotkey listener and automatically rebuilds it if macOS disables it — a brief wait can resolve a transient failure by itself.
The text that appeared is the raw transcript, not the refined version
Section titled “The text that appeared is the raw transcript, not the refined version”This is the designed fallback: if refinement takes longer than the timeout (default 15 s), or the server errors or the connection drops, VocalFlow injects the accumulated raw live transcript so you never wait indefinitely. The entry is marked “raw transcript” in the history — open it later to re-transcribe when the network is back.
I pressed the hotkey by accident — how do I get rid of the recording?
Section titled “I pressed the hotkey by accident — how do I get rid of the recording?”Press ESC, then ESC again to confirm. The recording is canceled and nothing is injected.
My first dictation after launching the app was slow to start
Section titled “My first dictation after launching the app was slow to start”The first session includes engine warm-up. Subsequent dictations start with essentially no delay.
Permissions
Section titled “Permissions”The menu bar icon shows a warning state
Section titled “The menu bar icon shows a warning state”A required permission (Microphone or Accessibility) is missing. Click the menu bar icon — the first menu item is “Insufficient permissions — open Settings…” and takes you to the permissions section, with one-click shortcuts to the right System Settings pane.
I granted a permission but it still does not work
Section titled “I granted a permission but it still does not work”For Accessibility and Screen Recording, macOS sometimes applies the permission only after the app restarts. Quit VocalFlow (menu bar icon → Quit) and open it again.
Installation & account
Section titled “Installation & account”macOS says the app cannot be opened
Section titled “macOS says the app cannot be opened”See Installation → Gatekeeper: System Settings → Privacy & Security → Open Anyway.
Why is VocalFlow not on the Mac App Store?
Section titled “Why is VocalFlow not on the Mac App Store?”Global hotkey listening and cursor text injection are incompatible with the App Store sandbox. See Meet VocalFlow.
What happens when my credits run out?
Section titled “What happens when my credits run out?”You get a low-balance warning during recording before it happens. When credits are exhausted, transcription requests are declined until the next period grant or a top-up — see Credits & Subscription. Recordings themselves are still captured and stored locally, so you can re-transcribe them later.
Does VocalFlow work offline?
Section titled “Does VocalFlow work offline?”Transcription requires the network. If the connection drops mid-recording, capture continues and VocalFlow injects the raw transcript it already received; the audio is saved locally for later re-transcription. Starting a new transcription while fully offline is not possible.
Where are my recordings and transcripts stored?
Section titled “Where are my recordings and transcripts stored?”Locally, on your Mac, in a SQLite database in your user library. The server does not keep your transcript texts. See Privacy & Data.
Will I lose data when updating the app?
Section titled “Will I lose data when updating the app?”No. Recordings, history, settings, and login state live outside the app bundle and survive updates — see Installation → Updating.