# Wispr Flow not working on Mac? The causes, and the fix for each

Canonical page: https://flit.fyi/wispr-flow-not-working

> Wispr Flow not working on your Mac? Check its status page and your connection first, then permissions, the microphone and the shortcut. Every fix.

[Atta 🐬](https://attacomsian.com)

Founder, Flit

October 4, 2026

The short answer

Wispr Flow transcribes on its servers, so the first things to check are its status page and your own connection, including any VPN or firewall. If those are fine, the cause is on your Mac: the Accessibility or Microphone permission, the wrong input device, a shortcut blocked by Secure Keyboard Entry, or a sign-in that timed out. Flit, a local dictation app for Mac, transcribes on the Mac itself, so it has no server to be down and works with Wi-Fi off.

## How to fix Wispr Flow when it stops working

1. Open [Wispr Flow's status page](https://statuspage.incident.io/wispr-flow). If it shows an incident, the fault is on their side and there is nothing to fix on your Mac.
2. Check your own connection. Wispr Flow says its transcription always happens in the cloud, so a dictation started offline fails. Reconnect, then retry it from History in the app.
3. Turn off your VPN or proxy and try again. If that fixes it, add Wispr Flow to the VPN or firewall allowlist. This is the cause behind "Connection lost" and "Couldn’t reach Wispr Flow".
4. Quit Wispr Flow from its menu bar icon and open it again. Closing the window does not quit it. Then install any update it offers.
5. If you spoke and nothing appeared, press ⌃⌘V to paste the last transcript. Then open System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility and turn Wispr Flow on, or off and on again.
6. If it cannot hear you, open System Settings → Privacy & Security → Microphone and turn Wispr Flow on. In Wispr Flow, open Settings → General → Microphone and pick your microphone by name.
7. If Fn + Space or Escape stopped responding, a password manager or Terminal is holding Secure Keyboard Entry. Quit that app, or in Terminal untick Secure Keyboard Entry, then lock and unlock your Mac.
8. If you cannot sign in, start "Sign in via browser" again. The browser step times out after five minutes.

Last resort: in Wispr Flow, Settings → System → Data → "Reset & restart". Its help page says local transcripts may not come back, so copy anything you need first.

Most "not working" reports come down to one of two things: the app cannot reach its servers, or macOS has stopped letting it type or listen. The table matches what you see to the likely cause. Every fix here is from Wispr Flow’s own help pages.

## What you see, and what causes it

| What you see                                                   | Likely cause                                                  | Fix                                                                     |
| -------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| "Taking longer than usual", or a transcript that never arrives | A slow connection, or an incident on the service              | Check the status page and your connection, then retry from History      |
| "Connection lost" or "Couldn’t reach Wispr Flow"               | A VPN, proxy, firewall or DNS filter is blocking it           | Turn it off to test, then allowlist Wispr Flow                          |
| You spoke, and nothing was typed                               | The Accessibility permission was lost, often after an update  | ⌃⌘V to paste the last transcript, then re-enable Accessibility          |
| "No microphone detected" or "We couldn’t hear you"             | The Microphone permission, or the wrong input device          | Privacy & Security → Microphone, then pick the microphone in Wispr Flow |
| Fn + Space or Escape do nothing, but holding Fn works          | Secure Keyboard Entry, held by a password manager or Terminal | Quit that app, then lock and unlock the Mac                             |
| The sign-in page spins or fails                                | The browser sign-in timed out after five minutes              | Start "Sign in via browser" again                                       |
| A long recording is cut off                                    | Desktop recordings are capped at 20 minutes                   | Dictate in shorter stretches                                            |

## Is Wispr Flow down, or is it your Mac?

Start here, because it decides everything after it. Wispr Flow sends your audio to its servers and the text comes back, so when the service is slow, every Mac using it is slow. Its [status page](https://statuspage.incident.io/wispr-flow) lists current incidents and past ones. One on 21 January 2026, for example, slowed the Mac and Windows apps for about two and a half hours.

If the status page is clear, test your own connection with the VPN off. A VPN, a corporate proxy, a firewall or a DNS filter can each block the app while the rest of the web works. Wispr Flow’s fix is to allowlist the app in that tool.

A dictation that failed is not lost. The app keeps the audio and lets you retry it from History for 14 days.

## Why did it stop typing after an update?

Typing into another app needs the macOS [Accessibility permission](https://flit.fyi/glossary/accessibility-permission). macOS sometimes drops it when an app updates, and the app then hears you but cannot put the text anywhere. Turning the permission off and on again in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility fixes it.

Two smaller causes from Wispr Flow’s own list: you closed the window but the app was never fully quit and reopened, or you switched keyboard layout, after which the app needs a restart.

## When the shortcut stops responding

macOS has a protection called Secure Event Input. While an app holds it, usually a password manager with its window open or Terminal with Secure Keyboard Entry ticked, other apps cannot see some key presses. Wispr Flow’s help page describes the result: Fn + Space and Escape stop responding while holding Fn still works.

Quit the app that holds it, or untick Terminal → Secure Keyboard Entry. If the shortcut is still dead, lock and unlock the Mac, or log out and back in.

## What Flit does differently

Flit turns speech into text on your Mac, so the two biggest causes on this page, the connection and the service, do not apply to it.

- Transcription and formatting run on the Mac. There is no status page because there is no service.
- It works with Wi-Fi off, on a plane, or behind any VPN or firewall.
- No account, so there is no sign-in to time out.
- Text lands in about 0.7 seconds, the same whether your connection is fast or gone.
- Flit is free for 7 days with every feature on, then $19 once, with no account and no subscription.

Good to know

- Flit also needs the Microphone permission, and Accessibility to type for you. If macOS drops Accessibility, Flit can still copy the transcript to your clipboard.
- Flit runs on a Mac with Apple silicon and macOS 14 or later. There is no Windows, iPhone or Android app today; [Windows is in the works](https://flit.fyi/windows).
- The voice model is a download of about 0.5 to 2.3 GB that you choose once. After that Flit needs no connection.
- Flit holds no SOC 2, ISO 27001 or HIPAA certificate. Nothing you say reaches a server, so there is no server to certify. If your organization requires a certificate, Flit does not have one.

[Download for Mac](https://flit.fyi/download) macOS 14 or later · Apple silicon

## Questions people ask

### Is Wispr Flow down right now?

Check [its status page](https://statuspage.incident.io/wispr-flow), which lists current and past incidents. If it shows none, test your own connection with any VPN turned off.

### Why is Wispr Flow not typing anything?

Usually the Accessibility permission was lost, often after an update. Press ⌃⌘V to paste the last transcript, then turn Wispr Flow off and on in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility.

### Why does Wispr Flow say it could not hear me?

Either the Microphone permission is off, or the app is listening to the wrong input. Turn it on in Privacy & Security → Microphone, then choose your microphone by name in Wispr Flow’s Settings → General → Microphone.

### Does Wispr Flow work without internet?

No. Its privacy page says transcription always happens in the cloud. [The offline guide](https://flit.fyi/does-wispr-flow-work-offline) covers what happens when you dictate with no connection.

### Is there a dictation app that does not depend on a server?

Yes. Flit is a local dictation app for Mac: the voice model runs on the Mac, so it works offline and has no service that can be slow or down. Flit is free for 7 days with every feature on, then $19 once, with no account and no subscription.

## In the glossary

- [On-device processing](https://flit.fyi/glossary/on-device-processing)
- [Accessibility permission](https://flit.fyi/glossary/accessibility-permission)
- [Secure Keyboard Entry](https://flit.fyi/glossary/secure-keyboard-entry)
- [Latency](https://flit.fyi/glossary/latency)

## More guides

- [Does Wispr Flow work offline?](https://flit.fyi/does-wispr-flow-work-offline)
- [Is Wispr Flow safe?](https://flit.fyi/is-wispr-flow-safe)
- [Uninstall Wispr Flow](https://flit.fyi/uninstall-wispr-flow-mac)
- [Cancel Wispr Flow](https://flit.fyi/cancel-wispr-flow-subscription)
- [Superwhisper pricing](https://flit.fyi/superwhisper-pricing)
- [Wispr Flow pricing](https://flit.fyi/wispr-flow-pricing)
- [Superwhisper not working](https://flit.fyi/superwhisper-not-working)
- [Cancel Superwhisper](https://flit.fyi/cancel-superwhisper-subscription)