When nothing arrives

You press the key, you speak, you let go, and nothing happens. Four reasons are possible. Work through them in this order, it is sorted by how often each one is the answer.

1. Stenowise is not allowed to use the microphone

By far the most common case, especially shortly after installing.

Open the Windows settings, go to Privacy and security, then Microphone. Two switches have to be on there: microphone access for apps at all and the one for desktop apps further down. The second one gets missed a lot.

If you dictate afterwards and the level meter in the small window moves, that was it.

2. The wrong microphone is selected

If several microphones are attached to the machine, the built-in one and a headset for instance, Stenowise does not necessarily take the one you mean.

You pick it in the settings, under Audio. Then speak into it once and watch the level meter instead of guessing.

A common case with laptops: the headset is connected, but the lid is shut and the sound keeps running over the built-in microphone. You hear yourself just fine and Stenowise hears the room.

3. The text goes into another window

Stenowise inserts where the cursor is at the moment of inserting. If you click somewhere else after letting go of the key, the text lands there.

Check the history. If the dictation is in there, it was recognised and only delivered to the wrong place. You can copy it from there.

4. The program does not accept automatic pasting

Some programs, terminals and remote-session windows above all, plus the odd Java application, resist the route Stenowise uses to insert.

There are two ways around it in the settings. One is a different paste method, the other is clipboard only. With the second one you press Ctrl + V yourself afterwards, which is more awkward, but it works everywhere.

Text arrives, but the wrong text

That is not a fault from the list above, it is a question of recognition. Two things to adjust:

Names and technical terms that keep coming out wrong belong in the dictionary. That works at once and reliably.
Whole sentences that are simply off point at a microphone with a lot of background noise, or at speaking too quietly. Move closer and watch the level: it should swing clearly without sitting at the top all the time.

It still does not work

Then send us a report from inside the app, under Support. Tick the box for the log: it contains not a single dictated sentence, only counts and timestamps, and it usually tells us within a minute what is wrong.