Win Dictation Dev
314 lines
19 KiB
Markdown
314 lines
19 KiB
Markdown
# Win Dictation — User Manual
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**v3** · Offline · Hotkey `Ctrl+Shift+Space` · CPU-only · Whisper `tiny.en` → `small.en`
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A push-to-talk speech-to-text utility for Windows. Press a hotkey, speak, and your words land in whatever app you were just using — fully offline, powered by Whisper.
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---
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## Contents
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| # | Section |
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|---|---------|
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| 01 | [What Win Dictation is](#01-what-win-dictation-is) |
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| 02 | [Quick start in 60 seconds](#02-quick-start-in-60-seconds) |
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| 03 | [The interface, explained](#03-the-interface-explained) |
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| 04 | [How dictation works](#04-how-dictation-works) |
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| 05 | [Keyboard & hotkeys](#05-keyboard--hotkeys) |
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| 06 | [Auto-paste & the active window](#06-auto-paste--the-active-window) |
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| 07 | [History & sessions](#07-history--sessions) |
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| 08 | [Models & the Settings screen](#08-models--the-settings-screen) |
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| 09 | [System tray & options](#09-system-tray--options) |
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| 10 | [Your statistics](#10-your-statistics) |
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| 11 | [Tips for best results](#11-tips-for-best-results) |
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| 12 | [Troubleshooting](#12-troubleshooting) |
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| 13 | [FAQ & where things live](#13-faq--where-things-live) |
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---
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## 01 What Win Dictation is
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A small, focused desktop tool that turns your voice into text anywhere on Windows — no browser, no cloud, no account.
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Win Dictation sits quietly in your system tray. When you want to dictate, you press a global hotkey, speak a sentence or a paragraph, then press the hotkey again. A second or two later the transcribed text is copied to your clipboard and — by default — automatically pasted into whatever window you were using: your email, a chat box, a code editor, a document.
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Everything happens **on your computer**. The audio never leaves the machine; transcription runs locally using [whisper.cpp](https://github.com/ggerganov/whisper.cpp), a compact build of OpenAI's Whisper model. That means it works on a plane, behind a firewall, or anywhere with no internet at all.
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> **Built for modest hardware**
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>
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> This build is tuned for an ordinary CPU-only laptop — the kind with two physical cores and no graphics card. It uses a fast, lightweight model by default and keeps your processor nearly idle while you speak, only working hard for a brief moment after you stop.
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---
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## 02 Quick start in 60 seconds
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Three steps. No setup, no sign-in.
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### Step 1 — Launch `win-dictation.exe`
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The window opens and a microphone icon appears in your system tray. Wait a moment for the status line to change from *"Loading model…"* to **"Ready"**.
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### Step 2 — Click into wherever you want the text, then press `Ctrl`+`Shift`+`Space`
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Put your cursor in the email, chat box, or document first. Then hit the hotkey. The Record button turns red and a green level meter shows it's hearing you.
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### Step 3 — Speak, then press the hotkey again
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Talk naturally. When you're done, press `Ctrl`+`Shift`+`Space` once more. A short progress bar runs, and your words appear — pasted straight into the app you were using.
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> That's the whole loop: press to start, speak, press to finish. The text is on your clipboard *and* dropped into your previous window. You never have to click back into Win Dictation.
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---
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## 03 The interface, explained
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The whole app is a single window. Here is every control on it.
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```
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┌────────────────────────────────────┐
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│ Dictation — □ ✕│
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├────────────────────────────────────┤
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│ ╭─────────────────────────╮ │
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│ │ ● Record [1] │ [2][3]│
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│ ╰─────────────────────────╯ │
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│ Ready · 2 threads [4] │
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│ ┌────────────────────────────┐ │
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│ │ Win-dictate is a desktop, │ │
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│ │ whisper powered, speech to │ │
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│ │ text application! [5] │ │
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│ └────────────────────────────┘ │
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│ ┌─────────────────┐ ┌───────┐ │
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│ │ Microphone ... │ │History│ │
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│ └─────────────────┘ └───────┘ │
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│ [6] [7] │
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│ Copy Paste Clear [8] │
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└────────────────────────────────────┘
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```
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| # | Control | Description |
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|---|---------|-------------|
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| 1 | **Record / Stop** | The big pill. Click to start; it turns red and reads "Stop" while recording. Same as the hotkey. |
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| 2 | **Pin** | Keeps the window always on top. Blue when active. On by default. |
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| 3 | **Settings (cog)** | Opens the Settings screen for choosing and downloading models, and viewing your stats. |
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| 4 | **Status line** | Shows "Ready" and the thread count when idle, a timer while recording, and a live countdown while transcribing. |
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| 5 | **Transcript box** | Where text appears. You can **edit it freely** — click in and type, fix, or delete. |
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| 6 | **Microphone selector** | Choose which input device to record from. Opens a dropdown of all your mics. |
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| 7 | **History** | Opens a list of past dictation sessions you can reload — or delete individually. |
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| 8 | **Copy · Paste · Clear** | Copy the transcript, paste it into your last window, or clear the box (saving it to history first). |
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### The status line is your dashboard
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That one line of dim text under the Record button tells you everything about the app's state:
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| You see | It means |
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|---------|----------|
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| `Loading model…` | Starting up — the speech model is being read into memory. Wait a second. |
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| `Ready · 2 threads` | Idle and ready to record. The number is how many CPU threads it will use. |
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| `Recording 0:14` | Listening. The timer counts how long you've been speaking. A green level meter pulses with your voice. |
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| `Transcribing 0:14 · 62% · 3s left` | Working on your audio. The bar fills and the countdown ticks *down* to zero. |
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| `Pasted` / `Copied` | Done. Your text went to the clipboard (and into your previous window if auto-paste is on). |
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| `No speech detected` | The clip was silent or too short to transcribe. Nothing was added. |
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---
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## 04 How dictation works
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Win Dictation is **push-to-talk**, not live streaming. You record a whole clip, then it transcribes the whole thing at once.
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This is a deliberate design choice. Instead of trying to transcribe word-by-word as you speak (which pins a CPU at 100% and stutters on a modest laptop), Win Dictation simply records your audio cheaply while you talk, then does one fast transcription pass the moment you stop. The result is calmer, more accurate, and far lighter on your battery.
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### What happens when you record
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1. **You press the hotkey.** The app remembers which window you were in, and where your text cursor was sitting inside the transcript box.
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2. **It records.** Audio is captured at 16 kHz and held in memory. CPU use stays near zero. The level meter shows it's hearing you.
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3. **You press the hotkey again.** Recording stops. Silence at the start and end of your clip is trimmed away automatically.
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4. **It transcribes.** The full clip is run through Whisper once. The progress bar shows a smooth, self-calibrating estimate of how long it will take.
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5. **The text lands.** It's inserted at your cursor (with smart spacing so words don't run together), copied to the clipboard, and pasted into your previous window.
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> **There is no "stop on silence"**
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>
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> Recording continues until *you* press the hotkey again (or click Stop). Pausing to think won't end the session — take your time. The only automatic stop is a safety cap at **10 minutes** per clip.
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### The transcript box is editable
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Unlike many dictation tools, the text area is fully editable. Click anywhere in it to fix a misheard word, delete a stray sentence, or type manually. When you dictate again, the new text is inserted **at your cursor** — so you can build up a document piece by piece, placing each new chunk exactly where you want it.
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---
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## 05 Keyboard & hotkeys
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Two global shortcuts work from anywhere in Windows, even when the window is hidden.
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| Shortcut | Action |
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|----------|--------|
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| `Ctrl`+`Shift`+`Space` | **Start / stop recording.** The core hotkey. Press once to begin, once more to transcribe. If a transcription is already running, pressing it again cancels it. |
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| `Ctrl`+`Shift`+`H` | **Hide the window.** Tucks Win Dictation away to the tray (and cancels any recording in progress). The hotkeys still work while hidden. |
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| `Esc` *(in a dropdown)* | Closes an open Microphone or History popup without choosing anything. |
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| `Delete` *(in History)* | Deletes the history entry you're hovering over. |
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> **⚠ If the hotkey doesn't work**
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>
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> You may see `Hotkey in use — edit win-dictation.ini`. That means another program already grabbed `Ctrl`+`Shift`+`Space`. You can change it by editing the `hkMods` and `hkVk` values in the `win-dictation.ini` file (see the [FAQ](#13-faq--where-things-live)).
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---
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## 06 Auto-paste & the active window
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The feature that makes Win Dictation feel invisible: it types into *other* apps for you.
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When you trigger recording, the app notes which window had focus a moment before. After transcription, if **Auto-paste** is enabled (it is by default), it brings that window back to the front and pastes your text there automatically. You dictate, and the words appear in your email — you never touch Win Dictation's own window.
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If you'd rather paste manually, turn auto-paste off in the tray menu. The text is always still copied to your clipboard, and the **Paste** button will send it to your last window on demand.
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> **Pair it with Auto-hide**
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>
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> Turn on **Auto-hide** (tray menu) and the window disappears the instant it pastes. Combined with the global hotkey, dictation becomes a pure overlay: tap, speak, tap, and your words flow into whatever you're doing.
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---
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## 07 History & sessions
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Every dictation session is saved automatically, so you never lose a transcript.
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A **session** is everything you dictate between clears. As soon as you finish your first clip, Win Dictation writes it to a timestamped text file. Each additional clip in that session updates the same file — so one session is one tidy file, kept up to date as you go.
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### Browsing and reloading
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Click the **History** selector to open the list. Each entry shows its date, time, and a short preview of the text. Click one to load it back into the transcript box. The most recent sessions are at the top, and up to **100** sessions are kept (older ones are pruned automatically).
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### Deleting entries
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Hover over any history row and a small **✕** appears on its right edge — click it to delete that session's file. You can also press `Delete` on the hovered row. The list *stays open* after each delete so you can tidy up several at once. The window even shrinks to fit as the list gets shorter.
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> **⚠ Deletion is permanent**
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> Removing a history entry deletes its text file from disk immediately — there is no confirmation prompt and no undo. The files themselves live in a `history\` folder next to the program, if you ever want to back them up.
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---
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## 08 Models & the Settings screen
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A model is the AI that turns sound into words. Bigger models are more accurate but slower. Click the cog to manage them.
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The Settings screen lists every model Win Dictation can use. Each row shows the model's name, file size, and a short hint. Installed models have a filled radio button you can select; ones you don't have yet show a **Download** button that fetches them directly from Hugging Face with a live progress percentage.
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| Model | Size | Character | Speed |
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|-------|------|-----------|-------|
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| `tiny.en` | ~75 MB | The default. Quick and light — ideal for this CPU. | Fastest |
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| `tiny.en-q8_0` | ~42 MB | Same speed, smaller file (compressed). | Fastest |
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| `base.en-q5_1` | ~59 MB | A noticeable accuracy bump for little cost. | Good balance |
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| `base.en` | ~142 MB | More accurate; still reasonable on two cores. | Balance |
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| `small.en-q5_1` | ~182 MB | Accurate, but slow on this machine. | Slow |
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| `small.en` | ~466 MB | The most accurate offered — and the slowest. | Slowest |
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### Choosing a model
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1. Open Settings (the cog), and find the model you want.
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2. If it isn't installed, click **Download** and wait for it to reach 100%. You can cancel mid-download, and only one downloads at a time.
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3. Click the model's row to select it (the dot fills in).
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4. Click **Save**. The app reloads with the new model and remembers your choice. **Back** or **Cancel** discards any change.
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> **A good rule of thumb**
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>
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> Stick with `tiny.en` or `base.en-q5_1` for everyday use on a two-core laptop. Step up to `base.en` if you want better accuracy and don't mind waiting a beat longer. The `small` models are best reserved for short, important clips where accuracy matters most.
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### The progress bar learns your machine
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You'll notice the transcription countdown is unusually accurate. That's because Win Dictation **measures how fast your specific computer is** with each model and remembers it. The more you use a model, the better its time estimates become — the bar counts steadily down rather than jumping around.
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---
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## 09 System tray & options
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Win Dictation lives in the tray. Right-click its icon for the quick options menu.
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| Option | Description |
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|--------|-------------|
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| **Auto-paste** | Paste transcribed text into your previous window automatically. On by default. |
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| **Always on top** | Keep the window above other apps. Mirrors the Pin button. On by default. |
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| **Auto-hide** | Hide the window automatically right after it pastes. Off by default. |
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| **Exit** | Fully quits the app. Closing the window only hides it to the tray — use this to stop it entirely. |
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Double-clicking the tray icon brings the window back. Closing the window with the **✕** doesn't quit — it just hides, so the hotkey keeps working in the background. Your window position, pinned state, and these toggles are all remembered between launches.
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---
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## 10 Your statistics
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Scroll down in Settings to see a running tally of your dictation habits.
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Win Dictation quietly keeps lifetime totals and turns them into friendly figures:
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- **Total audio dictated** and the number of clips.
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- **Word count**, plus your average **speaking pace** in words per minute.
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- **Total processing time** and your machine's **real-time factor** (e.g. "4× real-time" means it transcribes four seconds of audio every second).
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- Your **longest single clip**.
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- An estimate of the **time you've saved** versus typing at 40 wpm.
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These numbers are stored locally and are just for your own curiosity — nothing is reported anywhere.
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---
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## 11 Tips for best results
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- **Click first, then dictate** — Put your text cursor in the destination app *before* pressing the hotkey, so auto-paste knows where to send the words.
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- **Speak in natural phrases** — Whisper transcribes best with full sentences and natural rhythm. You don't need to over-enunciate or pause between words.
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- **Pick the right mic** — If accuracy is poor, check the Microphone selector — a headset or dedicated mic beats a distant laptop mic in a noisy room.
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- **Match model to task** — Quick chat replies? `tiny.en`. A careful paragraph of prose? Try `base.en` for fewer corrections.
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- **Edit in place** — Fix the odd misheard word right in the transcript box, then Copy — faster than re-recording the whole thing.
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- **Let it warm up** — The very first transcription after launch can be a touch slower as the model settles into memory. It's quick from then on.
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---
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## 12 Troubleshooting
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| Symptom | What to do |
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|---------|------------|
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| **"Model not found"** | The selected `.bin` model file is missing. Open Settings and download a model (start with `tiny.en`), or place a `.bin` file in the `models\` folder next to the program and restart. |
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| **"Hotkey in use"** | Another app owns `Ctrl`+`Shift`+`Space`. Change the hotkey in `win-dictation.ini`, or close the conflicting app. You can still record by clicking the Record button. |
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| **"Microphone error"** | The chosen input device couldn't be opened. Pick a different mic from the selector, make sure it isn't in use by another app, and check Windows mic permissions. |
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| **"No speech detected"** | The clip was silent, too quiet, or under ~0.3 seconds. Check the level meter moves when you talk, and confirm the right mic is selected. |
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| **Text pasted into the wrong place** | Auto-paste targets whatever window was focused just before you pressed the hotkey. Click into your destination first. If in doubt, turn auto-paste off and use the Paste button deliberately. |
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| **Transcription feels slow** | You're likely on a larger model. Switch to `tiny.en` or `base.en-q5_1` in Settings. The `small` models are inherently slow on a two-core CPU. |
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| **Window vanished** | It hid to the tray. Double-click the tray icon, press `Ctrl`+`Shift`+`H`, or right-click the tray icon → Show Window. |
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---
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## 13 FAQ & where things live
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### Does my voice get sent anywhere?
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No. All recording and transcription happen on your computer. The only time the app reaches the internet is when *you* click Download to fetch a model file.
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### Can it run completely offline?
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Yes — once you have at least one model installed, no internet is needed ever again.
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### What languages does it support?
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This build is tuned for **English** (the `.en` models). It's optimised for accuracy and speed in English on modest hardware.
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### Where are my files kept?
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Everything sits next to `win-dictation.exe`:
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| Location | What's there |
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|----------|--------------|
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| `models\` | Your downloaded `.bin` speech models. |
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| `history\` | One text file per dictation session. |
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| `win-dictation.ini` | Your settings, hotkey, window position, learned timing, and statistics. |
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| `win-dictation.log` | A simple timestamped activity log, handy if something misbehaves. |
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### How do I change the hotkey?
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Open `win-dictation.ini` in any text editor and edit the `hkMods` and `hkVk` values under `[app]` (they're standard Windows key codes), then restart the app. A built-in settings option for this is a natural future addition.
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### Why is it called "push-to-talk" if I'm not holding a button?
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It's toggle-style push-to-talk: one press starts, another stops. You're not transcribing live as you speak — you capture a clip, then it's processed. This is what keeps it fast and light on a CPU-only machine.
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---
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*Win Dictation · push-to-talk speech-to-text for Windows · powered by whisper.cpp (MIT)*
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*Default hotkey Ctrl+Shift+Space · CPU-only build · runs entirely offline*
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