> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.openwhispr.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# The four things your voice can start

> Dictation, the voice agent, translation and meeting mode all listen to you but do different things. This is how to tell them apart.

Nearly every "OpenWhispr did something I didn't expect" turns out to be one of
four features running when you meant another. They all start from your voice,
and each has its own shortcut.

## The four

| What you want              | What starts it                                     | What you get                         |
| -------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------ |
| Type what I say            | **Dictation Hotkey**                               | Your words, tidied, at the cursor    |
| Do what I say              | **Voice Agent Hotkey**, or saying the agent's name | The *result* of your instruction     |
| Say it in another language | **Translation Hotkey**                             | Your words, translated               |
| Take notes on this meeting | **Meeting Mode Hotkey**                            | A recorded, transcribed meeting note |

There's a fifth shortcut, the **Chat Agent Hotkey**, but it's less confusable —
it opens a chat window rather than typing anywhere.

All five are set in one place: **Settings** → **Hotkeys** under **App**.

## Dictation vs the voice agent

This is the pair that causes trouble, because both put text at your cursor and
only one of them puts *your* text there.

**Dictation** transcribes. Say *"what time is the meeting tomorrow"* and those
six words are typed.

**The voice agent** executes. Say the same thing and it answers the question —
the app describes this shortcut as *"Speak a request — your AI agent types the
result, not your words."*

There are **two ways** to reach the agent, which is why turning off one doesn't
always stop it:

1. **Its hotkey.** Everything you say after pressing it is an instruction.
2. **Its name.** During ordinary dictation, starting with the agent's name
   routes the whole thing to the agent instead.

The second one is the surprising one, and it's on by default. [Your agent's
name](/help/agent/agent-name) explains how it decides, and how to change or
switch it off.

## Dictation vs cleanup

A subtler case: you dictated, you got your own words back, but they're not
*exactly* the words you said — punctuation you didn't speak, filler words gone,
a clumsy sentence tidied.

That's **dictation cleanup**, which runs on your transcript by default. It's not
the agent, and it isn't meant to change your meaning. See [dictation
cleanup](/help/dictation/cleanup) for what it does and how to turn it off.

## Working out which one ran

Ask what came back:

* **Your words, roughly as spoken** — dictation, working normally.
* **Your words, tidier** — dictation with cleanup.
* **An answer, a rewrite, or something you didn't say** — the voice agent.
* **Another language** — translation.
* **Nothing at the cursor, a panel appeared** — meeting mode or the chat agent.

If it's the agent and you didn't want it, [it answers me instead of
typing](/help/fix/it-answers-instead-of-typing) is the fix-it walkthrough.

<Snippet file="still-need-help.mdx" />

## Related

* [Your agent's name](/help/agent/agent-name)
* [The voice agent](/help/agent/voice-agent)
* [Your hotkeys](/help/dictation/hotkeys)
* [It answers me instead of typing](/help/fix/it-answers-instead-of-typing)