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Almost every microphone problem is one of two things: OpenWhispr doesn’t have permission to use the microphone, or your computer is listening to a different one than you think. Start in the app, because it can test and grant the permission for you.

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Start here

1

Open the Permissions section

In Settings, choose Privacy & Data under System, and scroll to Permissions. It lists Microphone — on macOS, also Accessibility and System Audio.
2

Click Grant Access

If the permission is missing, the Microphone card shows a Grant Access button that asks your operating system for it. If the permission has never been requested, this is what triggers the prompt.A card that has already been granted looks different: it turns green with a checkmark and the Grant Access button is gone. That’s how you tell the two states apart — a card with no button is a granted one, not a broken one.
3

If it still fails, grant it in system settings

Follow the steps for your operating system below, then reopen this section — the card shows as granted once your operating system agrees.

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Granting the permission

  1. Open System Settings → Privacy & Security → Microphone.
  2. Find OpenWhispr in the list and switch it on.
  3. If OpenWhispr isn’t listed at all, the permission has never been requested — use Grant Access in the app to trigger the prompt.
  4. Quit and reopen OpenWhispr. macOS applies microphone changes to running apps inconsistently, and a restart removes the doubt.
After an app update, macOS can treat OpenWhispr as a new application and drop the permission. If dictation stopped working right after an update, that’s what happened — see Updates and reinstalling.

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Choosing the right input

If the permission is granted and you still get nothing, the app is almost certainly listening to a different microphone. Open your operating system’s sound settings and check the selected input while you speak — the level meter should move. The devices that catch people out:
  • Headsets that are connected but not worn, so the mic is on the desk.
  • Monitors and webcams with built-in mics, which often become the default the moment they’re plugged in.
  • Bluetooth headphones in the wrong profile — some switch to a low-quality headset mode that other apps then take over.
  • Virtual devices installed by conferencing or streaming software, which can silently become the default.

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If the microphone is unavailable

If the app reports Microphone Unavailable, another application is holding the device exclusively. Quit conferencing, recording and streaming apps and try again. On Windows this is the usual cause; the device is not shared while another app has it open in exclusive mode.

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FAQ

Use Grant Access in Settings → Privacy & Data → Permissions. macOS and Windows only show the prompt when an app asks, and only once — after that you have to change it in system settings yourself.
That rules out the hardware and tells you it’s the permission or the device selection. Work through both sections above; they’re the only two things that can be different between apps.
Raise the input level in your operating system’s sound settings. A recording that’s too quiet produces an empty result rather than an error — see Nothing was transcribed.