> ## 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.

# Capturing both sides of the call

> Why recording the other participants is separate from recording your microphone, and what OpenWhispr does and doesn't capture.

A meeting recording has two halves: your voice, from your microphone, and
everyone else's, from what your computer is playing. They're captured by
different means and they can fail independently — which is why a recording
sometimes contains only you.

## What OpenWhispr captures

**Your microphone**, and **system audio** — the sound your computer plays.
Together those cover both sides of a call.

What it does **not** do:

* It never **joins the meeting as a bot**. Nobody sees an extra participant, and
  there's nothing for a host to admit.
* It never **records your screen**, on any platform. On macOS the permission is
  labelled for screen recording because macOS governs both with one control, but
  only the audio is taken.
* It doesn't need the meeting platform's own recording to be running, and it
  doesn't ask the host for permission.

## The permission it needs

System audio is permissioned separately from your microphone:

| Platform    | What's needed                                                                                                                      |
| ----------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **macOS**   | The screen-recording permission, listed on recent versions as **Screen & System Audio Recording**. OpenWhispr only takes the audio |
| **Windows** | No prompt — a bundled helper does the capture. Needs Windows 10 version 2004 or later                                              |
| **Linux**   | PipeWire, capturing from the default sink monitor                                                                                  |

Granting it on macOS also requires **restarting OpenWhispr** — macOS applies the
permission at launch, and skipping the restart is the single most common reason
this doesn't work.

The step-by-step for each platform, including what to do when it fails, is in
[meeting audio isn't captured](/help/fix/meeting-audio-not-captured).

## Echo, and why you don't hear yourself twice

Your microphone picks up your speakers as well as your voice, so a naive
recording captures everyone else twice — once from system audio, once bleeding
back through your mic. OpenWhispr runs echo cancellation to remove that bleed,
and drops duplicated phrases when merging the two sources.

You don't need to configure this. It's worth knowing because it explains why a
transcript doesn't repeat every sentence, and why using headphones — which
removes the bleed at source — tends to give the cleanest result.

## Recording only your own side

If system audio isn't available, recording still works; you just get your half.
That's a legitimate way to work if you only need your own contributions, and
speaker labels will fall back to "You" and "Them".

<Note>
  **Check before you rely on it.** If a recording matters, start one, say a few
  words, have someone else say a few, and stop. Ten seconds tells you whether
  both sides are landing — and there is one known case, Microsoft Teams on
  Windows, where the other side can come through silent without any error. That
  case is documented in
  [meeting audio isn't captured](/help/fix/meeting-audio-not-captured).
</Note>

## Telling people you're recording

Recording laws vary by country and state, and some require the consent of
everyone on the call rather than just you. OpenWhispr doesn't announce itself to
other participants, so whether and how to tell them is your call to make.

## Related

* [Meeting audio isn't captured](/help/fix/meeting-audio-not-captured)
* [Record a meeting](/help/meetings/record-a-meeting)
* [Speaker labels](/help/meetings/speaker-labels)
* [Where your data goes](/help/privacy/where-your-data-goes)

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