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

# FAQ

> Answers to the most commonly asked questions about Vowen.

## General

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Is Vowen free?">
    Yes. Core transcription features are free forever — local and cloud models, AI enhancement with your own API key, custom shortcuts, voice log, and more. The Free plan also includes 5 Command Mode runs per day, 5 hours of meeting notes, 3 workflows, 3 memory items, 1 tone, 1 custom text expansion, and 10 manual file transcriptions. The Pro plan removes those caps and unlocks advanced features like custom AI instructions, speaker diarization, real-time preview, automatic translation, cloud sync, and integrations. See the full breakdown on the [Pricing page](/pricing).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Does my voice data leave my device?">
    Only if you choose to use a cloud transcription model. When using local models (Whisper, Parakeet), everything stays on your machine — no internet required. Even with cloud models, audio is sent directly to the provider you choose (Groq, Deepgram, etc.) and is not stored by Vowen.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Is Vowen open source?">
    Vowen uses open-source components internally (Whisper.cpp, Parakeet) but the application itself is not currently open source. Open-sourcing is being considered for the future.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Will existing free features stay free?">
    Yes, always. We will never paywall features that are currently free. The Pro plan is for new, advanced capabilities only.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What platforms does Vowen support?">
    macOS (Apple Silicon and Intel) and Windows (x64). ARM64 Windows is experimental. Linux is not currently supported.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Does it work on Intel Macs?">
    Yes, but Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3/M4) is recommended for best performance with local models. Some larger models may be slower on Intel.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Permissions

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="I granted a permission but the feature still doesn't work">
    Fully quit Vowen (right-click the menu bar or tray icon > Quit Vowen) and relaunch it. macOS in particular requires a full restart after granting Accessibility permission before the change takes effect.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Why isn't Vowen showing up in the permission list?">
    Launch Vowen at least once. The app registers itself with macOS on first launch. If it still doesn't appear, try dragging the Vowen app from Applications directly into the permission list in System Settings.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="I denied a permission by accident. How do I re-enable it?">
    Go to **System Settings > Privacy & Security > \[Permission Type]**, find Vowen, and toggle it on. If the toggle is greyed out, click the lock icon at the bottom of the window and authenticate to make changes.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Updates

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="The update download fails. What should I do?">
    Check your internet connection. If you are behind a VPN or firewall, try disabling it temporarily. Some regions may have slower connections to our update server.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Vowen won't restart after an update">
    Manually quit Vowen (right-click the menu bar or tray icon and choose Quit) and relaunch from Applications or the Start menu.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="I don't see an update banner. How do I check manually?">
    Use **Settings > General > Check for Updates** to force a manual check. The daily auto-check can be delayed if your machine was offline or asleep at the scheduled time.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Transcription

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Which model should I use?">
    It depends on your priorities:

    * **Speed (macOS):** Tiny or Base
    * **Speed (Windows):** Groq cloud model (free tier)
    * **Accuracy:** Large v3 Turbo or Groq Whisper Large v3
    * **Non-English:** Large v3 or cloud models
    * **Offline/Privacy:** Any local model (Whisper or Parakeet)
    * **Real-time preview:** Parakeet, Deepgram, Soniox, or Mistral

    See the full [Models Guide](/transcription/models) for detailed comparisons.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What's the difference between local and cloud models?">
    **Local models** run entirely on your device — they work offline and keep your data private, but may be slower on some hardware.

    **Cloud models** send your audio to a third-party API (Groq, Deepgram, etc.) for transcription — they're faster and more accurate for complex vocabulary, but require an internet connection and an API key.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Why are there two Groq models?">
    Groq serves two purposes in Vowen:

    1. **Transcription** (Whisper Large v3 / Turbo) — converts speech to text
    2. **AI Enhancement** (Llama, etc.) — polishes and formats the transcribed text

    They're different model types serving different stages of the pipeline.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Does it support my language?">
    Vowen supports 99 languages via Whisper models and 25 European languages via Parakeet. Set your language in **Settings > Language**. For best non-English results, use the multilingual Large v3 model or a cloud model.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I transcribe audio/video files?">
    Yes. Go to the **Transcribe** tab in the settings window to drag-and-drop or browse for audio/video files. Supports common formats with timestamps in the output. The Free plan includes 10 manual file transcriptions total; Pro removes the cap.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Models

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Why is my model download stuck or failing?">
    Check your internet connection and available disk space. Downloads can be resumed if interrupted; just click download again.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="I see a 'Whisper Server Not Running' banner. What does it mean?">
    The model file may be corrupted. Delete the model and re-download it. If the issue persists, check that your antivirus hasn't quarantined the model files.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Why does a model load slowly the first time I use it?">
    The first transcription after launching Vowen (or switching models) takes longer as the model loads into memory. Subsequent transcriptions are faster.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Accuracy

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Why does 'Thank you' appear when I didn't say anything?">
    This is a known Whisper quirk: when it detects silence, it sometimes hallucinates "Thank you." Vowen's junk detection catches and discards this in most cases. If it persists, speak immediately when you press the shortcut.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Why is my first or last word being cut off?">
    Pause for a brief moment (half a second) after pressing the shortcut before speaking, and after finishing before releasing. This gives the audio capture time to start and stop cleanly.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Why do my words get mixed up when I speak quickly?">
    Slow down slightly, or switch to a larger model. Cloud models (Groq, Deepgram) handle fast speech better than smaller local models.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="How do I get technical terms spelled correctly?">
    Add them to your Custom Vocabulary (Settings > Dictionary). For consistent misspellings, create a Thread replacement rule.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Why does my transcription output repeat?">
    This occasionally happens with local models. Re-record the phrase. If it happens frequently, try a different model or enable AI Enhancement, which catches and removes repetitions.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## AI & Enhancement

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Can I use my own AI API key?">
    Yes. Vowen supports 10+ AI providers including OpenAI, Anthropic (Claude), Google Gemini, Groq, DeepSeek, OpenRouter, and more. Bring your own key — no Vowen subscription required for AI enhancement.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What does AI Enhancement do?">
    It lightly cleans up your transcription: fixes spelling and grammar, removes filler words (um, uh), applies formatting (bullet points, paragraphs), and converts spoken numbers to digits. It preserves your voice and wording — it does not rewrite your text.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I use it for coding?">
    Yes. Many developers use Vowen to dictate prompts to AI coding tools. For code-related dictation, we recommend **disabling AI Enhancement** so you get the literal transcription without any cleanup.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I select text and use AI on it?">
    Yes. Use **Command Mode** (default: Alt+Shift). When you have text selected, it automatically becomes context for your voice command. Say things like "rewrite this more formally" or "fix the grammar" and the AI will process your selected text.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Features

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="How do I stop hands-free mode?">
    Press the hands-free shortcut again to toggle it off, or press the stop button in the recording indicator. You can also enable auto-deactivate in settings, which stops recording when you click your mouse or press a key.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I use it in specific apps only?">
    Vowen works globally, but you can set up **Tones** (Pro) to automatically change behavior per app. For example: formal writing in email apps, casual in chat apps, no AI enhancement in code editors.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Where are my transcriptions stored?">
    Locally on your device:

    * **macOS:** `~/Library/Application Support/vowen/`
    * **Windows:** `%APPDATA%/vowen/`

    Transcription history is in `transcription-history.json`. Meeting notes are in `meeting-notes.json`.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I record meetings without a bot joining?">
    Yes. Vowen's Meeting Notes captures system audio silently — no bot joins the call, no banner appears to other participants. Works with Zoom, Teams, Meet, Slack Huddles, and any app that produces audio. Available on both macOS and Windows. Free plan includes up to 5 hours of recording.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="How do I export my data?">
    Go to **Settings > Privacy > Export Data**. You can export in JSON, CSV, or Markdown format. Select specific date ranges or export everything. Import / Export is a Pro feature.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Does it work with Bluetooth headphones?">
    Yes. Select your Bluetooth device in **Settings > Audio**. Note: on macOS, if your Bluetooth headset is connected, Meeting Notes will capture both system audio and your microphone through the Bluetooth device.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## macOS

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="My macOS shortcut stops working after sleep/wake. How do I fix it?">
    macOS can break event taps after sleep. Vowen auto-recovers in most cases, but if it doesn't, fully quit and relaunch.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Why isn't the Fn key working on macOS after install?">
    Restart Vowen after granting Accessibility permission. The Fn key requires a fresh keyboard hook initialization to start picking up.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Vowen still appears in the Dock even with 'Hide Dock Icon' enabled">
    On first launch after enabling this setting, the Dock icon may briefly appear. It will be hidden on subsequent launches.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Windows-Specific

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Why does Windows Defender flag Vowen?">
    The app is not yet code-signed with an Extended Validation (EV) certificate, which is expensive for indie developers. The app is safe to use. You can whitelist it in your antivirus settings.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Why does only 'v' get pasted in some apps?">
    Some apps don't support standard Ctrl+V paste. Switch to **Direct insertion** method in **Settings > General > Text Insertion Method**.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="My recording indicator shows on the wrong monitor">
    With dual monitors, the indicator may appear on the wrong screen. Restart Vowen and it recalculates position. This has been improved in recent versions.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Why are my model files being deleted by antivirus?">
    Some antivirus software quarantines Whisper model files. Add the Vowen data directory (`%APPDATA%/vowen/`) to your antivirus exclusion list, then re-download the model.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Why doesn't the taskbar icon click open Vowen?">
    Right-click the icon in the system tray (hidden icons) and select **Open Settings**. Direct taskbar clicks opening the app window is a known UX issue being addressed.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What is the 'Option' key on Windows?">
    The **Option** key on macOS corresponds to the **Alt** key on Windows. So "Option+Shift" becomes "Alt+Shift" on Windows.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Local models are slow on Windows. What can I do?">
    Three options:

    1. **Use a cloud model** — Groq offers a generous free tier and is very fast
    2. **Enable GPU acceleration** — If you have an NVIDIA GPU, download the acceleration module from Settings > Models
    3. **Use a smaller model** — Tiny or Base models are faster than Medium/Large
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>