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Vowen runs on macOS and Windows, and most of the app is identical on both. Everything below is different, or only relevant, on Windows.

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Supported hardware

There is no ARM64 Windows build. Vowen ships x64 only, so on a Snapdragon or other ARM device you are running the x64 binary through Windows’ emulation layer. It works, but expect local transcription to be noticeably slower. A cloud model is the better choice on those machines.

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Downloads

Every release ships two Windows artifacts.

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Installation notes

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SmartScreen warning

Windows shows “Windows protected your PC” the first time you run the installer. Vowen’s Windows builds are not code-signed. The macOS build is signed and notarized, the Windows build is not, and SmartScreen flags any unsigned installer regardless of what it contains. Click More info, then Run anyway.

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Antivirus false positives

Some antivirus products (QuickHeal, Kaspersky, Norton have all been reported) flag Vowen or one of its bundled helper binaries. Add the Vowen installation folder to your antivirus allowlist.
Antivirus quarantine is also the usual cause of a failed Vowen CLI install. Vowen installs the CLI to %LOCALAPPDATA%\Vowen\bin\vowen.exe and then runs it once to check it works. A silent quarantine leaves a file on disk that will not execute, and Vowen reports exactly that. Allow the file in Windows Security, then click Install again.

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Key differences from macOS

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Permissions

Windows has no equivalent of macOS’s permission prompts, so there is no grant step to complete before Vowen works. There is still a Settings > Permissions section, and on Windows it lists exactly one row:
That row always reads Granted on Windows, because Windows gives desktop apps microphone access without prompting. If recording is not working, the cause is a device or privacy setting in Windows rather than something Vowen is being refused. Check Windows Settings > Privacy & security > Microphone.
Accessibility and Screen Recording are macOS concepts and do not appear on Windows at all. Global shortcuts and meeting screenshots need no grant either, unlike on macOS.

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Meeting notes on Windows

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System audio capture

Windows does not send every app’s sound to the same speakers. Browsers and most media play through your default output device, while calling apps like Google Meet, Zoom, and Teams usually play through the separate device Windows reserves for communications, and any app with its own speaker dropdown can be pointed somewhere else entirely. Vowen records every output device that is currently playing and mixes them together, which is why it picks up a call routed to a non-default device. It also keeps watching for devices appearing and disappearing, so a Bluetooth headset switching into call mode, a dock being replugged, or you changing Zoom’s speaker device are all picked up without restarting the recording.
If you have ever recorded a call and got only your own voice back, this is why. Older versions recorded only your default output device, so a call playing anywhere else was never captured.

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Speaker diarization

On-device speaker diarization works on Windows, not just macOS. It runs entirely on your machine, and the model it needs (about 30 MB) is downloaded automatically the first time you diarize something. There is nothing to pick in the models list, and nothing leaves your machine. Recording continues while the download finishes.
Diarization is a Pro feature and needs a diarization-capable model selected, such as Parakeet or a cloud model.

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Meeting indicator

The meeting-notes indicator stays on top of other windows that also want to be on top, such as Zoom and Teams, keeps its intended size at 125% and 150% display scaling, and its pause and stop buttons stay clickable anywhere across the pill.

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Meeting panel shortcut

While a meeting-notes session is running, press Ctrl + \ to open the floating meeting panel and ask questions, take notes, or read the live transcript. It only works while a session is running, so it does not occupy Ctrl + \ the rest of the time. Change it under Settings > Shortcuts > Meeting Panel.
The shortcut is tied to the floating meeting indicator. If you turn the indicator off, Ctrl + \ stops working too.

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Windows-specific features

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GPU acceleration (NVIDIA)

Local Whisper models can run on an NVIDIA GPU instead of the CPU.
1

Open Speech models

Click Speech models in the sidebar.
2

Find GPU Acceleration

Scroll to the bottom of the page, past the cloud and local model lists, to the GPU Acceleration section and its NVIDIA CUDA card.
3

Download it

Click Download GPU acceleration. It is roughly 631 MB. Vowen fetches a CUDA-enabled build together with the CUDA libraries it needs, so you do not have to install the NVIDIA CUDA Toolkit yourself. The download can be canceled while it runs.
Once installed, the card reads GPU active. Remove GPU acceleration deletes it again if you want the disk space back.
The GPU Acceleration section only appears if Vowen detects an NVIDIA GPU. It needs an RTX 2000-series card or newer. AMD and Intel GPUs are not supported, and there is no CPU fallback to configure.
CUDA accelerates the local Whisper models. Parakeet, the default, does not use it.

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Wake from sleep

After the machine resumes from sleep or the screen unlocks, Windows can leave floating windows in a broken state. You may see the recording indicator stay visible but stop responding to clicks, or the settings window come back blank or black. Vowen repairs both automatically on resume, so there is nothing to do and no need to restart the app after waking your machine.

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Dead keys on international layouts

On a layout with dead keys (Spanish, French, Portuguese, German, Czech, US-International), accented characters compose normally while Vowen runs. Pressing ´ then e gives é. Vowen never leaves a half-composed accent behind.
Dead-key composition is a system-level behavior, so an older version of this bug affected every app, not just Vowen, and quitting Vowen made it stop. If you still see bare characters on a current version, it is not this bug.

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Pause or mute media while recording

Settings > Recording > When recording starts offers three options:
Pause can only reach apps that respond to the standard Windows play/pause keys. Spotify, Chrome, Edge, and Firefox do. Some desktop media players do not, and pausing them silently does nothing. If a specific app never pauses, use Mute instead.

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Start at login

Settings > General > Open at Login launches Vowen when you sign in to Windows.

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Start minimized to tray

Settings > General > Start Minimized to Tray starts the app with no window, reachable only from the tray icon.

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System tray

Left-click the Vowen icon in the system tray to open Settings. This is Windows-only; on macOS the menu bar icon opens the menu instead. Right-click it for:
  • Model, language, and microphone switching
  • Transcribe a file
  • Meeting notes start, pause, and stop
  • Copy last transcription
  • Open settings
  • Quit
The tray icon shows a red dot while a meeting note is recording.

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Performance

Local models run on the CPU on Windows unless you enable CUDA, so they are slower than the same models on Apple Silicon. Ordered best to worst for speed:
  1. Best: a cloud model. Groq is fast and has a free tier
  2. Good: Parakeet, the local default, which is far lighter than Whisper Large
  3. Also good: a Whisper model with CUDA acceleration on an NVIDIA GPU
  4. Workable: Whisper Tiny or Base on the CPU, fast but less accurate
Without GPU acceleration, Whisper Medium and Large can take 5 to 10 seconds or more per transcription on Windows. If you do not have an NVIDIA GPU, use Parakeet or a cloud model.
Have a Windows-specific question? See the Windows FAQ.