How to use Wispr Flow on a Mac: the shortcuts, modes and settings

By · Published

On a Mac, you use Wispr Flow by holding Fn and talking, then letting go to paste the text. For longer dictation, press Fn and Space to go hands-free, and press them again to stop. Command Mode, which edits text by voice, has its own shortcut, Fn and Control, and is off until you turn it on in Settings, Experimental.

I make YapToText, a rival dictation app, so each step below also says what YapToText does in its place. The Wispr steps are from its help center, read on October 9, 2026, not from my own use.

Download YapToText on the Mac App StoreThis app is completely free. You don't have to make an account. There are no subscriptions, no difficult downloads, and nothing is locked. Made for Apple silicon Macs. Source on GitHub.

This guide in other languages: العربية, Čeština, Dansk, Deutsch, Ελληνικά, Español, Suomi, Français, עברית, हिन्दी, Magyar, Bahasa Indonesia, Italiano, 日本語, 한국어, Norsk, Nederlands, Polski, Português, Română, Русский, Slovenčina, Svenska, ไทย, Türkçe, Українська, Tiếng Việt, 简体中文, 繁體中文

On this page: 9 sections
  1. Steps
  2. The shortcuts at a glance
  3. Hands-free mode
  4. Command Mode
  5. Snippets
  6. The dictionary and Styles
  7. If you would rather not set all this up
  8. The short version
  9. Questions

Steps

  1. Click in a text field.
  2. Hold Fn and say what you want to type.
  3. Release Fn to paste the text.
  4. For longer dictation, press Fn and Space to start and again to stop.

The shortcuts at a glance

Wispr column from its help center, read October 9, 2026. On Macs without an Fn key, Wispr sets other shortcuts during onboarding.

To do thisWispr Flow on a MacYapToText
DictateHold Fn, talk, releaseTap Right Command, talk, tap again, or set it to hold
Dictate hands-freeFn and Space, or double-tap FnThe default: tap once to start, once to stop
Edit selected text by voiceCommand Mode, hold Fn and ControlQuick Edit, tap Right Option
CancelEscEsc
Recover text that did not pasteControl, Command and VPaste recent dictation, or History

Hands-free mode

  • Start. Press Fn and Space, click the Flow Bar, or double-tap Fn within half a second.
  • Stop. Press the shortcut again, or click stop in the Flow Bar, and the text pastes.
  • Careful with taps. Wispr warns that a third quick tap cancels instead of pasting.
  • Length. It warns at 19 minutes and stops at 20, and transcribes what it recorded.

In YapToText there is no separate hands-free mode, because tapping to start and stop is already the default. A single YapToText dictation stops at 30 minutes and still transcribes and saves it.

Command Mode

  • Turn it on. Settings, Experimental. It is off by default.
  • Who gets it. Paid and trial subscriptions, and enterprise accounts, per the help center.
  • Use it. Click in a text box, hold Fn and Control, say an instruction, release.
  • What it sends. The help center says it sends the text box contents and any selection along with your instruction.
  • Searches. A search request opens a web search service with your selected text added.
  • Language. Spoken trigger phrases are English only, though the shortcut works in any dictation language.

YapToText's Quick Edit does the editing part for free: select text, tap Right Option, say the change, and a model on the Mac rewrites it. It does not search the web.

Snippets

A snippet is a spoken trigger that inserts saved text, such as a signature. Wispr says personal snippets work on every plan, including Basic.

  • Create one. Open Snippets in the sidebar, choose Add new, enter the trigger in Snippet and the text in Expansion, then Add snippet.
  • Limits. Triggers stop at 60 characters and expansions at 4,000.
  • Pick a distinctive trigger. Its help center suggests something like my email signature rather than thanks.

YapToText calls these commands. It ships five, including my email signature and today's date, and the Commands page lets you add your own, such as insert phone number.

The dictionary and Styles

  • Dictionary. Open Dictionary in the sidebar, choose Add new, and type the word. If the same wrong spelling keeps coming back, add a correction.
  • Styles. Formal, Casual, very casual and Excited, chosen per app category such as Work, Email and Personal. Wispr notes that style formatting applies in English only.

In YapToText, select a word and say add this to my dictionary with Quick Edit, and dictionary words are handed to the speech model before it decodes. Its modes, from Clean Up to Email and Message, play the part of Styles, and Auto mode picks one per app.

If you would rather not set all this up

Wispr Flow is a cloud service with a weekly word limit on its free plan. YapToText is free on Apple silicon Macs, runs both of its models on the Mac, and works the moment it is installed.

Download YapToText on the Mac App StoreThis app is completely free. You don't have to make an account. There are no subscriptions, no difficult downloads, and nothing is locked. Made for Apple silicon Macs. Source on GitHub.

The Wispr Flow explainer covers plans and privacy, and the Wispr Flow troubleshooting page covers shortcuts that stop responding.

The short version

  • Dictate. Hold Fn, talk, release.
  • Hands-free. Fn and Space to start and stop.
  • Edit by voice. Turn on Command Mode in Settings, Experimental, then hold Fn and Control.
  • YapToText. Tap Right Command to dictate, tap Right Option to edit, all on the Mac.

If Wispr changes a shortcut and this page has the old one, open an issue on GitHub. Every one gets read.

Download YapToText on the Mac App StoreThis app is completely free. You don't have to make an account. There are no subscriptions, no difficult downloads, and nothing is locked. Made for Apple silicon Macs. Source on GitHub.

About the author. Ryleigh Newman is a developer whose hands make typing difficult and who dictates every day with YapToText, the app this site describes. Facts about other apps come from their own sites, with the date they were read. More about the project.

Sources

Questions

How do I use Wispr Flow on a Mac?

Hold Fn, speak, and release to paste. For hands-free dictation, press Fn and Space to start and again to stop, per Wispr's help center.

What is Wispr Flow Command Mode?

A mode that edits text, drafts replies or searches by voice. Turn it on in Settings, Experimental, then hold Fn and Control on a Mac and speak an instruction.

Why is Wispr Flow Command Mode not working?

Its help center says it is off by default, needs a paid, trial or enterprise subscription, and needs focus in an editable text box for text commands.

How do I add snippets in Wispr Flow?

Open Snippets in the sidebar, choose Add new, type the trigger and the text, and save. Personal snippets work on every plan.

Is there a free alternative with voice editing?

YapToText's Quick Edit rewrites selected text from a spoken instruction with a model on the Mac, free on Apple silicon Macs with macOS 14 or later.