Wispr Flow Scratchpad: how to open it, dictate notes, and what it keeps

By Ryleigh Newman · Published October 11, 2026

Scratchpad is the notes editor inside Wispr Flow on Mac and Windows. You type or dictate drafts into tabbed notes, add images, pin the ones you reuse, and restore earlier versions. The default shortcut is Option S on a Mac and Win Alt S on Windows. Notes save on the computer and sync to your other desktop devices when you are signed in.

I built YapToText, a dictation app for the Mac, so read what I say about Wispr Flow with that in mind. Every fact about Wispr Flow here comes from its own help center, read on October 11, 2026.

This 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.

On this page: 8 sections

1. Open Scratchpad and write a note
2. Tabs, windows and their limits
3. Choose what the shortcut opens
4. Pin, search and restore
5. Images and sync
6. A scratchpad that stays on the Mac
7. The short version
8. Questions

Open Scratchpad and write a note

1. Open the Scratchpad page in Flow, or press Option S.
2. Select the plus button to create a note.
3. Type, or select the microphone and speak. You can also hold your push-to-talk key.
4. Select the green checkmark to insert the transcript at the cursor, or X to cancel.

Typing saves automatically. A note with no title is named from its first three words. A short tap on the shortcut hides a visible Scratchpad, and holding or double-tapping it starts dictation in a fresh tab when the current tab already has content.

Tabs, windows and their limits

From Wispr Flow's Scratchpad article, read October 11, 2026. On Windows, use Ctrl where a Mac uses Cmd.

Drag a tab out of a window to open it in its own window, and drag a window onto another to merge their tabs.

Choose what the shortcut opens

In Settings, System, Scratchpad, select Customize beside Scratchpad open behavior:

• Resume last note. The default. Reopens the tabs you had.
• Open in new tab. Adds a blank tab when the active tab has content.
• Open last active pinned note. The shortcut opens the pinned note you used last.

Dictating when no text field is focused, or recovering a failed paste, opens Scratchpad with that text in a new window. That is why Scratchpad sometimes appears by itself.

Pin, search and restore

• Pin. Hover a note and select Pin. Pinned notes sort first. Pin status stays on that device and does not sync.
• Search. The Scratchpad sidebar matches a phrase in the title or body. The Scratchpad page in Flow matches body text only.
• Version history. Select the clock button in a saved note, then an earlier version. It is restored immediately, without confirmation.
• Delete. Deleting a note cannot be undone, and it removes the note's history and images. Sync removes the note on your other devices too.

Images and sync

Paste or drop PNG, JPEG, WebP, GIF or BMP images into a note. They are resized and compressed, and an animated GIF becomes a single still frame. Images sync to your other signed-in desktop devices, and are not supported on iPhone.

Notes save locally when you are offline and sync when you are signed in, online and the computer is active. Sync pauses during a dictation. For a full refresh, open Settings, Data and Privacy and select Sync notes. An organization can disable Scratchpad, and then its page, shortcut and Flow Bar button are hidden. The sync page covers what else follows your account.

A scratchpad that stays on the Mac

YapToText, the free app I built, has a smaller version of the same idea on its Utility page: a card where you dictate into a scratchpad, with Copy and Insert below. It is one scratch area, not a notes library, with no tabs, images, pins or sync, and nothing leaves the Mac. If you want dictated notes kept and organized, Flow's Scratchpad does more, and so does dictating straight into Notes, Obsidian or Bear.

This 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 short version

• Open. Option S on a Mac, Win Alt S on Windows.
• Dictate. Microphone button, then the green checkmark.
• Limits. Five tabs a window, 10 images a note, 50 versions.
• Syncs. Notes and images across desktops. Pins do not.
• Delete. Permanent.

If Wispr changes Scratchpad, open an issue on GitHub and I will update this page. Every one gets read.

This 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.

Related

• Wispr Flow guides: every page on this site about Wispr Flow, by topic
• Wispr Flow's Notetaker: how it records meetings, and where the recordings go
• Wispr Flow sync across devices: what follows your account and what stays on each device
• Wispr Flow keyboard shortcuts: the defaults, how to change them, and what is not allowed
• How to use Wispr Flow on a Mac: the shortcuts, modes and settings
• Wispr Flow Command Mode and Transforms: how to edit and rewrite text, and the shortcuts
• Speech to text in Notes on a Mac: dictate a note, or transcribe a recording
• Wispr Flow not pasting text: recover the words first, then fix the cause
• Wispr Flow, explained: what it does, what it costs, and where your voice goes

Sources

• https://docs.wisprflow.ai/articles/9618237082-using-the-scratchpad-to-save-and-edit-notes (checked 2026-10-11)
• https://github.com/ryleighnewman/YapToText (checked 2026-10-11)
• https://apps.apple.com/us/app/yaptotext/id6786382289 (checked 2026-10-11)

Questions