UtterKey user guide
Everything you need to set up UtterKey and get the most out of it — in plain language.
1. Quick start
UtterKey types what you say into whatever app you're already using.
- Hold the hotkey — Fn (the 🌐 key, bottom-left) on a Mac, or Ctrl+Shift+Space on Windows — from anywhere on your computer.
- Speak naturally. A small pill appears at the bottom of your screen while it listens.
- Let go. Your cleaned-up text is typed straight into the box where your cursor is.
Two one-time things: give UtterKey permission to hear you and to type (§2), and add your API key (§3). Ten minutes once, then never again.
Why the hotkey differs on Windows
Windows can't see the Fn key at all — it's handled inside the keyboard itself and never reaches Windows, so no app can use it. Windows therefore uses Ctrl+Shift+Space: hold all three, speak, and release.
Click into the box you want the text to appear in first, then hold the hotkey. UtterKey types wherever your cursor already is.
How long can one dictation be?
Up to 5 minutes in a single hold — far more than normal dictation, which is usually a sentence or two. The pill turns amber for the last 30 seconds, and if you reach the 5 minutes UtterKey stops and types what you've said so far. You never lose your words.
For anything longer, just release Fn and start again — there's no limit on how many dictations you can do.
2. Permissions (one time)
Your computer won't let any app listen to your microphone or type for you until you say so. This is a one-time setup — but until it's done, UtterKey will appear to do nothing at all, which is the single most common reason people think it's broken.
On a Mac
Open System Settings → Privacy & Security and switch UtterKey on in each of these:
| Permission | Why UtterKey needs it |
|---|---|
| Microphone | To hear you speak. |
| Accessibility | To type the finished text into other apps. |
| Input Monitoring | To notice the Fn key while you're working in another app. |
Free up the Fn key
By default macOS uses Fn to open the emoji picker. Go to System Settings → Keyboard and set "Press 🌐 key to" → Do Nothing, so UtterKey can use it.
Note: the Fn hold-to-talk shortcut works with the Apple built-in keyboard.
macOS may ask for these permissions again after UtterKey updates, and it may show a keychain prompt asking to use your saved information — choose Always Allow, or UtterKey can't read the API key you saved and dictation will silently do nothing.
On Windows
Windows hides microphone access behind three switches, one inside the other. Open Settings → Privacy & security → Microphone and turn them on from the top down — if the first is off, the ones below it are hidden entirely:
- Microphone access — the master switch at the top.
- Let apps access your microphone.
- Let desktop apps access your microphone — this one appears below the app list once the first two are on. This is the switch UtterKey needs.
It won't be, and that's normal. Windows only lists Store apps individually. Desktop programs like UtterKey are all covered by the single "Let desktop apps access your microphone" switch, and they only appear in that list after they've successfully used the microphone once. Don't go hunting for UtterKey there — just turn the switch on.
Then quit UtterKey and open it again. Permissions are only checked when the app starts, so a running app won't notice the change.
"Windows protected your PC"
You'll see this blue warning the first time you install. It appears for any app that hasn't paid for a Microsoft signing certificate — it is not a virus warning. Click More info, then Run anyway.
3. Your API key
UtterKey is bring-your-own-key: you plug in your own AI key and pay that provider directly — usually just pennies for everyday dictation. There's no monthly UtterKey fee.
- Open Settings → API key in UtterKey.
- Choose your Provider (OpenAI or Groq).
- Paste that provider's key and press Save.
Your key is stored in the macOS Keychain on your own Mac — never on our servers, and UtterKey never displays it back to you. Your audio goes only to the provider you choose.
Each provider has its own saved key, so you can set up both and switch freely.
4. OpenAI vs Groq — which to pick
Both do the same job. The difference is speed versus accuracy.
| Provider | Best for |
|---|---|
| Groq (default) | Fast and free for most people. Near-instant — text appears almost as soon as you release the key — and Groq's free tier covers hours of dictation a day without a card. Inside Settings you can also pick its engine: Fastest or Most accurate. |
| OpenAI | The familiar one. If you already have an OpenAI key, it works here with no new signup. A couple of seconds slower than Groq. |
Get a free Groq key at console.groq.com, or an OpenAI key at platform.openai.com.
What does it cost to run?
You pay the provider only for audio you actually dictate — and only pennies. As a guide (prices were roughly accurate when this page was written; check your provider's own pricing page for today's rates — those pages are always the final word, not this one):
| Option | Rough cost per hour of speech | What that means |
|---|---|---|
| Groq — free tier | $0 | Allows hours of dictation per day at no charge, no card needed. Most people never leave it. |
| Groq — Fastest engine | ~$0.04 | Even a heavy dictator spends well under $1/month. |
| Groq — Most accurate engine | ~$0.11 | A heavy dictator spends about $1–2/month. |
| OpenAI | ~$0.36 | A heavy dictator spends about $4–5/month. |
The AI cleanup step adds a fraction of a cent on any provider. These figures are illustrative estimates, not quotes — your own usage and your provider's current prices decide what you actually pay.
Which one does UtterKey actually use?
Whichever is selected in the Provider dropdown in Settings — that choice is remembered between launches. UtterKey does not pick for you based on which keys you've added.
The one exception is a safety net: if the selected provider has no key but the other one does, UtterKey uses the other rather than refusing to type. So if you're set to Groq and delete your Groq key, your dictation still works on OpenAI. Add a key for both if you'd like that cover.
If you have no key for either, UtterKey will ask you to add one in Settings.
5. Cleanup: Exact, Polished or Professional
After transcribing, UtterKey tidies your words. You choose how much liberty it takes.
| Mode | What it does |
|---|---|
| Exact (default) | Keeps your exact words. Only fixes obvious spelling, capitalisation and punctuation, and removes filler words like "um". It will never swap a word for a different one. |
| Polished | Also lightly corrects grammar — which can mean changing a word (for example "neither" → "nor") to make a sentence read correctly. |
| Professional | True dictation. You speak the punctuation and structure — "full stop", "comma", "new paragraph", "bullet point" — and UtterKey types it, the way professional dictation has always worked. Everything you don't say as a command is kept word-for-word, like Exact. |
Stay on Exact for everyday speaking. Switch to Professional when you're dictating documents — letters, reports, notes — and want full control of the punctuation.
Professional mode — the commands
Say these naturally as you speak. The essentials:
| Say… | You get |
|---|---|
| full stop | . — always say "full stop", not "period". "Period" stays an ordinary word, so "the trial period" and "period of treatment" are always safe to say. |
| comma · question mark · exclamation mark | , ? ! |
| colon · semicolon | : ; — "colon" is understood in context, so medical phrases like colonoscopy or descending colon are never touched. |
| open quote … close quote | " … " |
| open parenthesis … close parenthesis | ( … ) |
| hyphen · dash | - · — |
| new line | a line break |
| new paragraph | a blank line and a fresh paragraph |
| bullet point | • a new bullet |
Numbers behave like dictation too: "one thirty over eighty" becomes 130/80, "four point two" becomes 4.2, "one hundred two degrees Fahrenheit" becomes 102°F.
Need to type a command word literally? Say "the word …" — "the word comma" types comma instead of a mark.
Say: "History colon new paragraph the patient reports a productive cough comma worse at night full stop"
Get: History: then a new paragraph reading The patient reports a productive cough, worse at night.
6. Snippets — say a word, paste a paragraph
A snippet turns a short trigger word into a long block of saved text. Say the trigger on its own, and UtterKey pastes the full text exactly as you saved it.
- Open Settings → Snippets.
- Trigger: a short word, e.g.
review. - Expansion: the full text, e.g. "Please review this code for bugs, security issues and style, with line-by-line feedback."
- Press Add snippet.
Now hold Fn, say just "review", and the whole paragraph is typed out.
Snippets fire only when the trigger is the whole thing you said — saying it inside a longer sentence won't expand it. Expansions paste exactly as written (no AI cleanup), so they're identical every time. There's no limit on how many you can add.
7. Vocabulary — teaching UtterKey your words
This is how UtterKey learns names, jargon and brand names it keeps getting wrong. There are two tools, and they work best together.
Custom words — prevention
A hint given to the AI before it writes anything: "these words may come up." Like handing someone a guest list before they take attendance — they're far more likely to spell the names right. Great for names, jargon and product names. It makes mistakes much rarer, but it's a nudge, not a guarantee.
Auto-corrections — guarantee
A find-and-replace applied after transcribing: "whenever you see OTA key, make it UtterKey." It's 100% reliable — but only fixes the exact mistake you told it about.
Add the word under Custom words so it's usually heard correctly, and add an Auto-correction for the specific mistake it makes. The hint stops most errors; the correction catches whatever slips through. There's no limit on either list.
Example
- Custom word:
UtterKey - Auto-correction:
OTA key→UtterKey - Auto-correction:
Utterkey→UtterKey(fixes capitalisation)
8. Launch at login
Turn on Settings → Launch at login and UtterKey starts automatically when you sign in to your Mac, ready in the background whenever you press Fn.
9. Your licence and devices
Buying UtterKey gives you a licence key — a short code emailed to you after purchase. Paste it into Settings → Licence once on each device, and that device is activated for good. No account, no monthly renewal.
How many devices?
One licence activates on up to 3 devices. It counts devices, not installations — reinstalling UtterKey on a device you've already activated doesn't use up another slot.
It's also one licence across platforms. When the Windows version ships, your existing key works there too at no extra cost — so a Mac and a Windows PC can share the same licence, using two of your three slots.
Moving to a new machine
Before you sell, wipe, or retire a device, open Settings → Licence → Deactivate this device. That frees the slot immediately, and you can activate your new machine straight away.
It happens — a dead hard drive doesn't give you the chance. Email support with your licence key and we'll free the slot for you. You won't be stuck, and you won't need to buy again.
Do I need to be online?
Only to activate. After that UtterKey checks in occasionally, but keeps working offline in between — so a flight or a dead Wi-Fi router won't stop you dictating.
10. Troubleshooting
Nothing happens when I hold the hotkey
Almost always a permission (§2), and the app must be restarted after you grant one.
On a Mac: check Input Monitoring and Accessibility are on for UtterKey, and that "Press 🌐 key to" is set to Do Nothing.
On Windows: check all three microphone switches, top down, especially "Let desktop apps access your microphone". Also make sure no other app has claimed Ctrl+Shift+Space — only one app can own a shortcut at a time.
It worked once, then stopped responding
UtterKey handles one dictation at a time. If an attempt is still finishing — a slow connection, for instance — presses are ignored until it's done. Wait a few seconds and try again; if it stays unresponsive, quit UtterKey and reopen it.
It types text when I didn't say anything
UtterKey ignores silent recordings, so this should be rare. If it happens, make sure you're actually speaking while holding the key — very short taps may capture nothing.
It says "Didn't catch any speech"
The recording was too quiet. Speak a little louder or closer to the mic, and hold Fn for the whole sentence.
It keeps misspelling a name
Add it under Vocabulary → Custom words, and add an Auto-correction for the exact wrong spelling (§7).
It answered my question instead of typing it
Shouldn't happen — UtterKey is built to transcribe, never to reply. If you ever see it, switch Cleanup to Exact and let us know.
It says I've used all my activations
All 3 slots are in use — usually an old machine that was never deactivated. If you still have it, use Settings → Licence → Deactivate this device there. If you don't, email support with your licence key and we'll free a slot (§9).
The text goes to the wrong place
UtterKey types wherever your cursor is. Click into the box you want before holding Fn.