Superwhisper’s recording window is carefully designed to provide intuitive control and real-time feedback during your dictation.Let’s explore the key components of the main recording interface:
The waveform visually represents the audio captured by your microphone, giving you real-time feedback during dictation sessions. A moving waveform indicates your microphone captures audio correctly.If the waveform stays static, check these elements:
Confirm microphone permissions in System Settings > Privacy & Security > Microphone
Exception: When using system audio capture in a Custom mode, the waveform remains static. Your audio still records properly - you can verify this in the History tab, which displays detailed information about each dictation session.
This area of the recording window shows your currently active mode in Superwhisper and displays the keyboard shortcut for quick mode switching. You can click here to switch modes manually.
In Super Mode, this area displays your current application or website context.
This indicator can appear in Super Mode or Custom modes with context awareness features enabled. It lights up to confirm Superwhisper has captured clipboard context - when you copy text within 3 seconds before dictation starts or during an active dictation session. Additionally, it signals when selected text context is captured at the exact moment recording begins.
Click here to cancel your current dictation session or use your assigned keyboard shortcut. For recordings longer than 30 seconds, Superwhisper displays a confirmation message to prevent accidental cancellations. Recordings under 30 seconds cancel immediately.
In Advanced Settings, you can configure the mini window to remain active even when idle. This creates a small visual indicator that’s always accessible.
1
Hover Over the Indicator
When you hover over the mini window indicator, a control panel appears with three options:
Change Mode
Start Recording
Expand to Regular Window
2
Post-Request Controls
These same controls (Change Mode, Start Recording, Expand) also appear after a dictation request completes, particularly when results aren’t automatically pasted to the front application.
During recording, the mini window displays audio waveforms similar to the main window (1). When you hover over the mini window while recording (2), a stop button appears to end the recording and begin processing.