How blabe reports problems
The pill is the small capsule at the bottom of the screen. A message stays for about two seconds. The menu bar icon shows a warning when something needs your attention, and the top item in its menu names the fix. Text blabe has transcribed isn’t lost: if blabe can’t paste it, it stays on your clipboard, and Copy Last Transcript in the menu puts the last one back. If a recording couldn’t be transcribed, the latest failed recording stays in memory while blabe is running, unless the message says to record again. Another failed dictation replaces it, and quitting or signing in or out discards it.
Pill: something went wrong
Microphone access needed
What happened. You held the hotkey, but macOS hasn’t given blabe access to the microphone. Either you chose Don’t Allow when macOS asked, or your Mac restricts it.
Fix. Open System Settings → Privacy & Security → Microphone and turn on blabe. The menu item Grant Microphone Access… opens the same place. Then hold the hotkey again.
Microphone unavailable
What happened. blabe couldn’t start recording. No microphone is connected, or the one you chose wouldn’t start.
Fix. Open Settings… and check Microphone. Choose Built-in microphone (recommended), or System default, which follows System Settings → Sound, or reconnect the microphone you chose. Then hold the hotkey again.
Microphone disconnected
What happened. The microphone stopped while you were recording, for example a headset went out of range or a cable came out. If blabe had already caught speech, it transcribes that instead. This message means it hadn’t.
Fix. Reconnect the microphone, or pick another one in Settings → Microphone, and dictate again.
Rate limited — try again
What happened. blabe’s transcription service is limiting how fast requests arrive. On the free trial, it can also mean that today’s shared trial capacity can’t fit this recording. For a longer wait, the pill may say Trial busy today.
Fix. Wait a few seconds, then try Retry Transcription in the menu if the recording is still available. If the pill says Trial busy today, follow the entry below. If Settings → Account shows it, wait a few seconds and choose Refresh Account in the menu.
Trial busy today — try after …
What happened. Everyone on the free trial shares a daily amount of transcription, and today’s capacity can’t fit this recording, so nothing was transcribed. Your recording is kept in memory. Text you’ve already dictated is kept. A subscription isn’t affected.
Fix. After the time in the message (the next midnight UTC), you can try again if your trial is still active. Choose Retry Transcription if the recording is still available, or dictate again. The 2-day trial isn’t extended for the pause. The recording stays available while blabe is open; another failed dictation replaces it, and quitting or signing in or out discards it. If your trial ends by then, subscribe on the pricing page to keep dictating.
No internet
What happened. Your Mac couldn’t reach blabe’s service. blabe needs the internet to transcribe and to sign in.
Fix. Reconnect. After a dictation, choose Retry Transcription: the latest failed recording stays in memory while blabe is running. Another failed dictation replaces it, and quitting or signing in or out discards it. When you were signing in, click Sign In again. If Settings → Account shows it while you’re signed in, choose Refresh Account in the menu once you’re back online.
Sign in to blabe
What happened. You held the hotkey while this Mac wasn’t signed in to blabe, so blabe didn’t record anything. You don’t need an account for the free trial: click Start Free Trial in Settings → Account, with no card, email or signup. You also see this once the 2-day free trial has ended, because the trial’s sign-in ends with it.
Fix. Open Settings → Account, paste the license key from your purchase and click Sign In. Then hold the hotkey again. The menu item Sign In to blabe… opens Settings. If your free trial has ended, Start Free Trial says so: subscribe on the pricing page and sign in with the license key from your purchase. See Your account and license.
Sign in to blabe again
What happened. blabe’s service no longer accepts this Mac’s sign-in, for example because it expired, so blabe signed this Mac out. That recording can’t be sent again under a new sign-in, so it isn’t kept.
Fix. Open Settings → Account, paste your license key and click Sign In, then dictate again. See Your account and license.
Access turned off
What happened. blabe’s service stopped accepting this Mac’s sign-in, so blabe signed this Mac out and new dictation has stopped. That recording isn’t kept. What you’ve already dictated isn’t affected. It can appear on the free trial or with a subscription.
Fix. On the free trial, open Settings → Account and click Start Free Trial. With a subscription, paste the license key from your purchase there and click Sign In. Then dictate again. If your trial or subscription has ended, subscribe on the pricing page. If blabe still doesn’t accept your key, contact support. If Settings → Account also says Access turned off after you sign in, see the account entry.
Not available on your plan
What happened. The service says your plan can’t transcribe right now, so nothing was transcribed. Your recording is kept in memory. When your trial or subscription ends, new dictation stops until you subscribe. What you've already dictated isn't affected.
Fix. Open Settings → Account. For Trial ended, follow Trial ended and make a new recording after signing in with your purchased license. If this Mac is signed out, sign in with your license key. If it says Access turned off, contact support. For a recording still available under the same account, choose Retry Transcription in the menu. See Your account and license.
Monthly limit reached — Resets MMM d
What happened. You’ve used the transcription included with your subscription this month, so nothing was transcribed. Your recording is kept in memory. Text you’ve already dictated is kept. Transcription is included, within a fair-use monthly limit.
Fix. New dictation pauses until the reset date in the message. Settings → Account shows it too, as “Resets MMM d” with your own date. Your allowance refreshes every month on the day you subscribed, including on a yearly plan. After the reset, choose Retry Transcription in the menu, or dictate again.
Trial limit reached
What happened. You’ve used the transcription included with the free trial, so nothing was transcribed. Text you’ve already dictated is kept.
Fix. The trial’s limit doesn’t refresh. Subscribe on the pricing page, sign in with the license key from your purchase, then dictate again. See Your account and license.
Too long for the trial time left
What happened. This recording is longer than the transcription your free trial has left, so nothing was transcribed. Some trial time remains. Text you’ve already dictated is kept.
Fix. Dictate a shorter piece. Retrying the same recording won’t help, because the trial’s time doesn’t refresh. To dictate without the trial’s limit, subscribe on the pricing page and sign in with the license key from your purchase. Signing in clears this recording, so dictate it again afterwards.
Too long for what’s left this month
What happened. This recording is longer than the transcription left in this month’s allowance, so nothing was transcribed. Some allowance remains. Your recording is kept in memory. Text you’ve already dictated is kept. Transcription is included, within a fair-use monthly limit.
Fix. Dictate a shorter piece now. Or wait until your allowance refreshes; Settings → Account shows the date, every month on the day you subscribed, including on a yearly plan. After it refreshes, try Retry Transcription in the menu if the recording is still available. Quitting or signing in or out discards it, and another failed dictation can replace it. If blabe asks you to sign in again, sign in and dictate again.
Transcription limit reached
What happened. You’ve used all the transcription included with your trial, or with your subscription for this period, so nothing was transcribed. Your recording is kept in memory. Text you’ve already dictated is kept. Transcription is included, within a fair-use monthly limit. When blabe knows your plan, the pill says Monthly limit reached — Resets MMM d or Trial limit reached instead.
Fix. Open Settings → Account and check your plan. If you’re on the free trial, its limit doesn’t refresh: subscribe on the pricing page to keep dictating. If you have a subscription, wait until your allowance refreshes; Settings → Account shows the date. It refreshes every month on the day you subscribed, including on a yearly plan. Then choose Retry Transcription in the menu.
blabe service unavailable
What happened. blabe’s service didn’t answer, or it sent a reply blabe couldn’t use. Your recording is kept in memory.
Fix. Wait a few minutes, then choose Retry Transcription in the menu. If Settings → Account shows it, blabe couldn’t get your plan: choose Refresh Account in the menu later. If it keeps happening, contact support.
Result uncertain — record again
What happened. blabe sent your recording, but no usable reply came back: the connection dropped, or the service timed out or couldn’t confirm the result. blabe can’t tell whether it was transcribed. Nothing was pasted, and there’s no text to copy. blabe’s service doesn’t keep transcripts, so there’s no copy to send again, and blabe doesn’t keep this recording for Retry Transcription.
Fix. Hold the hotkey and say it again. If Settings → Account shows it, nothing was recorded: the service didn’t confirm your plan in time, so choose Refresh Account in the menu.
Transcription cancelled
What happened. blabe stopped a transcription because this Mac’s sign-in changed while it was running, for example you signed out or signed in again. Nothing was pasted.
Fix. Sign in if you need to, then hold the hotkey and dictate again.
Recording format unavailable
What happened. The service couldn’t accept the recording, or blabe couldn’t prepare it, for example because it was too large. Nothing was pasted.
Fix. Dictate again in a shorter piece. If it keeps happening, try Auto-detect in Language in Settings, and contact support.
Recording cancelled — account changed
What happened. You signed out, or signed in again, while you were recording or as you let go. blabe discarded the recording instead of sending it.
Fix. Sign in if you need to, then hold the hotkey and dictate again.
Didn't catch that
What happened. The transcription service returned no text, or nothing was left after removing “um” and “uh”. Nothing was pasted, and there is nothing to retry.
Fix. Hold the hotkey and say it again, closer to the microphone. If it keeps happening, check Microphone in Settings, and if you pinned a Language, check it matches the language you speak.
Pill: copied instead of pasted
In each of these, your words are on the clipboard. Press ⌘V to paste them.
Copied — secure field
What happened. The cursor is in a password field, or an app has turned on Secure Keyboard Entry (Terminal can). macOS blocks the ⌘V that blabe sends there, so blabe left your words on the clipboard.
Fix. Press ⌘V yourself in a normal field. If you want blabe to paste into Terminal, choose Terminal → Secure Keyboard Entry to turn it off.
Copied
What happened. You switched apps before the text arrived, or blabe itself was in front with no window open. blabe didn’t paste into the wrong place.
Fix. Click where you want the text and press ⌘V. Next time, stay in the app until the text lands.
Copied — grant Accessibility to paste
What happened. blabe can’t press ⌘V until it has the Accessibility permission.
Fix. Press ⌘V for this one. Then turn on blabe in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility. The menu item Grant Accessibility… opens it.
Copied — account changed
What happened. Your words were transcribed, but this Mac’s sign-in changed before they arrived, for example you signed out or signed in again. blabe left them on the clipboard instead of pasting or sending.
Fix. Press ⌘V if you still want the text.
Pill: status and notices
Transcribing ↩
What happened. Nothing is wrong. The ↩ means a send is armed: automatic sending is on, or you pressed Return while holding the hotkey. After pasting, blabe presses Return, in a coding agent only.
Fix. To cancel the send, type anything or start another dictation. The text still pastes. See Coding agents.
Update in progress
What happened. You chose Install in blabe’s update window, and the update is still downloading or installing. Until it’s done, blabe doesn’t start a new dictation or a Retry Transcription, so nothing was recorded.
Fix. Let the update finish in its window. If the window offers to install and relaunch, choose that, and blabe opens again on the new version. Once the update window is done, hold the hotkey again.
Menu bar: what is missing
When the icon shows a warning, the top item in its menu names the first thing that’s missing. Click it.
Grant Microphone Access…
What happened. blabe doesn’t have the Microphone permission.
Fix. Click it. macOS asks, or System Settings opens on Privacy & Security → Microphone if you refused before. Turn on blabe.
Grant Input Monitoring…
What happened. blabe doesn’t have the Input Monitoring permission, so it can’t hear the hotkey.
Fix. Click it, then turn on blabe in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Input Monitoring. If macOS offers to Quit & Reopen blabe, choose Later.
Grant Accessibility…
What happened. blabe doesn’t have the Accessibility permission, so it can’t paste or press Return for you.
Fix. Click it, then turn on blabe in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility.
Sign In to blabe…
What happened. This Mac isn’t signed in to blabe, so it can’t transcribe.
Fix. Click it to open Settings, paste the license key from your purchase in the Account tab and click Sign In. See Your account and license.
Relaunch blabe to Finish Setup
What happened. Input Monitoring is on, but macOS applies it to a running app only after the app restarts.
Fix. Click it. blabe restarts and the warning goes away.
Menu bar: your account
Once you’re signed in, the first line of this part of the menu is your plan, and it is one of the headings below. Under it the menu shows your usage line and Refresh Account, which asks the service for your latest plan and usage. The same plan names appear as the plan title in Settings → Account.
Subscribed
What happened. Nothing is wrong. Your subscription is active.
Fix. None needed.
Free trial
What happened. Nothing is wrong. Your free trial is running, and Settings → Account shows “Trial ends MMM d” with the date.
Fix. None needed. To keep blabe after the trial, subscribe on the pricing page.
Trial ended
What happened. blabe’s service confirmed that this Mac’s 2-day free trial is over, so new dictation has stopped. You stay signed in to the ended trial so blabe can check its status. What you’ve already dictated isn’t affected. Being offline or seeing a connection error doesn’t mean the trial has ended.
Fix. Subscribe on the pricing page. Then in Settings → Account click Sign Out, paste the license key from your purchase and click Sign In. Make a new recording: blabe won’t retry the ended trial’s recording under your new account. Starting the trial again doesn’t reset it. See After the trial.
Subscription ended
What happened. The service says your subscription has ended, so new dictation has stopped. When the pill or Settings → Account shows it, blabe has also signed this Mac out, and the recording isn’t kept. What you’ve already dictated isn’t affected. For an ended free trial, see Trial ended.
Fix. Subscribe on the pricing page, then paste the license key from your purchase in Settings → Account and click Sign In. See Your account and license.
Access turned off
What happened. The service has turned off access for this license.
Fix. Contact support and say which license key you signed in with. If the pill said Access turned off while you were dictating, start with the pill entry.
Plan unavailable right now
What happened. blabe couldn’t get your plan from the service just now.
Fix. Check your connection and open Settings → Account again to refresh. If it keeps happening, contact support.
Menu bar: commands that help
Retry Transcription
What happened. This item appears after a transcription failed. It resends the last recording, which blabe keeps in memory only. It doesn’t appear after “Didn’t catch that”, after your sign-in changes, or while a transcription is running.
Fix. Fix the cause first, such as your connection, then click it. blabe delivers the text to the app in front, following your automatic-send setting.
Copy Last Transcript
What happened. This item is greyed out until you’ve dictated something. It puts your last transcript on the clipboard.
Fix. Use it when the text went to the wrong place or you want it again. Then press ⌘V.
Update to blabe X…
What happened. blabe found a newer version. It looks for one at most once a day, and only right after a dictation finishes, never on a timer. If the version number looks unusual, the item says Update blabe… instead. It’s greyed out while blabe is recording, transcribing, pasting or sending, while it’s checking for an update, and while an update window is open.
Fix. Click it to open blabe’s update window for that version, then choose Install. While the update installs, the pill says Update in progress if you hold the hotkey. If the item is greyed out, wait for the dictation to finish, or finish with the update window that’s already open.
Settings: launch at login
Couldn't turn on launch at login.
What happened. macOS refused to add blabe as a login item.
Fix. Move blabe to Applications, open it from there, and turn on Launch at login again. Or add blabe under System Settings → General → Login Items.
Couldn't turn off launch at login.
What happened. macOS refused to remove blabe as a login item.
Fix. Remove blabe in System Settings → General → Login Items.
Waiting for approval
What happened. macOS wants you to allow blabe to start at login. Until you do, the switch stays on but blabe doesn’t start by itself.
Fix. Click Open Login Items Settings and allow blabe in System Settings → General → Login Items.
Settings: your blabe account
These appear in Settings → Account, next to the Sign In and Sign Out buttons. See Your account and license for the full picture. “No internet” is explained above, under the pill messages.
That license key wasn't recognized.
What happened. The service doesn’t recognize the key. It may have a typo or an extra character.
Fix. Copy the key again from your purchase receipt, paste it with no spaces and click Sign In.
That key has a typo. Check it and try again.
What happened. What you pasted isn’t in the form of a blabe key, for example because other text was copied along with it. blabe checks this on your Mac, so nothing was sent to the service.
Fix. Copy only the license key from your purchase receipt, paste it with nothing before or after it and click Sign In.
This license isn't active, or all its Macs are in use.
What happened. Either the subscription or trial behind this key isn’t active, or the 3 Macs it covers are all in use.
Fix. Check your plan on the pricing page. If all 3 Macs are in use, deactivate one you no longer use in your Polar customer portal. Signing out of blabe on that Mac doesn’t free its seat. Then click Sign In again.
All 3 Macs are in use. Free one in your Polar customer portal, then sign in again.
What happened. Your subscription’s license key is already signed in on 3 Macs, the most one subscription covers. The pill, or Settings → Account when blabe refreshes your account, can show the short form, “All 3 Macs are in use”. It means the same thing.
Fix. Deactivate a Mac you no longer use in your Polar customer portal. Signing out of blabe on that Mac doesn’t free its seat. Then click Sign In again on this Mac. If this Mac is still signed in, click Sign Out first.
The free trial on this Mac has ended. Subscribe to keep dictating.
What happened. This Mac’s 2-day free trial is over. You get one free trial per Mac, and starting it again doesn’t reset it, so new dictation has stopped. What you’ve already dictated isn’t affected.
Fix. Subscribe on the pricing page, then paste the license key from your purchase and click Sign In. See Your account and license.
You've used this Mac's free trial. Subscribe to keep dictating.
What happened. You’ve used all the transcription included with this Mac’s free trial, before its 2 days were over. The trial’s limit doesn’t refresh, and starting the trial again doesn’t reset it.
Fix. Subscribe on the pricing page, then paste the license key from your purchase and click Sign In. See Your account and license.
Couldn't reach blabe. Try again.
What happened. blabe couldn’t get a usable answer from its service while signing you in.
Fix. Wait a minute and click Sign In again. If it keeps happening, contact support.
Couldn't sign out on this Mac. Try again.
What happened. blabe couldn’t remove this Mac’s sign-in, so you’re still signed in.
Fix. Click Sign Out again. If it keeps happening, contact support.
Signed out here — server unconfirmed
What happened. This Mac is signed out, but blabe couldn’t confirm with the service that it ended the session, for example because you were offline.
Fix. Nothing on this Mac: you can sign in again whenever you like. If you want to be sure the old session is closed, contact support.
Problems without a message
Nothing happens when I hold Fn
What happened. Usually the hotkey isn’t being heard.
Fix. Check the menu bar icon: if it shows a warning, fix the item at the top of its menu. Make sure blabe is on in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Input Monitoring, and that “Press 🌐 key to” is set to “Do Nothing”. Some external keyboards don’t send Fn at all. Switch the hotkey to Right Option in Settings. If the pill says “Sign in to blabe”, the hotkey works and you need to sign in.
Holding Fn opens the emoji picker or dictation
What happened. The 🌐 key still has a job in macOS.
Fix. Open System Settings → Keyboard and set Press 🌐 key to to Do Nothing. Hotkey has the details.
The text isn't pasted
What happened. Pasting was blocked, and the text is on your clipboard.
Fix. Press ⌘V. For automatic pasting, turn on blabe in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility. Password fields, and apps with Secure Keyboard Entry on, always block pasting.
Permissions stopped working after an update
What happened. macOS ties permissions to the app’s signature. A copy signed differently, such as a build made by hand, counts as a different app.
Fix. Reset blabe’s permissions and grant them again. Quit blabe first, then run tccutil reset All com.montalvo.blabe.
Recording starts late, or the first word is cut off
What happened. blabe logs how long each start takes.
Fix. In Terminal, run the command below, hold the hotkey once, and look for “First audio … ms after start”.
log stream --predicate 'subsystem == "com.montalvo.blabe"' --level infoNames and jargon come out wrong
What happened. Speech models sometimes mishear names and technical terms.
Fix. Add them to Words to recognize in Settings, separated by commas. Leave Include common developer terms on. If auto-detection picks the wrong language, pin yours in Language. Word lists are hints, so a term that sounds exactly like a common word can still come out as the common word.