Dictation is slow or cuts off my first words

Pick your specific microphone in Settings > General > Microphone, wait for the start sound before you speak, and turn off Polished Transcription if you want raw text back faster.

First words are missing

1. Open Settings > General and choose your actual mic under Microphone instead of System Default. Switching devices can delay the start.
2. Wait for the start sound before you speak. If Sound Effects is off in Settings > General, turn it on so you can hear when recording starts.
3. On Windows, try Hold to Record with Ctrl + Win: hold the keys, say a full sentence, then let go. See Choose Toggle or Hold to record.

The end gets cut off

Finish your last word before you press the hotkey again or release it in Hold mode. Leave a short pause at the end.

Text takes long to appear

• Turn off Polished Transcription. Go to Contexts and switch off the toggle on the Default Transcription card. This skips the AI tidy-up step, so raw text appears faster. See Turn Polished Transcription on or off.
• Check your internet connection. With Contextli Cloud, audio is processed online.
• On-device processing depends on your computer. If you use Your Device in Settings > Data Control, a smaller model or the Fast preset is quicker. See Choose Cloud, your own API keys or on-device processing.

Messages you may see

• AI polish failed: your words are saved in Notes. Open Notes to retry.
• Processing Timeout: transcription took too long. Try again.

Still slow?

Record a short screen video while you dictate (on Windows, Windows key + Alt + R starts a recording) and send it to [email protected] with your computer model.

Related articles

• “No sound from your microphone” or empty notes
• Turn Polished Transcription on or off
• Contact Contextli support