Paraspeech Documentation
Everything you need to know about using Paraspeech. Turn your voice into text, privately, on your Mac.
Quick Start
The Whole Thing (30 seconds)
HOLD your shortcut
(Control by default)
TALK
Say what you want
LET GO
Release the key
DONE!
Text appears automatically
First Time Setup
Grant Microphone permission
So Paraspeech can hear you
Grant Accessibility permission
So it can detect your shortcut in any app
Wait for the AI model to download
~600 MB, one-time download
Choose your recording shortcut
Control is the default
Do a test recording
Verify everything works
Essential Settings
| Setting | What It Does | Find It In |
|---|---|---|
| Auto-Send (On) | Text appears automatically (turn off for manual ⌘V) | Settings → General |
| Recording Shortcut | Change your hotkey | Settings → Hotkeys |
| Remove Fillers | Strip “um,” “uh,” etc. | Settings → Text Processing |
| Word Replacements | Auto-correct specific words | Settings → Word Replacements |
| Privacy Mode | Stop saving history | Settings → General |
Getting Started
What You'll Need
- A Mac with Apple Silicon (M1, M2, M3, M4, or newer)
- macOS 14.6 (Sonoma) or later
- A microphone (built-in works great)
- 5 minutes for setup
First Launch
When you first open Paraspeech, a setup wizard walks you through everything:
1. Microphone Access
So Paraspeech can hear you (obviously)
2. Accessibility Access
This lets Paraspeech detect your shortcut key and paste text for you. It sounds like a big permission, but Paraspeech can't read your screen or see what you're doing — it just needs this to work in the background while you use other apps.
3. Model Download
A one-time ~600 MB download. This is the speech recognition brain that runs entirely on your Mac.
4. Choose Your Shortcut
Pick the key you'll hold when you want to talk
Finding Paraspeech
After setup, look for the Paraspeech icon in your menu bar — that's the row of small icons at the top-right of your screen, near the clock and Wi-Fi. Click it to:
- See your recent transcriptions
- Copy something you said earlier
- Open settings
- Check how much you've used it
How to Use Paraspeech
The Basic Flow
- 1
Hold your shortcut key
(Control by default)
- 2
Say what you want to say
Speak naturally
- 3
Let go of the key
Your words are processed
- 4
Text appears automatically
Right where your cursor is
Your transcription also appears in the menu bar history — click the Paraspeech icon to see recent transcriptions if the auto-paste missed or you need to use something again.
Recording Modes
Both (Default)
Hold shortcut to talk, release to stop. Or tap shortcut to toggle recording on/off.
Hold Only
Hold shortcut → Speak → Release
Toggle Only
Tap once to start, tap again to stop
Change in: Settings → Hotkeys → Behavior
Recording Indicator
While you're recording, a small visual indicator appears so you know Paraspeech is listening. You can change how this looks in Settings:
Default
Clear indicator
Compact
Smaller, subtle
Hidden
No visual indicator
Features
Automatic Copy
When you finish speaking, your transcription is copied automatically. No extra steps — just paste wherever you need it.
Auto-Send (On by Default)
Text appears automatically wherever your cursor is. Prefer manual pasting? Turn off “Auto-Send” in Settings and use ⌘V instead.
Transcription History
Every transcription is saved in your menu bar history. If auto-paste fails or you need to use something again, just click the Paraspeech icon to retrieve it.
Privacy Mode
Working on something confidential? Privacy Mode clears your history and stops saving new transcriptions.
Cleaning Up Your Transcriptions
Removing Filler Words (On by Default)
We all say “um” and “uh” when we talk. Paraspeech quietly removes these so your text reads more cleanly.
What you say:
“Um, so I was thinking, uh, we should schedule a meeting”
What you get:
“So I was thinking we should schedule a meeting”
Converting Numbers (Optional)
If you'd prefer “250” instead of “two hundred fifty,” turn on number conversion in Settings.
What you say:
“The total is two hundred fifty dollars”
What you get:
“The total is 250 dollars”
Speech Models
Paraspeech includes two speech recognition models:
Multilingual (Default)
- • Understands 25 languages
- • ~600 MB download
English Only
- • Tuned specifically for English
- • Better accuracy for English speakers
- • ~500 MB download
Switch between them in Settings → General → Speech Model
Optimal Setup
Take ten minutes to set things up right, and Paraspeech will feel like an extension of your brain.
Choose Your Recording Shortcut
The right shortcut makes or breaks your experience. You'll use it hundreds of times per day.
Good Shortcuts
- Control — Easy to reach (default)
- Right Option — Right hand stays on mouse
- Caps Lock — Rarely used otherwise
Shortcuts to Avoid
- Command alone — Too many conflicts
- Shift alone — Triggers while typing
- Space/Tab — Conflicts with navigation
Select Your Microphone
The right mic input makes a significant difference in accuracy.
| Your Setup | Recommended Mic |
|---|---|
| Quiet environment | Built-in Mac mic |
| Noisy environment | Headset mic (isolates your voice) |
| Video calls | Use your call headset |
| On the go | AirPods or built-in |
System Audio During Recording
What should happen to system sounds while you're recording?
Mute
Complete silence while recording
Dampen
Lowers volume significantly
Off
No change to system audio
Word Replacements
This is how you teach Paraspeech your vocabulary — the names, terms, and shortcuts that make it feel like it actually knows you.
Why Use Word Replacements?
Fix Consistent Errors
If Paraspeech consistently mishears something, add a rule to fix it automatically.
Proper Capitalization
Names, brands, and acronyms: iphone → iPhone, api → API
Technical Terminology
Industry-specific terms: kubernetes → Kubernetes
Text Expansion
Short → long: addr → 123 Main Street, Suite 400
Example Replacements
| Category | Original | Replacement |
|---|---|---|
| Names | john | John |
| Tech Terms | api | API |
| Brands | ||
| Shortcuts | myemail | [email protected] |
| Signature | sig | Best regards, Your Name |
How to Add a Rule
- 1Click the Paraspeech icon in your menu bar
- 2Click the gear icon to open Settings
- 3Select Word Replacements from the sidebar
- 4Click Add Rule
- 5Enter the word to find (Original)
- 6Enter what to replace it with (Replacement)
- 7Optionally enable Case Sensitive matching
Pro Tip
Start small — add rules as you notice problems, don't try to predict everything. After a few weeks of building your word replacements, it'll feel like Paraspeech knows your vocabulary.
Use Cases
Real situations where talking beats typing.
Email & Communication
Quick Email Replies
You have 47 emails to respond to. Typing each reply takes 2-3 minutes.
With Paraspeech:
- 1. Open an email and click Reply
- 2. Hold shortcut, speak your response, release
- 3. Quick proofread, hit Send
Meeting Notes
You're in a meeting and need to capture key points without missing the conversation.
With Paraspeech:
- 1. When someone says something important, hold your shortcut
- 2. Quickly paraphrase: “John will send the proposal by Friday”
- 3. Release and paste into your notes
Tip: Start notes with “Action:” or “Decision:” for easy scanning later
Creative Work
First Drafts
Get words on the page without the friction of typing. Just talk through your ideas and clean up after.
Brainstorming
Capture ideas in the moment — hold, speak, release, move on. Raw ideas and fragments are fine.
Journaling
Just talk about your day. Enable Privacy Mode for personal journals.
Content Creation
Speak your content naturally, then edit for written format. Great for blogs and social posts.
Professional Workflows
Sales & CRM
Dictate meeting notes directly into Salesforce or HubSpot fields. Quick follow-up emails.
Legal
Document research, case notes, client communications. Use word replacements for legal terminology.
Healthcare
Chart notes between appointments. Enable Privacy Mode for patient information.
Architecture & Engineering
Describe design decisions, site observations, RFIs. Word replacements for software names and specs.
Education & Research
Outline lectures, capture research insights, provide student feedback.
Accessibility
Repetitive Strain Prevention
Replace routine typing with dictation. Save your hands for tasks that truly need them.
Motor Accessibility
Use voice for primary text input. Minimal keyboard use required. Works with any app that accepts text.
Tips for Professionals
Once you've got the basics down, here's how to make Paraspeech part of how you work.
General Productivity Tips
Train Your Muscle Memory
The fastest Paraspeech users don't think about the tool — they just talk. Practice until holding your shortcut and speaking becomes automatic.
Exercise: For one week, force yourself to use Paraspeech for every short message. By day 7, it'll feel natural.
Speak in Complete Thoughts
Instead of dictating word-by-word, speak in full sentences or paragraphs.
Less effective:
“The... meeting... is... at... three...”
More effective:
“The meeting is at three o'clock in the main conference room.”
Don't Edit While Recording
Finish your thought, then edit the text after. Stopping to correct yourself mid-sentence creates choppy transcriptions.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Over-Editing Before Pasting
Paraspeech output is generally accurate. Don't spend time re-recording for perfection — paste it and make quick text edits.
Using Paraspeech for Everything
Typing may be more practical for single words, heavily formatted text, or code with lots of symbols.
Not Setting Up Word Replacements
If you keep seeing the same errors, fix them once with a word replacement instead of correcting manually every time.
Ignoring the Learning Curve
The first few days feel awkward. That's normal. By week two, you won't want to go back to typing everything.
Estimate Your Time Savings
Paraspeech tracks your statistics automatically. Use this calculator to see your potential savings:
How much more productive can you be?
Time savings calculator
Your monthly impact
Based on your inputs, here’s how much Paraspeech can save you each month (20 working days).
If you type faster than you speak, you’ll get a refund.
Privacy & Security
The Core Promise
Your voice never leaves your Mac.
Unlike Siri, Google Assistant, or other cloud-based dictation services, Paraspeech processes everything locally. There's no server, no upload, no cloud processing.
How It Works
- 1Your microphone captures audio
- 2The audio is processed by an AI model on your Mac
- 3The AI converts speech to text on your Mac
- 4Text is copied to your clipboard
- 5Optionally saved to local history
At no point does audio or text leave your device.
Permissions Explained
Microphone (Required)
Why: To hear your voice during recording
What it does: Captures audio only while you're actively recording (holding your shortcut)
What it doesn't do: Record when you're not pressing the shortcut; record in the background; save raw audio files
Accessibility (Required)
Why: To detect your keyboard shortcut globally (in any app) and paste text automatically (if Auto-Send is enabled)
What it does NOT do: Read your screen, see what's in other apps, log your keystrokes, access your passwords
Privacy Mode
For maximum privacy, enable Privacy Mode in Settings → General.
- Immediately clears all transcription history
- Stops saving new transcriptions to history
- Transcriptions still work normally — they're just not stored
When to use: Working with sensitive/confidential information, shared computers, regulated industries (healthcare, legal, finance)
Analytics (Optional)
If You Opt In
We collect anonymous usage statistics: which features you use, error reports (without content), session counts.
We NEVER Collect
Audio recordings, transcription text, what you type or dictate, personal information.
Comparison with Cloud Dictation
| Feature | Paraspeech | Cloud Services |
|---|---|---|
| Audio processing | On your Mac | Uploaded to servers |
| Internet required | No (after setup) | Yes, always |
| Works offline | Yes | No |
| Data stored where | Your Mac only | Company servers |
| Who can access | Only you | You + company + others |
Troubleshooting
| Problem | Quick Fix |
|---|---|
| Shortcut not working | Check Accessibility permission in System Settings. Toggle Paraspeech off and on, restart the app. |
| No audio detected | Check Microphone permission. Verify mic in Settings → Audio. Test in Voice Memos. |
| Wrong words | Add word replacement rules. Try the English-only model. Reduce background noise. |
| Blank transcription | Speak louder. Check microphone selection. Move closer to mic. |
| Transcription is slow | Close other heavy apps. Try shorter recordings. Check Low Power Mode is off. |
| App won't open | Confirm macOS 14.6 or later. Restart your Mac. Download latest version. |
Fixing Permission Issues
Shortcut not responding?
- 1. Open System Settings
- 2. Go to Privacy & Security → Accessibility
- 3. Find Paraspeech in the list
- 4. Toggle it off and back on
- 5. Restart Paraspeech
Microphone not detected?
- 1. Open System Settings → Privacy & Security → Microphone
- 2. Make sure Paraspeech is listed and enabled
- 3. Restart Paraspeech
- 4. Try a test recording in Voice Memos to verify your mic works
Still Need Help?
Email us at [email protected] — we actually read and reply to these.
Share ideas and feature requests at paraspeech.userjot.com
Frequently Asked Questions
The Basics
It's a voice-to-text app for Mac. Hold a key, say what you're thinking, let go — and your words appear instantly wherever your cursor is. No pasting required.
No. Everything happens on your Mac. The speech recognition runs locally, your recordings never leave your computer, and there's no cloud involved. It even works on airplane mode.
You'll need a Mac with Apple Silicon (M1, M2, M3, M4, or newer) and macOS 14.6 (Sonoma) or later. If you have an Intel Mac, unfortunately Paraspeech won't run — the speech recognition requires Apple Silicon.
There's a free trial so you can see if it works for you. After that, it's a one-time purchase — no subscription, no recurring fees.
Yes! After the initial setup (which downloads the speech recognition model), Paraspeech works completely offline.
Using Paraspeech
Hold your shortcut key (Control by default), talk, let go. Your words appear instantly wherever your cursor is — no pasting required. That's the whole thing.
Turn off "Auto-Send" in Settings → General. Your transcription will still be copied to your clipboard, and you can paste with ⌘V when ready. Your history is always available in the menu bar if you need to retrieve something later.
Absolutely. Go to Settings → Hotkeys and pick whatever feels natural. Some people like Right Option, some use Caps Lock, others prefer a key combination.
Find a quieter spot (background noise confuses transcription), set up word replacements for terms it keeps getting wrong, and try the English-only model if you only speak English.
The default Multilingual model handles 25 languages. There's also an English-only model if that's all you need.
Privacy & Security
Yes. Your voice is processed on your Mac, not in the cloud. Nothing is uploaded anywhere. Your transcription history stays on your computer.
It lets Paraspeech detect your shortcut key while you're using other apps and allows Auto-Send to paste text for you. Paraspeech can't read your screen, see what you're typing, or access your passwords.
Only if you opt in, we collect anonymous usage data — things like which features people use and crash reports. We never collect your voice, your transcriptions, or anything you say.
It clears your transcription history and stops saving new ones. Everything still works normally — your transcriptions just aren't stored. Handy for confidential work.
Purchasing
You get a number of free transcriptions to try it out. The app shows how many you have left. After that, you'll see a prompt to purchase.
No. Pay once, use it forever. No monthly fees, no annual renewals.
It depends on your license. Each license tier includes a certain number of device activations — check your purchase details or the pricing page to see how many Macs your license covers.
Question not here? Email [email protected] — we're happy to help.
Keyboard Reference
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Record | Hold your shortcut (Control by default) |
| Text appears | Automatically where your cursor is (or ⌘V if Auto-Send is off) |
| See history and settings | Click the menu bar icon |
For people who'd rather talk than type.