Grant macOS access
Understand exactly why WhisperInk asks for Microphone, Accessibility, and Screen Recording access.
Which permissions are required?
| Permission | Needed for | What fails without it |
|---|---|---|
| Microphone | All voice input | Dictation and spoken Command cannot start |
| Accessibility | Reading selected text and automatic paste | Results stay on the clipboard; selected text is unavailable |
| Screen Recording | Command with a window screenshot | Screenshot context cannot be captured |
How to grant access
- 1
In WhisperInk, open Settings → Permissions.
- 2
Choose Allow or Open Settings beside the permission you need.
- 3
In System Settings → Privacy & Security, open Microphone, Accessibility, or Screen & System Audio Recording.
- 4
Enable WhisperInk. If macOS asks you to quit and reopen the app, do so.
- 5
Return to WhisperInk and refresh the permission status if it has not updated automatically.
Microphone
WhisperInk accesses the microphone only while listening. Recording and speech transcription run locally, and temporary audio is removed after transcription.
If access was denied, macOS may stop showing the original prompt. Enable WhisperInk manually under Privacy & Security → Microphone.
Accessibility
Accessibility lets WhisperInk read the text you selected in another app and paste a finished result at the active cursor. It is not required for local speech recognition itself.
If dictation succeeds but nothing is pasted, verify this permission and confirm that Automatic paste is enabled in Settings. Your result should still be available on the clipboard and in History.
Screen Recording
This permission lets a vision-capable Command model use a screenshot of the selected app window as context. It does not turn on continuous recording.
The screenshot shortcut is shown only when the selected writing model supports images. Choose a vision model first, then grant Screen Recording access.