License Download

Troubleshooting

Nothing happens when I hold fn

  • Check Accessibility — the menu bar shows a reminder when it's missing. See Permissions.
  • If an emoji picker or input switcher appears, set Keyboard › Press 🌐 key to to Do Nothing.
  • Many external keyboards don't send fn to macOS. Choose right ⌥ in Settings › Shortcuts.

Text didn't appear in my app

The overlay tells you why and keeps the text. Common causes: you switched to another window while it was processing, the field was a password field, or the app ignores paste. Use Paste here, ⌃⌥⌘V, or copy it from the menu bar or History.

Apps that block pasting entirely won't accept Sayburst's text either. Copy it from History and type or paste it some other way.

My clipboard changed

Sayburst restores your clipboard about half a second after pasting. If you copy something during that half second, Sayburst leaves your new copy alone. You can turn restoring off in Settings › General.

The first dictation took a long time

After installing a model, macOS compiles it for your chip, which takes about 20 seconds once. Keep “Keep the model loaded” on in Settings › Models so later dictations start instantly.

“No speech detected”

If the overlay says the microphone sent silence, pick the right input in Settings › Audio and run the microphone test. Bluetooth headsets sometimes take a second to switch into microphone mode; the built-in microphone is usually more reliable.

Model download failed

Click Try Again — downloads resume where they stopped. Models come from huggingface.co; some company networks block it. Every file is checked against a published SHA-256 checksum, and a damaged file is discarded rather than installed.

Wrong words or names

Add them in Settings › Dictionary. For words that are consistently misheard, add a replacement (“dark mode” → “Darkmode”). If you speak a language other than English, set it explicitly in Settings › Models.

License problems

  • “Active on another Mac”: choose a Mac to replace in the activation screen, or free one on the license page.
  • Lost your key: request a sign-in link on the license page; it shows your key.
  • “License check needed”: you've been offline for more than 60 days. Connect once and click Check License Now.

Still stuck

Export a diagnostics report (Settings › Updates & Help › Export Diagnostics) and send it to support. It contains no recordings, transcripts or keys.