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Troubleshooting

Fixes for the common problems: permissions, keychain prompts, text that does not paste, the wrong model.

The shortcut does nothing

  1. Open System Settings › Privacy & Security › Accessibility. Check that Nota is on.
  2. If it is on but still not working, turn it off and on again. macOS sometimes keeps an old entry after an update.
  3. Check your shortcut in Settings › Recording shortcuts. Another app may use the same keys.
  4. With the Auto trigger, a single quick tap does nothing by design. Hold the key, or tap twice.

"Trial ended. Buy Nota Pro"

You have used your 5,000 free words. Buy Nota Pro at saynota.com/pro, then activate your key in Manage License. Dictation and file transcription work again at once. See License.

The pill shows, but nothing is heard

  • Check that Nota is on in System Settings › Privacy & Security › Microphone.
  • Open Audio in Nota and watch Level while you talk. No movement means the wrong microphone. Pick another, or click Refresh.
  • A closed laptop lid turns off the built-in microphone. Open the lid or connect a microphone.

Text is not pasted

  • If a card says No text field in focus, the text is on your clipboard. Click into the field and press ⌘V, or click Paste anyway.
  • Nota pastes by pressing ⌘V for you, so it needs Accessibility. Turn it off and on again after an update.
  • Wrong characters appear with a custom keyboard layout? Set Settings › Pasting › Paste method to AppleScript.
  • A slow app pastes your old clipboard instead? Raise Restore delay in the same section.
  • If the pill just disappeared without a tick, the transcription failed. Nota shows a notice that names the reason, for example a model that is missing or damaged, or text it could not paste (it copies that text to your clipboard). History shows the same: open History, the row says why, and the recording is kept so you can Retranscribe.

The wrong model or language is used

  • The model and language come from the mode. Check which mode was used: History › the row › Info.
  • A mode may have switched on its own because of the app or website you were in. See Modes.
  • A trigger word at the start or end of a dictation also switches modes, and the switch stays.
  • If the model does not support the language you chose, Nota falls back to auto-detect. Pick a model that lists your language.
  • If a model was deleted or its key removed, dictations fail until the mode has a working model.

Keychain prompts

Nota keeps your API keys and license in the macOS Keychain. Sometimes, for example after an update or when a new version first reads what an older one saved, macOS asks whether Nota may use a keychain item.

  1. Enter your Mac login password.
  2. Click Always Allow, not Allow. Then macOS stops asking.

If Nota says it cannot access the macOS Keychain, quit Nota and open it again. If it keeps happening, restart your Mac.

"No speech" when you did speak

  • Check the microphone level in Audio. A muted or very quiet input looks like silence.
  • Some headsets start a moment late. Wait for Listening before you speak.

Dictation is slow

  • Large local models (2.9 GB) are slow on older Macs. Try Parakeet V3 or Whisper large-v3 turbo q5.
  • A mode rewrite or Smart Dictation adds a second step. Turn it off in the mode to compare.
  • Streaming cloud models return text fastest. See Cloud models.

Intel Macs

Nota runs on Intel Macs with macOS 14.4 or later, but local speech models are not reliable there. The Models page shows a banner with a button that takes you to cloud providers. Add a key for one and use it in your modes.

Still stuck?

  1. Open Settings › Diagnostics and click Export logs.
  2. Email the file to support@saynota.com. Say what you did, what you expected, and what happened.