Finish the onboarding tour
The first time you open BlissfulScribe it walks you through granting microphone and accessibility permissions and downloads your first transcription model. Complete it before anything else — the rest of the app assumes it's done.
Choose the right transcription model
Onboarding downloads one model to get you started, but BlissfulScribe supports several — pick the one that fits how you work. Open the menu bar icon → AI Models.
Local (Whisper / FluidAudio)
Runs entirely on your Mac. Fully private, works offline, no per-use cost. The right default for most people.
Cloud
Best raw accuracy and strongest multilingual support. Needs an internet connection and an API key from your chosen provider.
Custom
Already paying for an AI provider elsewhere (OpenAI, Groq, etc.)? Point BlissfulScribe at it directly instead of a separate subscription.
Set up Modes
Modes are saved profiles for different contexts — casual replies for chat apps, a more formal tone for email, technical vocabulary for code. Each Mode can use its own model, enhancement style, and trigger. Worth setting up two or three before you rely on the app daily.
Menu bar icon → ModesTune your preferences
A few settings are worth checking early: your global hotkey to start/stop recording (Shortcuts), whether transcribed text auto-pastes or just copies to your clipboard (Pasting), and whether recordings are automatically deleted after transcription (Privacy).
Menu bar icon → SettingsStart transcribing
Press your hotkey, speak, press it again to stop. Your text appears wherever your cursor was — that's the whole workflow. Everything above just makes it fit the way you actually work.
Full video walkthroughs are on the way. In the meantime, if anything here doesn't cover your situation, get in touch — we read every message personally.