> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://www.speakoflow.com/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Keyboard shortcuts

> Every SpeakoFlow keyboard shortcut and its default on Windows, macOS, and Linux, plus how Hold and Tap recording differ and why tap-to-lock currently does nothing.

These are the defaults. Every shortcut is configurable in *Settings → General → Shortcuts*.

| Action                                                            | Windows                                      | macOS                        | Linux                      |
| ----------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------- | -------------------------- |
| **Dictate**<br />Start/stop recording, type it out                | `Left Ctrl` + `Left Win`                     | `Option` + `Space`           | `Ctrl` + `Space`           |
| **Dictate & clean up**<br />Dictate, then AI-clean before pasting | `Ctrl` + `Shift` + `Space`                   | `Option` + `Shift` + `Space` | `Ctrl` + `Shift` + `Space` |
| **Ask the assistant**<br />Voice question into the panel          | `Left Ctrl` + `Left Alt`                     | `Option` + `Ctrl` + `Space`  | `Ctrl` + `Alt` + `Space`   |
| **Show / hide panel**<br />Toggle the floating assistant          | `Ctrl` + `Shift` + `A`                       | `Option` + `Ctrl` + `A`      | `Ctrl` + `Alt` + `A`       |
| **Cancel**<br />Stop a recording or streaming reply               | Unset. Bind any key (e.g. `Esc`) in Settings |                              |                            |
| **Debug mode**<br />Reveal diagnostics                            | `Ctrl` + `Shift` + `D`                       | `Cmd` + `Shift` + `D`        | `Ctrl` + `Shift` + `D`     |

Cancel is the only one unset out of the box. Bind it to whatever you like. It stops an active recording, a streaming assistant reply, or a Flow generation in progress.

Debug mode is not a global shortcut. It only fires while the Settings window is focused, because all it does is reveal the Debug section in the sidebar.

## Hold or Tap

One setting in *Settings → General* controls all three recording shortcuts: dictation, dictation with cleanup, and the assistant.

* **Hold** (default). Records while you hold the shortcut, and types out when you let go.
* **Tap**. One press starts recording, the next press stops it. This is how you record hands-free.

Cancel works in both modes. The overlay's tick button finishes a hands-free recording without touching the keyboard.

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Why the Windows defaults are modifier-only">
    Holding `Left Ctrl` + `Left Win` keeps every letter and the Space bar free, so the shortcut can't collide with text shortcuts inside your apps.

    Left-side keys specifically, so an international `AltGr` layout won't trigger the assistant by accident.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Tap to lock does nothing in the current build">
    The idea was that tapping a lock key mid-hold would flip the recording to hands-free, so you could let go and keep talking.

    **It is not wired up.** Three settings for it still exist in the settings file: a *Tap to lock* switch (on), a lock key for dictation, and a separate one for the assistant. But there is no control for any of them in Settings, and nothing arms the watcher during a hold recording. Tapping the key has no effect.

    Use the **Tap** recording behavior instead. It is the same outcome by a different route.

    For reference, the stored defaults are `Space` on Windows and `Shift` on macOS and Linux. `Space` on Windows because the Windows record shortcuts are modifier-only and leave Space free. `Shift` elsewhere because the default macOS and Linux shortcuts already hold Space, and a lock key that overlaps the record shortcut could never work anyway.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

<Tip>
  Prefer a hardware key or a window-manager binding? SpeakoFlow also accepts [command-line flags](/docs/settings/cli) like `--toggle-transcription` that you can wire to anything.
</Tip>