General Settings is the first sidebar section in the HyperWhisper Settings window. It controls the behavior of the app: how the app starts and how it shows on screen. It also controls when the app looks for updates and how it reports errors.
Open General Settings
Click the HyperWhisper menu bar icon. Then click Settings. The General section opens automatically.
Click the HyperWhisper tray icon, or open the main window. Then click Settings. Then click General in the sidebar.
Open the main window, then click Settings. The Application settings section is at the top of the page.Linux has one long Settings page instead of a sidebar. Every change needs a click on Save settings before it applies.
Application Behavior
Launch on login / Launch at startup
If you enable this setting, HyperWhisper starts each time you log in to your computer. On macOS, the app uses the system login item service (SMAppService). On Windows, the app adds a startup entry.
The label is Launch on login. If macOS rejects the change, the toggle goes back to its actual state. Two conditions cause a rejection: the app is unsigned, or you denied the system prompt. A third case is not a rejection: macOS may register the login item but require you to approve it in System Settings → Login Items & Extensions (for example, after Migration Assistant or an app rename). In that case, the toggle stays on and HyperWhisper opens the Login Items settings pane for you to finish approval.
The label is Launch at startup. If the change fails, the app shows an error message. The message tells you to examine your startup permissions.
The label is Start HyperWhisper when this desktop session starts, in the Audio and desktop section. HyperWhisper writes an autostart entry at $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/hyperwhisper/autostart/hyperwhisper.desktop. If the write fails, the status line reports the reason.
Launch minimized
If you enable this setting, HyperWhisper starts in the background and the main window stays closed. This applies to every start of the app: from a login item, from a shortcut, or by hand. The setting also applies when Launch on login / Launch at startup is off.
You get to the app from the menu bar icon. The main window stays hidden until you open it.
The app starts hidden in the system tray. Click the tray icon to open the main window.
The label is Launch with the window hidden when the tray is available. HyperWhisper starts hidden only when your desktop runs a tray watcher. On a desktop with no watcher, the main window opens as usual, so you never lose access to the app.
Show in Dock
This setting is macOS only.
Minimize to system tray
This setting is on Windows and Linux. macOS does not have it.
Show recording window
If you enable this setting, a floating overlay shows on screen. The overlay shows while you record, and while HyperWhisper processes your audio. macOS and Windows both show an animated waveform.
If the overlay distracts you, or if you want a more discreet recording, disable this setting.
On Linux the label is Show the recording status overlay, and the setting is on by default.
Typing speed for “minutes saved”
This setting is on Windows and Linux, and it lives on the Home page, not in Settings. macOS does not have it.
advanced.typingSpeedWPM key, and Windows stores it as TypingSpeedWPM. Both default to 40 WPM.
Logging and Updates
Error logging / Send error reports
The label is Error logging. If you enable this setting, HyperWhisper collects error reports and sends them. These reports help us make the app better.
The label is Send error reports. If you enable this setting, HyperWhisper sends crash reports automatically. The reports never include your transcriptions.
The label is Send privacy-filtered crash and performance diagnostics. It is on by default. The reports carry no transcript, no audio, no prompt, and no credential content. A build that you compile yourself has no release crash-reporter address, so it sends nothing even when the setting is on.
Share anonymous speed data
The label is Share anonymous speed data on all three desktop platforms. This setting is on by default.
If the setting is on, HyperWhisper Cloud measures how long each cloud provider takes and stores the measurement. These measurements make the public latency page, which shows how fast each provider answers in each server region. Both apps give a link to that page. On macOS, the link is a small arrow glyph on the title line of the row. On Windows, the link is the text See the speed comparison below the title. The link operates whether the setting is on or off.
One measurement holds the provider, the server region, the clip-length group, and the time taken. It holds no account, no key, no IP address, no audio, and no text.
If you turn the setting off, each cloud transcription sends the X-Latency-Opt-Out: 1 header and the server stores no measurement. Your transcriptions do not change: the same providers run, at the same speed, and you get the same result. Local models never send a measurement, whatever this setting is.
The setting arrived in macOS 2.43.0 and Windows 1.10.0. Older versions have no switch, so the server measures nothing from them at all.
For the full list of the stored fields and the retention period, read Data & Privacy.
Auto update / Check for updates automatically
The label is Auto update. If you enable this setting, HyperWhisper looks for new versions and downloads them automatically.
The label is Check for updates automatically. If you enable this setting, HyperWhisper looks for new versions at startup. It shows no message while it looks.
Linux has no automatic check and no such setting. HyperWhisper never refreshes or installs a package by itself. Click Refresh package status in About to compare your installed package with the metadata that your package manager already has.
Support
The Need help? row in General Settings opens the HyperWhisper support page in your browser. On that page, you can contact the support team.
You can also write to hi@support.hyperwhisper.com, or use the support page.
App version
The bottom of the General Settings panel shows the current version and the build number. When you write to the support team, give them this version. You can also use the version to make sure that you have the latest release. 