The Murmur guide

Every page and setting, explained in three layers. Read as much or as little as you need.

What it does in plain wordsWhy it works this wayTechnical detail for the curious

Getting started

Setup guide

Six short steps the first time you open Murmur. About a minute, and you can change anything later.

What it does

  • Welcome shows your dictation shortcut.
  • How do you work? Three yes / no / not sure questions.
  • We suggest a profile based on your answers - you can pick another.
  • Speech & spelling: where your speech is turned into text, and British or American spelling.
  • A few choices: a handful of switches for your profile.
  • You're all set, with an optional tour.

Why

Murmur can do a lot, but most people need only part of it. Asking about how you work - rather than listing features - gets you a sensible setup without reading a manual.

Technical detail
  • Terminals = yes suggests Technical. Otherwise, wanting to use the keyboard less (yes or not sure), or using Clarity or Kitbag, suggests Assisted. Otherwise Everyday.
  • Spelling starts from your Windows language setting; the guide asks whether to keep it.
  • "On this PC" runs a check of your hardware and gives an estimate - actual performance may differ.
  • Run the guide again any time from Help.

Dictating and the pill

Press your shortcut in any app, speak, press it again. Your words appear where your cursor is.

What it does

  • Start with the keyboard shortcut, a spare mouse button, the green button on the pill, "Start dictating" on Home, or by saying "Murmur listen".
  • The pill at the bottom of the screen shows what's happening: listening, working, typed, or a problem.
  • Choose press to start and stop, or hold to talk.

Why

Typing is the slow part. Speaking straight into the app you're already using means no copying and pasting between windows, and nothing new to learn.

Technical detail
  • Murmur remembers the window you started in, and can put your text back there even if you clicked elsewhere while speaking ("Insert where I started").
  • If speech can't be sent - no internet, server down - the recording is kept on your PC and offered again later. Nothing is lost.
  • Your shortcuts are shown everywhere as they're set on your PC, so if you change them the guide and pages follow.

Profiles

Everyday, Assisted or Technical decides how much of Murmur you see. Switch from Home at any time.

What it does

  • Everyday: emails, documents and chat.
  • Assisted: use the keyboard less, with help reading and spelling - hands-free phrases, read aloud, Clarity and Kitbag.
  • Technical: everything, including commands, Superpaste and per-app rules.

Why

A screen full of options you'll never use makes the ones you need harder to find. Profiles hide, they don't remove - nothing you set is lost when you switch.

Technical detail
  • Settings a profile turns off are kept aside and given back if you switch back.
  • Tasks & notes is in every profile.

Pages

The sidebar, top to bottom.

Home

Ready to go, what needs your attention, and how much you've dictated.

What it does

  • Ready when you are: your shortcut and a Start dictating button.
  • Your connection, with a status dot and a Test link.
  • Needs your attention: an update, kept recordings, or setup to finish - one line each.
  • Your stats and your most recent dictations.

Why

One calm place that answers "is it working?" at a glance. Problems appear only when there are any.

Technical detail
  • The connection's web address and model are shown only in the Technical profile.
  • "Saved vs typing" compares your speaking pace with a typical typing speed.

History

Everything you've dictated, on this PC, grouped by day.

What it does

  • Filter: All, Dictation, Commands, Programs opened, Tidied by AI. Search at the top.
  • On any entry: Copy, Type it again, Read aloud, Delete (with Undo).
  • Where the AI changed your words, "You said" shows the original.
  • Clear all asks first.
  • Say "murmur again" to type your newest line once more.

Why

Text sometimes misses its window - a pop-up steals focus, an app is busy. History means you never have to say it twice. Seeing the original keeps the AI honest.

Technical detail
  • Stored locally only, in your Windows user profile. The most recent entries are kept (200 by default).
  • Speed details - how long it took, where the text came from - are in each entry's details, not the list.
  • Recovered recordings appear here once they've been processed.

Dictionary

Fix words Murmur keeps mishearing - and let it learn them for you.

What it does

  • Learning: learn automatically from AI corrections, and (optional) learn when you fix a word yourself.
  • Words for your line of work: load a pack of terms so they're spelt right.
  • Your words: "heard as" → "replace with" rules. Filter by Learned, Added by you, or Check.
  • Export and import to move everything to another PC.

Why

Speech recognition is good at common words and weak at yours - names, jargon, acronyms. A few fixes make a big difference, and learning means you rarely add them by hand.

Technical detail
  • Auto-learn compares what the recogniser heard with the AI-tidied text, and promotes a word fix only after it has seen it more than once.
  • Learned rules are conservative: single words, real-looking terms, never punctuation.
  • Check flags rules that look wrong: spelling-style flips (practising → practicing for a British user) and a word turned into its plural.
  • Murmur won't learn spelling-style flips in the first place.
  • "Learn when I fix a word" reads only the text box you just dictated into, read-only, for about 25 seconds, and never in terminals or consoles.
  • Word packs are hints sent to the recogniser; your own list is applied to every transcript.

Tasks & notes

Speak a task, note or reminder. Murmur works out which it is and when it's due.

What it does

  • Capture with its own shortcut, the microphone button, or by typing.
  • Tasks are grouped Overdue, Today and Later. Tick to finish, Snooze, or Edit the wording, day, time and repeat.
  • Repeat: never, every day, every week or every month.
  • Notes are colour-tagged cards: read aloud, edit, make into a task, delete.
  • When a task is due, a reminder pops up on screen.

Why

Ideas and to-dos arrive while you're doing something else. Saying them out loud, without switching apps, means they're captured before they're forgotten - and the reminder comes to you.

Technical detail
  • "Remind me to...", times and days ("tomorrow at 10", "Friday 3pm") and repeats ("every Sunday") are recognised from your words. If a time has passed today, it's set for tomorrow.
  • Reminders appear on top of other windows even when Murmur is minimised or in the tray, without taking your keyboard focus. Murmur must be running.
  • Ticking a repeating task moves it to its next date rather than finishing it.
  • Each note's colour comes from its topic, so related notes look alike - a small memory aid.
  • Everything is stored on this PC.

Trigger phrases

Say a short phrase, get a whole block of saved text.

What it does

  • "Email signature" types your sign-off. "Standup update" types your template.
  • The text can span several lines.
  • Start from an idea: signature, standup, out of office.

Why

A lot of what we type is the same every time. Two spoken words are faster than any template menu, and work in every app.

Technical detail
  • The phrase has to be the whole dictation, so it won't fire in the middle of a sentence.
  • Command phrases for terminals live on the Commands page; words after a command phrase are added as arguments.

Commands

Technical

In a terminal, say what you want. Murmur types the command and waits for you to press Enter.

What it does

  • Three ways to say it: spell it ("L S dash L A" → ls -la), say the words ("get child item" → Get-ChildItem), or just ask ("show disk space" → df -hT).
  • Try a command for Bash, PowerShell, Command Prompt or VMware ESXi, then save it as a short phrase.
  • Which windows get commands, words Murmur hears wrongly, and a searchable reference of everything it understands.

Why

A command typed into the wrong place can do damage, so Murmur is deliberately careful: it only types commands that look around, and you always read the line before it runs.

Technical detail
  • Only recognised command words can start a line, so a sentence spoken into a terminal by mistake is never typed.
  • Anything that deletes or changes files is refused unless you saved it yourself as a phrase.
  • PowerShell and Command Prompt are recognised by window title. PuTTY or SSH windows look the same whatever's at the far end, so Murmur asks once - say 1 Bash, 2 PowerShell, 3 Command Prompt or 4 normal text - and remembers per program or per user@host.
  • If the built-in grammar can't make a command, the AI can suggest one line. It's checked against the same safety list and marked "AI:".
  • Auto-enter (off by default) presses Enter only for safe checks and folder moves.
  • Symbols: "dot", "slash", "dash", "space" for a new argument, "literal" to keep a word, "spell ... end spell" for letters.

Launch

"Open my emails" opens Outlook. "Switch to Teams" brings it to the front. "Open downloads" opens the folder.

What it does

  • Try a name shows what would open and why - it never opens anything.
  • Words that start a program ("launch", "open") and words that bring it forward ("switch to", "go to"), as chips you can add or remove.
  • Give programs your own spoken names. Add apps that aren't in the Start menu.
  • Folders: "open downloads", "open my documents", or folders you name yourself. In a terminal, "go to logs" and other named places are on the Commands page.
  • Ask before opening, if you'd like to confirm first.

Why

Finding a program in the Start menu takes several clicks. Saying its name - or your name for it - takes a second.

Technical detail
  • Murmur can only open Start menu shortcuts or apps you add, so it can never run something that isn't installed.
  • If several programs match, the pill shows numbered choices - say the number or "cancel".
  • If the program is already open, Murmur brings its window forward instead of opening another.
  • Rescan after installing something new.
  • Folders open in File Explorer, and only folders that exist on this PC.

Apps & websites

Technical

For windows where your words don't arrive properly - consoles in web pages, remote sessions that ignore Ctrl + V.

What it does

  • Check a window: click into the problem window and Murmur shows how it puts text there, and why.
  • Pick a method and remember it for that website or that app:
    • Normal paste - Ctrl + V, right for most apps.
    • Terminal paste - Shift + Insert, for web terminals and SSH.
    • VM console keys - for VMware, noVNC and consoles that ignore paste.
    • Type each key - when nothing else works.
  • Lists of the apps and websites you've taught it.

Why

Windows can't always tell Murmur what kind of window it's typing into - a remote console looks like an ordinary browser tab. Teaching it once fixes that window for good.

Technical detail
  • Order of decision: a website rule (closest matching address wins), then an app you've taught it, then automatic.
  • Murmur reads only the address bar of Edge, Chrome, Firefox, Brave, Opera and Vivaldi - never the page or your history.
  • Anything after ? or # in an address is ignored. If a browser hides http/https, the rule matches either.
  • If two rules match equally, or the address can't be read, the app setting is used.
  • Rules apply in Automatic mode, to dictation and to the clipboard Superpaste.

Help and reading options

Short answers inside the app, read your way.

What it does

  • Topic cards and a search box: "What do you want to do?"
  • Each topic: the gist, three short answers, then more detail and links to the right settings.
  • Reading options: font, size, line and letter spacing, line length, background tint, text colour and bold word starts.
  • Read aloud with Clarity. Run the setup guide again.

Why

Everyone reads differently. Letting you shape the text - rather than giving one "accessible" version - means help that's comfortable for you.

Technical detail
  • Reading options are saved with your settings and apply to every help topic.
  • Read aloud needs Clarity, our reading companion app.

Settings

Seven tabs, one topic each. "Find a setting" searches them all.

Dictation

How Murmur treats what you say, and which language it writes in.

What it does

  • Automatic (recommended): commands in terminals, ordinary text everywhere else. Or Always text, or Always commands.
  • Work in administrator windows. Ask the AI when a command isn't recognised. Auto-enter (use with care).
  • Spelling: British or American.
  • Write my dictation in another language - speak one, type another.
  • Translate speech to English (own server only).

Why

The same words mean different things in an email and a terminal. Automatic mode looks at the window you're in, so you don't have to switch modes by hand.

Technical detail
  • Typing into windows opened "as administrator" needs Murmur to run with administrator rights too; the switch sets that up.
  • Spelling starts from your Windows language. The AI tidy-up and translation follow it.
  • Translation keeps names, numbers, code, e-mail and web addresses exactly as you said them. Commands in a terminal are handled before any translation.
  • Some options only appear in the Technical profile; the tab says so.

Shortcuts

The keys and mouse buttons that start Murmur, and whether they're working.

What it does

  • Shortcuts for dictation, voice edit (change selected text by speaking) and tasks & notes, each with a status: Working, In use, or Not checked. Change any of them.
  • Press to start and stop, or hold to talk - separately for each.
  • A spare mouse button to dictate, and whether to keep that button for Murmur only.

Why

Another program may already use a key combination, and then nothing happens when you press it. Showing the status means you find out here, not mid-sentence.

Technical detail
  • "Check the shortcuts" tests whether each combination can be registered.
  • Mouse buttons are useful when a virtual machine has grabbed the keyboard - the mouse isn't part of that grab.
  • Keeping the button for Murmur only needs a system-wide mouse hook, so it's off until you turn it on.

Typing & pasting

How your words get into the window, and the finishing touches.

What it does

  • Automatic (Superpaste), Always paste, or Always type.
  • Superpaste the clipboard into a VM with a shortcut or mouse button.
  • Finishing touches: insert where I started, restore the clipboard, add a space after, and end a sentence only when you say "full stop" (experimental).
  • Hands-free phrases: "Murmur listen", "murmur again", "murmur paste".

Why

Pasting is fast and works almost everywhere. Where it doesn't - consoles, VMs - Murmur types instead, so you don't have to think about it.

Technical detail
  • Automatic types into remote, VM and console windows and pastes elsewhere. Per-app and per-website overrides live on Apps & websites.
  • Your clipboard is put back after pasting, unless you turn that off.
  • Hands-free phrases are heard on this PC only, and only while a console or browser is in front.
  • Typing speed in consoles can be slowed for laggy remote sessions.

Speech

Where your speech is turned into text. For your own server, follow the Whisper setup guide.

What it does

  • Murmur (Neurodynamic): sign in with your Murmur account. Most accurate, AI tidy-up included.
  • On this PC: offline. Download a speech model, check this PC, measure its speed.
  • A provider or your own server: OpenAI, Groq or your own, with your key. Quick setup, saved addresses, Test.
  • Saved requests: recordings kept when sending failed, to recover or clear.

Why

People need different things: the best accuracy, complete privacy, or their own infrastructure. Each choice keeps its own settings, so switching back is instant.

Technical detail
  • On this PC runs a speech model locally. "Check this PC" estimates whether your hardware can run it - actual performance may differ.
  • Model sizes come from the live list in this tab; models change over time.
  • Own server: any OpenAI-compatible speech endpoint. Spare addresses for the same server are tried only if you enter them.
  • Keys are kept in Windows' protected storage, not in plain settings files.
  • Want to run your own speech server? Our step-by-step guides show you how.

AI cleanup

The AI tidy-up after you speak: punctuation, capitals and slips.

What it does

  • On or off, with a before-and-after example and Try it.
  • Choose the service: Murmur (Neurodynamic) by default, or another provider with address, key and model.
  • Your style, per app: give an app a style - professional for Outlook, friendly for Teams, clear and formal for Word - and choose whether Murmur only tidies there or rewrites in that style.
  • Edit the cleanup instructions, or reset them.

Why

Raw speech-to-text has no punctuation and plenty of "um"s. A light tidy makes it ready to send - but your meaning must never change, so the AI is held to strict rules.

Technical detail
  • The AI is told to make minimal corrections only. Its answer is checked: if it changed names, units, numbers or meaning, the original text is kept instead.
  • Very short dictations skip the AI - nothing to tidy, and faster.
  • Your spoken words are always treated as text to tidy, never as instructions to the AI.
  • Spelling follows your British or American setting.
  • Per-app styles: "Tidy only" keeps your words and is checked as above. "Rewrite in style" may reword, so it's off until you choose it for an app; History always keeps what you said. Voice edit (select text, say what to change) uses the app's style too.

Appearance

Theme, the pill, the tray icon, your microphone and sounds.

What it does

  • Theme: Dark (default), Light, or Match Windows.
  • Keep the pill on screen, and choose its quick buttons and their colours.
  • Always show the tray icon; the plain Windows tray menu for screen readers.
  • Microphone choice, sounds, and play a sample.

Why

A comfortable look matters if you use Murmur all day. The quick buttons put what you do most one click away.

Technical detail
  • Both themes meet contrast guidelines: text at least 4.5 : 1.
  • Animations switch off when Windows' "reduce motion" setting is on.

Backup & more

Back up your settings and words, Clarity, and updates.

What it does

  • Choose what to include, then back up to a file or to your Murmur account - and restore.
  • Clarity status and a link to open it.
  • Updates: install and restart, or view the update logs.

Why

Your dictionary and phrases take time to build. A backup means a new PC - or a reinstall - starts where you left off.

Technical detail
  • Keys and passwords are never included in backups.
  • Words, vocabulary, trigger phrases and app tones can also be moved on their own from the Dictionary.

Good to know

Privacy and your data

What stays on your PC, what's sent, and what Murmur never looks at.

Stays on your PC

  • History, tasks and notes, your dictionary, trigger phrases and settings.
  • Recordings that couldn't be sent, until they're processed or you clear them.

Sent, only to the service you chose

  • Your recording, for speech-to-text - not at all with On this PC.
  • The transcript, for AI tidy-up and translation, when they're on.

Never

  • Page contents or browsing history - website rules read only the address bar.
  • What you type - Murmur watches only for its own shortcuts and never records your typing.
  • Terminals or consoles, for "learn when I fix a word".

Troubleshooting

Quick fixes for the most common problems.

Nothing happens when I press the shortcut
  • Open Settings › Shortcuts. If it says "In use", another program has that combination - choose a different one.
  • Inside a virtual machine, the VM may grab the keyboard. Use a mouse button instead.
My words didn't appear
  • They're in History - Copy them, or Type it again.
  • If it keeps happening in one app or web page, use Check a window on Apps & websites and pick another method.
  • For windows opened as administrator, turn on "Work in administrator windows" in Settings › Dictation.
A word is always wrong
  • Add it in the Dictionary: what Murmur hears, and what it should type.
  • Load the word pack for your line of work.
The spelling is American (or British) and I want the other
  • Settings › Dictation › Spelling. Then use the Dictionary's Check filter to remove any old fixes that flip it back.
It says a recording was kept
  • Murmur couldn't reach the speech service, so it kept the recording. Retry from Home, or review saved requests in Settings › Speech.
A reminder didn't pop up
  • Murmur must be running - it can be minimised or in the tray, but not closed.
  • Check the task has a day and time: open it with Edit.
Murmur typed a command when I wanted words
  • Say "normal text" in that terminal, or set it on the Commands page under Which windows get commands. Or choose Always text in Settings › Dictation.