Audio & microphone

ClipCat captures desktop audio. Your microphone is a separate choice and starts off on a clean installation.

Choose a microphone mode

Open Settings > Audio.

Mode	What happens
Off	Your microphone is not captured
Push-to-talk	The microphone is captured while you hold the configured key
Always on	The selected microphone is captured continuously

When enabling voice capture, choose System default or a specific microphone device. A disconnected device may appear as Unavailable device; select a working device before testing.

Configure push-to-talk

Choose Push-to-talk, then set its key. Use a supported keyboard key or middle/side mouse button. Left and right mouse buttons are not offered for this purpose. Press Esc to cancel key capture.

Check the actual key shown in Settings instead of assuming the default fits your keyboard layout. Save your changes, make a short recording, speak while holding the key, then play it back.

If sound is missing

Check the operating system's playback and recording devices, microphone permissions, and mute controls. Confirm that the selected microphone is still connected and that push-to-talk is held while speaking.

On Linux, desktop and microphone capture use PulseAudio-compatible sources, including PipeWire's compatibility layer. Desktop-session limitations can also affect push-to-talk detection.

Audio settings apply without clearing the replay buffer. A short test after a device change is the quickest way to verify the result.