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The record prompt didn’t appear

Recordist shows the confirm-to-record card when it notices a meeting app taking your microphone. If a call started and nothing appeared, work down this list. Each item takes under a minute.

1. Is Recordist running?

Look for the Recordist icon, a small rounded square with a dot in one corner, in your menu bar. If it is not there, open Recordist from Applications. Start at login in Settings → General opens it with your machine. If the switch shows on but Recordist did not open after a restart, turn it off and on once. On a MacBook with a notch, a full menu bar can hide the icon; Recordist still asks when a call starts.

2. Was the prompt snoozed or dismissed recently?

Choosing Snooze on the card silences every prompt for the time you pick: the Snooze for time in Settings → Record prompt (10 minutes unless you change it), 1 hour, or until tomorrow. The menu bar menu then says Detection paused, with Resume detection below it. After Not this one, the same app is not asked again for 30 minutes, so one call does not prompt twice; that quiet period is set in Settings → Record prompt.

3. Is that detector switched on?

Settings → Detection has a main switch, Detect meetings and ask to record, and separate switches for the microphone, the meeting app, the Chrome extension, macOS Calendar, window titles and calendar feeds. If Microphone in use by another app is off, most calls will not be noticed. Turn it on.

4. Is the call in a browser?

Google Meet and other browser calls are detected through the microphone like any other app, but Chrome holds the mic for many things. If the prompt is unreliable for Meet, install the Chrome extension and pair it; it tells Recordist exactly when a meeting tab is live and what it is called.

5. Did the app get microphone permission?

If macOS has not granted Recordist access to the microphone, detection still works but recording will be silent. Check System Settings → Privacy & Security → Microphone. The main window says so while access is missing, with a button that opens that pane, or that shows the macOS prompt if macOS has not asked yet. When a device management profile or Screen Time blocks the microphone, the window says to ask whoever manages the Mac to allow it, and shows no button.

6. Windows and Linux

  • Calls in a browser. On Windows and Linux, Recordist reads window titles only once you turn on Read the meeting app’s window title under Settings → Detection (on Linux, under X11). Until then a browser call is noticed through the microphone and is called “Browser”. A calendar feed names it, and so does the Chrome extension, which also marks its start and end.
  • Linux on Wayland. The record card cannot stay on top of other windows, so it may open behind your call window, and global shortcuts do not work. Open Recordist from the taskbar or dock to see the card, or log in to an X11 session.
  • GNOME. Without the AppIndicator extension there is no tray icon to check. Open Recordist from the applications menu.
  • Windows. Check the two microphone switches in Which permissions Recordist needs on Windows.

Record it anyway

Press Cmd + Shift + R (Ctrl + Shift + R on Windows and Linux; not on Wayland) at any time. The record card appears; press the shortcut again or click Record to start. The same shortcut stops the recording. If you turn off Ask before a manual recording too in Settings → Record prompt, the shortcut starts recording at once. You can change the key in Settings → General.

If none of this helps, export diagnostics (Settings → General → Export diagnostics) and send them with a ticket. The bundle’s log lines show which detectors fired and when. It contains no audio and no transcript text, but it includes your settings and log lines that can name meetings, so read it before you send it. It shows calendar feeds only by their host.

Recordist

Recordist for Mac is downloading.

Thank you for trying Recordist. Three steps and it is ready before your next call. Open it now, so it is set up in time.

  1. 1Open the download and drag Recordist to Applications, then open it from there.
  2. 2Allow the microphone and system audio when your Mac asks, so both sides of the call are heard. Calendar is optional: it names your meetings and who is in them.
  3. 3Close the window when you like. Recordist waits in the menu bar and, when your next call starts, asks: Record this meeting? Nothing is recorded until you say yes.

The first time it opens, Recordist downloads its speech model: 142 MB in English, 466 MB for other languages. That usually takes a minute or two, and you can record once it finishes. The notes engine, 1 to 3 GB, follows in the background.

While it downloads, see a finished call in your browser

Every install includes 7 days of Pro, so your first calls are written up in full.

No call today? Import a recording you already have: in Recordist, Meetings, then Import audio. One of 10 minutes or more starts your 7 days of Pro, and the notes follow the transcript.

While it downloads, get your Free key. More AI notes each month, with no end date. Optional: your download has already started.

Two emails: a link to confirm, then a copy of your key. Nothing else unless you ask. We never sell or share your address, and Resend, our email service, sends them for us. Privacy

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