Troubleshooting

Find your problem below. Each section starts with the message or symptom you see, followed by the fix. If nothing here helps, send us the log.

“TranscribeX is not supported on Intel Macs.”

TranscribeX needs a Mac with Apple Silicon (M1 or later). On an Intel Mac the app opens, but transcription fails with this message. There is no workaround. See system requirements.

Transcription won’t start or no model is listed

• The model menu is empty or says “Select Model”. The menu above the transcript only lists models you’ve downloaded. Choose More Models... at the bottom of the menu, download a model, then come back. See managing models.
• “No model selected” or “No target language selected”. Pick a model and a language in the menus above the transcript, then click Start or Restart.
• The default model warning. If Settings › Transcription says your default model “is selected as the default model but is not downloaded yet”, download it or choose another Default Model.
• “Model name requires Pro.” The selected model needs Pro. Choose a free model (Whisper Tiny or Apple On-Device), or activate Pro.
• It sits at 0% for a while. The first time a model loads it can take a few minutes. Online models (Mistral, ElevenLabs) also don’t report progress while they work.

“Model Updates Available”

This banner in Settings › Whisper Model means one or more downloaded Whisper models have an outdated configuration. Delete each listed model with its trash icon and download it again.

A model crashes or hangs while loading

1. Open Settings › Whisper Model and set Audio Encoder to GPU. For Parakeet models, set Compute Unit in Settings › Parakeet Model to GPU.
2. Transcribe again.
3. If it still fails, delete the model and download it again. As a last resort, try CPU, which is slow but the most compatible.

From the command line, the same fix is --compute-units gpu.

Audio from other apps isn’t captured

Recording audio from Zoom, Teams, a browser or any other app needs the Screen & System Audio Recording permission. Without it, TranscribeX shows “Screen & System Audio Recording is required” and can’t list apps to record.

1. Click Open Screen & System Audio Recording in the TranscribeX window, or open System Settings › Privacy & Security › Screen & System Audio Recording.
2. Make sure TranscribeX is turned on.
3. If TranscribeX isn’t listed, add it manually, then go back to TranscribeX and click Refresh.

More in permissions and recording app audio. Always tell people when you record them, and follow the consent laws where you live.

Your microphone isn’t recorded

• “Microphone Access Needed”. Allow TranscribeX in System Settings › Privacy & Security › Microphone, then start the recording again.
• Your voice is missing from meeting recordings. Check that Settings › Recording › Use Mic When Recording a Meeting is on. For a manual app recording, turn on the Microphone switch before clicking Record. In the library, a recording made without the mic shows an icon with the tooltip “Microphone was not recorded”.
• The wrong microphone is used. Choose the right one in Settings › Recording › Default Mic for meetings. A saved mic that isn’t connected shows as “(Unavailable)”.

Dictation doesn’t type into other apps

TranscribeX needs the Accessibility permission to insert dictated text where your cursor is.

1. Open Settings › Dictation and check Accessibility Permission.
2. If it says Not Granted, click Open Settings and turn on TranscribeX in System Settings › Privacy & Security › Accessibility.
3. Make sure Enable Dictation is on, and click into a text field before you start dictating.

Your dictations are also saved in Dictation in the sidebar. See dictation.

Meeting recordings aren’t matched to calendar events

1. Turn on Settings › Recording › Attach Calendar Events to Meeting Recordings.
2. If you see Calendar Permission Required, click Allow Access or Open Settings and give TranscribeX full access to your calendars.
3. Under Calendars for Title Matching, turn on All Calendars, or make sure the calendar with your meetings is selected.
4. Check that the event shows up in the macOS Calendar app. TranscribeX reads events from macOS Calendar, so accounts like Google or Outlook must be added there.

To fix one recording by hand, right-click it in the library and choose Rename and Attach to Calendar Event. If it says “No matching calendar events found.”, no event in your selected calendars is close to the recording time. See calendar events.

Summary emails don’t arrive

• Check that Settings › Email › Auto-send Email with Summary and Transcript after Transcription is on (Pro) and that Recipients has at least one valid address.
• Emails are sent only for microphone and app recordings, after they finish transcribing. Imported files don’t send email.
• Look in your spam or junk folder.
• If you use Use Custom SMTP Settings, double-check SMTP Host, Port, SMTP Username and SMTP Password. Many providers need an app-specific password instead of your normal one.
• A failed email doesn’t stop the job, so there’s no error on screen. Open the log (below) and look for “Failed to send email” to see the reason.

See email summaries.

“tx: command not found”

Turning on Settings › Advanced › Enable Command Line creates the tx command in ~/.local/bin, but doesn’t add that folder to your shell’s PATH. Add it once:

echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.zshrc

Then open a new Terminal window and run tx help. Also make sure you’ve opened TranscribeX at least once, because tx reads the app’s settings and models. See command line.

“Model is not available for the current license”

The command line or MCP server tried to use a Pro model without an active Pro license. Use a free model, for example --model tiny, or activate Pro in the app. The command line reads your license from the app, so open TranscribeX once after activating Pro, then try again.

Two related messages: “Model is not downloaded” means you need to download it in the app first, and “Unknown model” means the id is wrong. Run tx models to list the exact ids you can use.

Find the log and contact support

1. Open Settings › About and click Show Log.
2. In the Log Viewer, choose App Log (or System Log).
3. Click Copy or Export.

Email the log to support@transcribex.io with a short description of what you did, what you expected and what happened. Include your TranscribeX version (shown in Settings › About) and your macOS version. You can also ask on r/TranscribeX.

Before you write, check that you’re on the latest version with Check for Updates in Settings › About.