Willow Voice needs two key system permissions to work smoothly on your Mac: Microphone Access and Accessibility Access. These are requested automatically during onboarding, so most users won’t need to touch anything manually — but if something’s not working, we’ve included steps below to help you check or reset these permissions.
Why We Ask for These Permissions
Microphone Access
Willow uses your microphone to capture your voice and convert it to text. This is essential for dictation to work. We recommend using your built-in microphone, as it tends to be more reliable and better optimized than some external mics like Apple Airpods. (We’ll go into mic options more in the next article.)
Accessibility Access
We use Accessibility permissions to let Willow insert text directly into wherever your cursor is — whether that’s Gmail, Slack, Notion, or anywhere else. It also lets you trigger dictation with your Function (Fn) key, so you can start talking without switching apps or clicking buttons.
Handled Automatically During Setup
When you first install Willow, we walk you through enabling both Microphone and Accessibility permissions — and we also help you turn off macOS features that interfere with the Function (Fn) key so Willow can use it for dictation.
In most cases, this takes just a few clicks and you’re ready to go.
Manual Setup (For Troubleshooting)
If Willow isn’t hearing you or not inserting your text, your permissions may need to be toggled off and on again. Here’s how to manually check:
Microphone Access
Go to:
System Settings → Privacy & Security → Microphone → Make sure Willow Voice is turned ON
Accessibility Access
Go to:
System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility → Toggle Willow Voice ON
Still having trouble? You can always reach out via [email protected].