# Shortcut and text entry

Change the key that starts dictation, choose press-once or hold-to-speak, and pick how your text is delivered.

Settings, **Shortcut & text entry**. Two decisions live here: which key starts dictation, and how
the finished text gets into the app you are dictating into.

## The dictation shortcut

The default is [[F9]]. Select the shortcut card and press the keys you want — the dialog shows what
you are holding, and Save keeps it.

Pick something your other software is not already using. Windows claims some combinations before
any application sees them, so if a shortcut appears to do nothing at all, try a different one
before assuming something is broken.

> [!NOTE]
> The shortcut only works while Blabb is running. If you want it available the moment you sign in,
> turn on **Start Blabb with Windows** in [General](/docs/configuration/general/).

## Press once, or hold to speak

| Behaviour | How it works | Suits |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Press once** (default) | Press to start, press again to stop | Long dictation — your hands are free while you talk |
| **Hold to speak** | Recording lasts as long as you hold the keys | Short bursts, and it makes an accidentally live microphone impossible |

This changes the rhythm of dictating more than it sounds like it will. If you tend to speak in short
fragments, give hold-to-speak a day before deciding.

## How your text is entered

Four methods, and the default suits most people. If the one you pick cannot apply in a particular
window, Blabb falls back to Type fast and delivers the text that way. The short version:

| Method | What it does |
| --- | --- |
| **Direct** | Places your words straight into the text box, but only into a field that is still empty. |
| **Paste** | Pastes the text as you speak, in flushes. Good for long dictations. |
| **Type fast** (default) | Types your words quickly. A safe choice for almost any app. |
| **Type slowly** | Types one letter at a time. Slow, and it can only type plain ASCII. |

**Direct** sits first in the selector, but **Type fast** is what Blabb uses until you change it.

If text arrives mangled, arrives in the wrong order, or does not arrive at all in one particular
application, changing the method for that application alone usually fixes it — see
[Per-app settings](/docs/configuration/per-app-settings/). The full comparison, including which one
to reach for in a remote desktop session, is in
[How your text is entered](/docs/configuration/text-entry-methods/).

> [!IMPORTANT]
> Windows will not allow an ordinary application to send input to a window running as
> administrator. If your target app was started as administrator, nothing arrives and no error is
> shown. This is a Windows security boundary, not something Blabb can work around.

## Where the text lands

Text goes to whatever window had keyboard focus when you pressed the shortcut. Click somewhere else
while Blabb is still working and the text follows your focus to the new window.

If text keeps arriving in the wrong place, work through
[Nothing gets typed](/docs/common-issues/nothing-gets-typed/) — it is the same root cause.