Hearloop help

Getting started

The first time Hearloop opens, it asks what you want to record first and turns your choice into your first session. You can then record 5 seconds with live meters and play it back.

Hearloop lives in the notification area (the tray) near the clock. If you don’t see it, look under the ^ arrow.

• Left-click the icon for a flyout with the recordings in progress and your most-used sessions.
• Right-click it for Start session, Stop all, Recordings, Settings, Check for updates and Quit.
• The icon shows a red dot while anything is recording.
• Ctrl+Alt+R starts or stops your last session from anywhere.

Sessions and sources

A session holds up to three sources and how to save them. Choose Add source and pick:

• An app. Apps playing sound right now are marked Playing, and the list updates as apps start and stop. If the app isn’t running yet, Hearloop waits and starts recording it when it opens.
• The whole system, which follows your current speakers or headphones.
• A microphone or other input. Turn on Show all devices in Settings › Devices to list unplugged ones too.

Then set the Format, Quality, Channels, Files (mixed, separate or both) and Save to folder. File names follow the pattern in Settings › General, using {session}, {date}, {time} and {source}. Existing files are never overwritten.

Recording

Press Record on a session. The live view shows a timer, the file size and a meter for each source, where you can change each source’s volume or mute it.

• Pause leaves the paused stretch out of the file. Stop saves it; compressed formats take a moment to finish (“Saving…”).
• Add marker (M) notes the time, or press Ctrl+Alt+Shift+M from anywhere. Markers are saved as a .markers.txt file beside the recording.
• If an app closes mid-recording, the other sources carry on and its track is silent. When it runs again, choose Reattach. Microphones and headphones reattach by themselves when they come back.
• Stop after silence ends a recording when nothing is heard for the number of minutes you set.

Several sessions can record at the same time. The start/stop hotkey stops everything that’s recording, or starts your last session when nothing is.

Scheduled recordings

In a session, turn on Scheduled recording and set the Date, Start time (24-hour), Minutes and Repeat (once, daily or weekdays).

Your PC needs to be on with Hearloop running. If Hearloop starts partway through a scheduled slot, it records for the time that’s left.

Things Windows decides

• Recording a single app needs Windows 11 (or Windows build 20348 or later). On earlier versions of Windows 10, Hearloop records the whole system instead, which includes every app’s sound, and tells you so. Settings › Help shows whether per-app recording works on your PC.
• Protected video and music from some streaming services can record as silence. That’s Windows protecting it, not a fault.
• Microphone access can be turned off in Windows’ privacy settings. If it is, Hearloop says so and offers a button to open those settings.
• Sleep: with Keep the PC awake while recording on (the default), Hearloop asks Windows not to sleep until the recording ends. If the PC sleeps anyway, recordings are stopped and saved first.
• Low disk space: Hearloop warns when space runs low, and stops and saves before the disk fills.

Keyboard shortcuts

These work from anywhere in Windows while Hearloop is running.

Trial and license

Hearloop is free to try for 14 days, with everything turned on. After that: Everything keeps working and all your recordings stay playable. New recordings stop and save at 5 minutes each.

Entering your license key

1. Buy a license. Your key appears on screen as soon as the payment goes through, and arrives by email.
2. In Hearloop, open the License page in Settings.
3. Paste the key and choose Activate. The PC needs to be online for this step.

Using it on more than one PC

One key works on up to 3 PCs. To move it to a new PC, deactivate it on the old one from the License page first. If the old PC is gone, free up its place at Manage devices, using the email address you bought with or the key itself.

Once activated, Hearloop works offline. When it's online it checks the license about once a week, so a refunded or revoked key stops working on its next check.

Bought Hearloop in the Microsoft Store? The Store edition is licensed through your Microsoft account instead, and doesn't use a key.

Updates

To get the latest version, choose Check for updates in Hearloop. It asks before installing anything.

Each update is checked against a fingerprint (SHA-256) before it runs, and installs over the current version without touching your data. Updates for the Microsoft Store edition come through the Store.

See what’s new in each version.

Your data and uninstalling

Hearloop keeps its settings and data on your PC, in this folder (paste it into File Explorer’s address bar to open it):

%LOCALAPPDATA%\Hedgerow\Hearloop

To back it up, quit Hearloop and copy that folder.

To uninstall, open Windows Settings › Apps › Installed apps, find Hearloop and choose Uninstall. The uninstaller asks whether to remove your data too.

Still stuck?

Email support@hedgerowapps.com and we’ll get back to you. Mention your Hearloop version (shown in Settings › About) and your Windows version. More answers are on the support page.