Hedgerow
Hushscribe

Hushscribe help

Getting started

The first time Hushscribe opens, a short welcome lets you:

  1. Choose whether to send anonymous crash reports (off unless you tick it).
  2. Pick a speech model. The recommended one for your PC is marked, with its size and expected speed. It downloads in the background while you carry on.
  3. Add your first recording, or choose Try a 20-second sample to see how it works.

Hushscribe then lives in the notification area (the tray) near the clock. Left-click the icon for the queue and recent transcripts. Right-click it for Pause queue, Open, Settings, Check for updates, About / License and Quit.

Adding files and the queue

Drop audio or video files anywhere in the window, or use Add files… on the Library or Queue page. You can add many at once, or a whole folder.

  • Each file appears in the library right away with a status: Queued, Transcribing, Done, Paused, Stopped or Failed.
  • The queue keeps running after you close the window. The tray icon shows progress and the time left, and a notification appears when a transcript is ready.
  • Cancel keeps the text so far. Transcribe again starts over, optionally with a different language or model.
  • If you quit, restart or the PC sleeps, the job resumes from where it stopped. With Resume unfinished jobs when Windows starts on (in Settings › General), Hushscribe starts with Windows only while jobs are waiting, then closes itself when they are done.

Models, languages and speed

Manage models in Settings › Models: download, pause, cancel or delete them, and set the default model and language.

  • Fast suits quick drafts and clear recordings. Balanced gives good accuracy for meetings, interviews and lectures. Most accurate is best for accents, noise and many languages, but is slower without a graphics card.
  • Language can be detected automatically or chosen. Turn on Translate to English to get an English transcript of speech in another language.
  • Use the GPU is on automatically when your graphics card supports it.

Speeds are estimates until your PC finishes a real job; after that Hushscribe shows the speed it measured. In Settings › Performance, Use fewer resources keeps the PC more responsive at the cost of speed, and Pause on battery (on by default) waits for the charger.

Working with a transcript

Open a transcript from the Library. Click any timestamp to play from that point. The line being played is highlighted.

Shortcuts in the transcript view

  • Space plays or pauses.
  • Alt+← and Alt+→ skip back or forward 5 seconds.
  • Ctrl+F opens Find, with Match case, Replace and Replace all.
  • Ctrl+E opens Export.

Click a line to edit it; changes save a moment after you stop typing. Turn on Announce lines to have a screen reader read each line as it plays. If the original recording has moved, the transcript still opens: choose Locate… to find the file and play it again.

File types Windows decides

Hushscribe uses Windows’ own decoders, so no extra software is installed.

  • MP3, WAV, M4A, FLAC, MP4, MOV and WMA are read with the decoders built into Windows.
  • OGG, Opus, MKV and WebM need the codecs to be on the PC. If they’re missing, Hushscribe says so and suggests installing Web Media Extensions from the Microsoft Store.
  • Windows “N” editions need Microsoft’s Media Feature Pack for both transcription and playback.

Long silences are skipped before recognition, so quiet stretches don’t turn into made-up text.

Trial and license

Hushscribe is free to try for 14 days, with everything turned on. After that: Your transcripts stay readable and exportable. New transcriptions stop after the first 10 minutes of audio in each file.

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 Hushscribe, 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, Hushscribe 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 Hushscribe 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 Hushscribe. 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

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

%LOCALAPPDATA%\Hedgerow\Hushscribe

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

To uninstall, open Windows Settings › Apps › Installed apps, find Hushscribe 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 Hushscribe version (shown in Settings › About) and your Windows version. More answers are on the support page.