FAQ
General
Q: What is “Christopher Pais” in my macOS Login Items?
That is the developer’s name (CJ Pais). Handy is signed under a personal Apple developer account, so macOS shows the developer’s name instead of “Handy” in Login Items & Extensions. This is cosmetic and expected.
Q: What is “YNYNG LLC” that signed the Windows update?
YNYNG LLC is the developer’s business entity used for Windows code signing. Updates signed by YNYNG LLC are legitimate Handy updates.
Q: Does Handy send any data to the cloud?
No. All speech-to-text transcription happens locally on your device. The only network requests are for downloading models and checking for updates. If you enable post-processing with a cloud AI provider, transcriptions are sent to that provider’s API.
Q: Can Handy transcribe system audio (video calls, YouTube, etc.)?
Not currently. Handy only transcribes microphone input.
Q: Does Handy support real-time / live captions?
Not yet. Handy records a segment, then transcribes it. Real-time streaming transcription is a planned feature.
Q: Where does Handy store its data?
See Debug > App Data Directory for the full list of paths. You can also find it on the About page in settings.
Q: Can Handy start automatically when I log in?
Yes. Enable Launch on Startup in Settings > Advanced. You can also enable Start Hidden to launch directly to the system tray. See Advanced.
Q: How do I change the UI language?
Handy supports 18+ languages (English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Arabic, Turkish, Czech, Portuguese, Ukrainian, Russian, Italian, Polish, Vietnamese, and more with RTL support). Change the language on the About page.
Models & Transcription
Q: Which model should I use for English?
Parakeet V3 is recommended for most English users. It is fast, accurate, and the most stable. If you need the absolute best accuracy and have capable hardware, try Whisper Medium or Large. For very low-powered hardware, try Moonshine. See Models for the full list.
Q: Why does Parakeet write out numbers as words instead of digits?
This is a Parakeet model behavior. It outputs “one hundred twenty three” instead of “123”. If you need digit output, use a Whisper model instead, or use post-processing to convert words to digits.
Q: Whisper crashes when I select it. What can I do?
See Troubleshooting > Whisper crashes for solutions.
Q: Can I say “period”, “comma”, or “new line” to insert punctuation?
Not directly. The speech-to-text models do not support voice-commanded punctuation natively. You can use post-processing with a custom prompt to convert spoken punctuation words into symbols. Users have shared prompts for this in Discussion #715.
Q: Why does Parakeet translate my non-English speech into English?
Parakeet is primarily an English model. If it detects non-English speech, it may produce English output or gibberish. Use Whisper, SenseVoice, or GigaAM models for non-English languages. See Models for language support details.
Q: Whisper keeps adding “thank you” or “bye bye” at the end
This is a known Whisper hallucination, especially with short recordings or silence at the end. Handy automatically filters common hallucination artifacts. If it persists, try keeping recordings concise or use Parakeet, which does not have this issue.
Q: My long recording (>5 minutes) failed or produced no output
Current STT models do not handle very long audio well. Keep recordings under 3-5 minutes for best results.
Q: The model download failed and now I cannot re-download it
See Troubleshooting > Failed model download.
Q: How do I free up GPU memory (VRAM) when not using Handy?
Configure the model unload timeout in Settings > Advanced. You can also right-click the system tray icon and select “Unload Model”. See Advanced > Unload Model.
Q: Can I load a custom Whisper model?
Yes, as an experimental feature. Place a Whisper-compatible .bin model file in the models directory and Handy can discover it. See Models for details.
Pasting & Output
Q: What paste methods are available?
Handy supports 6 paste methods. See the Paste Methods page for full details on each method and when to use them.
Q: Handy pastes garbled text with my non-English keyboard layout (AZERTY, QWERTZ, etc.)
This happens when using the Direct Input paste method. Switch to a clipboard-based method. See Paste Methods.
Q: Handy is not pasting into my terminal / Windows Terminal
Try the Shift+Insert paste method for Windows terminals, or Ctrl+Shift+V for Linux terminals. See Paste Methods.
Q: How do I find the debug menu / where is setting X?
Open the debug menu with Cmd+Shift+D (macOS) or Ctrl+Shift+D (Windows/Linux). See the Debug page for a full list of debug settings.
Keyboard Shortcuts
Q: Can I use modifier-only shortcuts (e.g., just Ctrl+Shift)?
Yes. You can set shortcuts to modifier-only combinations. On macOS, the Fn/Globe key is also supported as a modifier.
Q: The (x) button on the overlay discarded my recording!
The (x) button cancels the recording and discards all audio. It does not stop and transcribe. To stop recording and get your transcription, press the keyboard shortcut again.
Post-Processing
Q: How do I set up post-processing?
Enable it in Settings > Advanced > Experimental Features, then toggle Post Processing. A new Post Process section will appear in the sidebar. See the Post-Processing guide for full setup.
Q: How do I verify post-processing is actually working?
Check the logs (see Debug > Finding Logs). You should see API calls being made to your provider. The overlay also shows a “Processing…” state during post-processing.
Q: Can I use a local LLM for post-processing?
Yes. See Post-Processing > Local LLM Setup for step-by-step instructions with LM Studio, and other local providers.
Q: Where can I find good post-processing prompts?
Check Discussion #715 where users share prompts for grammar fixing, punctuation insertion, formatting, and more.
macOS
Q: Can I install Handy via Homebrew?
Yes: brew install --cask handy. Note this is a community-maintained cask, not officially maintained by the Handy developer. It may lag behind the latest release.
Windows
Q: I get “vulkan-1.dll not found” error Update your GPU drivers. See Troubleshooting for details.
Q: Handy cannot paste into apps running as administrator Run Handy as administrator too. Windows prevents non-elevated processes from sending input to elevated windows.
Linux
Q: AppImage fails with GLIBC error on Ubuntu 22.04
The AppImage requires GLIBC 2.38+. Use the .deb package instead, or upgrade to Ubuntu 24.04+. See Troubleshooting.
Q: The overlay steals focus and prevents pasting Set Overlay Position to None in Settings > Advanced. See Advanced > Overlay Position.
Q: Which paste/typing method should I use on Linux? See Paste Methods > Typing Tools for compositor-specific recommendations.
Q: How do I control Handy from a window manager or script? Use Unix signals or CLI flags. See CLI for examples and window manager configuration.
Q: I cannot download models behind a corporate proxy/firewall You can manually download models and place them in the models directory:
- Open About to find your app data directory
- Navigate to or create the
models/folder - Download the model
.binfile manually (from HuggingFace or the download URL) - Place the
.binfile directly in themodels/directory - Restart Handy