Capturing Notes
Voice notes are a quick way to capture thoughts without directing text at any particular app. Unlike dictation, notes are saved privately to Murmur's Notes section rather than typed into whatever app you are using.
Notes hotkey
Voice notes have their own dedicated hotkey, separate from the dictation hotkey. Configure it in Settings > Notes by clicking the hotkey field and pressing your desired key combination.
Keeping the two hotkeys separate lets you use one shortcut for typing text into apps and a different one for capturing notes — without having to think about which mode you are in.
Recording mode
Notes support the same three recording modes as dictation:
- Push-to-talk (default) — hold the hotkey while speaking, release to stop
- Toggle — press once to start, press again to stop
- Auto — a quick tap behaves like toggle; holding the key behaves like push-to-talk
The mode for notes is set independently from your dictation mode. Change it in Settings > Notes.
How notes are saved
Each voice note is saved with a source type of Note. Notes appear in the Notes section of Murmur, separate from your dictation history. They include:
- Timestamp and duration
- Raw transcription
- AI-refined version (if AI refinement is enabled)
- Original audio recording for playback
Raw vs. refined text
Each note shows two views you can switch between:
- Raw transcription — the verbatim output from the speech engine, exactly as spoken
- AI-refined text — a cleaned-up version with corrected punctuation, removed filler words, and improved formatting
The refined view is only available if you have an AI provider configured and AI refinement enabled for notes. Both views are saved permanently — switching between them does not overwrite anything.
Keyword filter
The Notes section includes a keyword filter bar at the top. Murmur automatically extracts keywords from each note. You can click a keyword chip to filter the list down to notes that contain that keyword.
Multiple chips can be selected at once. Select any combination to narrow notes by topic, project name, or person mentioned.
Audio playback
Every note retains the original audio recording. Tap the play button on any note to listen back. Playback supports speed control and seeking — see Audio Playback for details.