Keyboard shortcuts

Zerm is driven from the keyboard. Nothing here is fixed: almost every shortcut on this
page can be rebound, and most start unset so they cannot collide with what you already
use.

Dictation

You can configure two independent dictation shortcuts, Shortcut 1 and
Shortcut 2, each with its own trigger style. Shortcut 1 starts as Right Command.

A shortcut can be a bare modifier key — Right Option, Left Option, Right Command,
Right Control, Left Control, Right Shift, or Fn — held on its own. This is the reason
Zerm feels quick: no chord to remember, just a key your other hand is not using.

Or choose Custom and record any combination you like.

Each shortcut has a mode:

Mode	Behaviour
Push to talk	Records while held. Release to stop.
Toggle	Press to start, press again to stop.
Hybrid	A tap toggles; holding past half a second becomes push to talk.

Fn is handled specially. Pressing Fn together with another key — Fn+F1, Fn+F11,
brightness, volume — cancels the recording trigger, so binding Zerm to Fn does not break
your function row.

Middle-Click Recording starts and stops recording with the middle mouse button, with
a configurable activation delay. Off by default.

Read Aloud

Read Aloud has its own trigger, configured the same way — a bare modifier or a custom
combination. Unset by default. See read aloud.

While the recorder is visible

These only apply when the recorder is on screen, so they never interfere with the app
you are typing into.

Shortcut	Action
Esc Esc	Cancel. Press twice within a second and a half. Nothing is transcribed, written, or saved.
⌘E	Switch AI enhancement on or off for this recording.
⌘1 – ⌘0	Select one of the first ten enhancement prompts.
⌥1 – ⌥0	Select one of the first ten enabled Power Modes.

The first Escape press shows a reminder to press again. If Escape is taken, assign a
Custom Cancel Shortcut: it cancels with a single press, and replaces Escape while it
is set.

See enhancement shortcuts for what the enhancement keys
do in detail.

Global shortcuts

All unset by default. Assign the ones you want.

Action	What it does
Paste Last Transcription (Original)	Re-pastes the raw transcript of your most recent dictation.
Paste Last Transcription (Enhanced)	Re-pastes the enhanced version instead. Nothing is sent to the provider again.
Retry Last Transcription	Runs the last recording through transcription again, with the model and language selected now.
Open History Window	Opens the history window from anywhere.
Quick Add to Dictionary	Adds a word or replacement to your dictionary without opening the app.

Retry is the one to know about: it re-runs the audio you already captured, so
switching model after a disappointing result does not mean saying it all again.

Power Mode shortcuts

Any Power Mode can be given its own global shortcut, which activates
that mode and starts recording in one press.

System-wide

Zerm registers Shortcuts actions, so dictation can be toggled from the Shortcuts app,
Spotlight, or anything else that can run one.