Fix Slow Transcription on Windows (GPU Settings)

If transcription is extremely slow or shows “No speech recognized” on Windows, Hedy may be using your integrated graphics instead of your dedicated GPU.

Is This Your Problem? (30-Second Self-Test)

Before walking through the steps below, confirm GPU usage is actually the cause. Start a new session in Hedy and speak a clear sentence (“This is a test of Hedy’s transcription”). Then:

• If text appears within 2-5 seconds — your GPU is fine. The slowness you’re experiencing is from something else (network, audio device, AI summary generation). Try the main troubleshooting guide instead.

• If text takes 30+ seconds to appear, or “No speech recognized” shows even when speaking clearly — that’s the symptom this article fixes. Continue below.

• If you have only integrated graphics (no dedicated NVIDIA, AMD, or Intel Arc GPU) — the steps below won’t apply to your machine. Hedy can still run, but Whisper speech recognition will be slower. You can use cloud transcription instead via Settings > Speech & AI.

Symptoms

• Transcription takes minutes instead of seconds

• “No speech recognized” appears even when speaking clearly

• The app freezes or becomes unresponsive during recording

• Session processing takes 10+ minutes to complete

Why This Happens

Hedy uses your graphics card (GPU) to run the Whisper speech recognition model. On computers with both integrated graphics (like Intel UHD Graphics 630) and a dedicated GPU (like NVIDIA GeForce RTX), Windows may default to the slower integrated graphics. This dramatically slows down transcription.

Step 1: Try the In-App GPU Toggle (new in v3.2)

Hedy 3.2 introduced an in-app toggle that can fix most Windows GPU issues without needing to touch Windows Settings. Try this first.

1. Open Hedy.

2. Go to Settings → Speech & AI.

3. Find the Windows GPU acceleration toggle.

4. Make sure it’s enabled.

5. Restart Hedy and try a new session.

If transcription is still slow, continue with the Windows Graphics Settings steps below.

Solution: Windows Graphics Settings

1. Open Graphics Settings: Press Win + I to open Settings, then go to System → Display → Graphics (scroll down). Alternatively, search for “Graphics settings” in the Start menu.

2. Add Hedy: Under “Add an app”, select Desktop app from the dropdown, then click Browse. Navigate to Hedy’s installation folder, select Hedy.exe, and click Add. Common locations are:
   • C:\Users\[YourUsername]\AppData\Local\Programs\Heddy\Hedy.exe
   • C:\Users\[YourUsername]\AppData\Local\hedy\hedy.exe
   • C:\Program Files\Hedy\hedy.exe

3. Set to High Performance: Click on Hedy in the list, then click “Options”. Select High performance (this forces the NVIDIA or AMD GPU). Click “Save”.

4. Restart Hedy: Close Hedy completely and reopen it.

How to Find Hedy’s Location

If you’re unsure where Hedy is installed:

1. Right-click the Hedy shortcut on your desktop

2. Select “Properties”

3. Look at the “Target” field - this shows the full path to Hedy.exe

Alternative: NVIDIA Control Panel

If Windows Graphics Settings doesn’t work, try the NVIDIA Control Panel:

1. Right-click on your desktop and select NVIDIA Control Panel

2. Go to Manage 3D Settings → Program Settings

3. Click “Add” and select Hedy

4. Set “Preferred graphics processor” to High-performance NVIDIA processor

5. Click “Apply” and restart Hedy

How to Completely Close Hedy

If Hedy doesn’t restart properly after changing GPU settings:

1. Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager

2. Find “Hedy” in the list of processes

3. Click “End task”

4. Reopen Hedy from your desktop or Start menu

Verify It’s Working

After changing the GPU setting:

• Start a new session and speak normally

• Transcription should appear within 2-5 seconds

• The “Transcribing…” indicator should process quickly

Tip: Modern NVIDIA GPUs (like the RTX 3070 with 8GB VRAM) have more than enough power for even Hedy’s large Whisper model. If transcription is still slow after these steps, please contact support.