How to Capture System Audio in Pluely's Listen Mode

Grant one permission and Listen mode hears both sides of every call — your microphone and the other participants coming through your speakers. That second stream is system audio, and on most operating systems it needs an explicit one-time permission before Pluely v1 can capture it.

Why system audio matters

Capture only your microphone and a call transcript shows your words with gaps — or silence — wherever the other person spoke. System audio capture lets Pluely tap the audio your computer is already playing (the other participant's voice in a meeting app, browser tab, or softphone) and merge it into the same live transcript alongside your microphone. Without it, Listen mode is only half-useful for calls and meetings.

Step-by-step: enabling system audio on macOS

1. Open Pluely and start (or attempt to start) a Listen session.
2. If system audio hasn't been granted yet, macOS or Pluely prompts you to allow screen-recording permission — on macOS, system audio capture is bundled under the same permission category as screen recording.
3. Open System Settings and go to Privacy & Security, then Screen Recording.
4. Find Pluely in the list of applications and toggle the permission on.
5. Quit Pluely completely — not just the overlay — and reopen it; macOS requires a full relaunch before the new permission takes effect.
6. Start a new Listen session.
7. Join or place your call as usual and confirm the other participant's speech appears in the live transcript alongside your own.

For the full walkthrough of every macOS permission Pluely requests, see Permissions.

Per-OS notes

• macOS — system audio rides on the screen-recording permission described above. This is the most commonly missed step, since the permission isn't obviously related to audio at first glance.
• Windows — system audio (sometimes called loopback audio) is generally available without a separate OS prompt; just make sure your primary output device is selected as the active playback device so Pluely captures the right source.
• Linux — system audio depends on your audio server setup (such as PipeWire or PulseAudio). If Pluely doesn't pick it up automatically, check that your sound settings expose a monitor or loopback source for your output device — some minimal configurations don't enable one by default.

Verifying both sides are captured

Run a quick two-minute test:

1. Start a Listen session in Pluely.
2. Call or join a meeting with one other person, or play a short video with spoken audio through your speakers.
3. Speak a sentence yourself, then let the other audio source speak one.
4. Check the live transcript: both sentences should appear, labeled by voice — Speaker 1, Speaker 2, and so on.
5. If only your own voice appears, system audio isn't being captured yet — revisit the permission steps rather than blaming the microphone.

Troubleshooting a missing second speaker

• Confirm the screen-recording toggle is actually on for Pluely — a toggle can be visible in the list but still off.
• Fully quit and relaunch Pluely after granting the permission; refreshing the overlay isn't enough on macOS.
• Confirm your audio output device matches where the call audio actually plays — audio routed to headphones won't be captured if Pluely listens to your speakers.
• Restart the Listen session after any permission or device change; an in-progress session won't pick up the fix.

Tips

• Grant the permission before your first real meeting, not mid-call — the required app restart is disruptive.
• The same permission covers other Pluely features that observe your screen, so set it up once and leave it on.
• Re-check the permission after a macOS update; system updates occasionally reset app-level privacy grants.
• Clean two-sided audio also feeds automatic responses, which draw on the live transcript — and pairs well with the right transcription language; see Translate & multilingual sessions.

Next

• Export & share transcripts — turn the finished transcript into a shareable summary.
• Listen controls — every Listen setting in one place.