Fix Pluely v1 Not Capturing System Audio

A very common report is: "Pluely transcribes my voice fine, but never picks up the other person on the call." This almost always means system-audio capture — the "them" side of a conversation — isn't enabled yet. System audio is a separate capability from your microphone, and on most platforms it's unlocked through the same permission used for screen capture.

Why this happens

Pluely's Listen mode transcribes two audio streams: your microphone (you) and your computer's own audio output (them — the other participants in a call, a video, or any app producing sound). Capturing system audio requires the OS to trust Pluely with screen/audio capture, which is a stricter, separately-granted permission from the microphone. Until it's granted, Pluely simply has no access to that stream, so you'll see your own words transcribed but nothing from the other side.

macOS: enable Screen Recording

On macOS, system-audio capture rides on top of the Screen Recording permission.

1. Open System Settings > Privacy & Security > Screen Recording.
2. Find Pluely in the list and toggle it on. If it isn't listed yet, start a Listen session once so macOS prompts you, then grant it from there.
3. macOS requires an app restart after this permission changes — fully quit Pluely (not just close the overlay) and reopen it.
4. Start a new Listen session and confirm both your voice and system audio now transcribe.

This is by far the most common cause of "Pluely only hears me" on macOS. See Permissions for the complete list Pluely v1 requests and why.

Windows: check audio capture and privacy settings

Windows generally allows application audio capture more freely, but a few things can still block it:

1. Confirm no other app (like a screen-sharing or recording tool) is holding exclusive control of your audio device.
2. Check Settings > Privacy & security for any audio-related capture permission prompts and make sure Pluely is allowed.
3. If you use a virtual audio cable or custom output device, verify Pluely is capturing from the same device your calls actually play through, not a secondary one.
4. Restart Pluely after changing any audio settings.

Linux: verify your audio server routing

On Linux, system-audio capture depends on your audio server (PipeWire or PulseAudio) exposing a monitor/loopback source.

1. Check your sound settings for a "Monitor of [output device]" source — this is what lets an app "hear" what your speakers are playing.
2. Make sure Pluely isn't sandboxed (Flatpak/Snap) in a way that blocks it from seeing that monitor source.
3. Try switching your default output and re-testing if you use multiple audio devices.

After granting permission, verify both sides are captured

1. Start a Listen session with something playing audio (a video call, a video, or a voice memo).
2. Confirm the transcript shows lines attributed to both you and the other audio source.
3. If only your voice still shows up, double-check the permission was actually saved — some OS versions silently revert a toggle if the app was running during the change, which is why a full restart matters.

Still stuck?

If system audio still isn't captured after restarting with permission granted, check Listen mode for how the feature is meant to behave, review the FAQ, or reach out from the Pluely website.