Manual Dictation
Your hotkeys
Neato Echo has five separate shortcuts, not one. Here's what each does, what it defaults to, and how to change or unbind it.
Neato Echo listens for five separate shortcuts, each starting a different thing. Most people only ever set the first one, but knowing all five exist explains a lot of surprises — particularly getting an answer when you expected your words typed.
They all live in one place: open Settings, then Hotkeys under App.
The five shortcuts
| Shortcut | What it starts | Set by default? |
|---|---|---|
| Dictation Hotkey | Voice to text. Your words are typed at the cursor. | Yes |
| Voice Agent Hotkey | Speak an instruction. The result is typed, not your words. | No |
| Translation Hotkey | Dictate in one language, get another one pasted. | No |
| Meeting Mode Hotkey | Starts meeting mode and snaps the panel to the screen edge. | No |
| Chat Agent Hotkey | Opens and closes the chat agent overlay. | No |
Only the Dictation Hotkey is set out of the box and it's the only one you can't leave empty. The other four are blank until you choose a key, and clearing one switches that feature off rather than breaking it.
The default
The dictation shortcut is set for you on first run: Ctrl+Win. Tap it to start and stop, or hold it while you speak — see hold or tap.
If you've changed the dictation hotkey and want to go back, a Reset to [key] link appears under the field. It only shows when your current setting differs from the default.
Changing one
- Open Settings, then Hotkeys under App.
- Click the field under the shortcut you want — it shows Click to set hotkey or Click to change.
- Press the combination you want. The field reads Listening… while it waits.
- It saves as soon as it registers. You'll see Now using [key] for dictation for the dictation slot.
If the combination can't be used you'll get a reason rather than silence — "already registered by another application", "may be reserved by your desktop environment", or a note that the format isn't valid. Choosing a shortcut that works covers the rules and what to pick instead.
More than one key for the same thing
Each shortcut accepts several bindings at once. Under any hotkey field there's Add another hotkey — use it when you want the same action on, say, both a keyboard shortcut and an external key, or when you switch between two keyboards with different layouts.
Unbinding one
Hover over the hotkey and click the bin icon. It only appears on hover, and only when a hotkey is actually set, which is why it's easy to miss.
That works for the four optional shortcuts. The Dictation Hotkey is required — remove its last binding and it won't clear, because dictation with no shortcut would leave you no way to start.
Unbinding the Voice Agent Hotkey is worth knowing about specifically: it stops that shortcut, but it does not stop the agent being triggered by name during ordinary dictation. Those are two different routes to the same feature — see your agent's name.
Hold or tap
Underneath the dictation hotkey there's an Activation Mode control with two settings, Tap and Hold. Tap is the default. Hold or tap has the detail.
Related
Still need help?
Write to [email protected] with your Windows version, your Neato Echo version (Settings → System), and what you were doing. A person reads every message.