--- title: "First-run setup step by step" summary: "On the first start you sign in, choose MediSync Local or MediSync Cloud, grant the permissions, test the microphone and the shortcut and try three dictations." url: "https://help.medisynchealth.ai/en/dictate/first-run-setup" product: "MediSync Dictate" platforms: ["windows","macos"] access: "public" updated: "2026-11-11" version: "Dictate 0.4.0-beta.6" --- # First-run setup step by step On the first start you sign in, choose MediSync Local or MediSync Cloud, grant the permissions, test the microphone and the shortcut and try three dictations. The first-run setup starts by itself after the installation. At the top you see its five parts: **Sign up**, **Permissions**, **Set up**, **Learn** and **Personalise**. Dictate remembers each step. If you close the setup, Dictate continues at the same place on the next start. At the top right you switch the app language and the light or dark theme. ## Sign up 1. On the page **Welcome to MediSync**, click **Continue with Google**, or enter your email address and click **Continue**. If you already have a MediSync account, enter your password. It is the same account as in the MediSync Dashboard. Without an account, click **Create an account**. If your account uses two-factor sign-in, enter the code from your app next. 2. Organisations with a licence agreement click **Enter a licence key** instead, see [Offline licence keys](https://help.medisynchealth.ai/en/dictate/licence-keys). 3. Dictate checks your access. If **No access yet** appears, the reason is below it. **Check again** checks once more, **Use another account** lets you sign in again. The fixes are in [Messages in the dictation bar](https://help.medisynchealth.ai/en/dictate/messages-in-the-dictation-bar). 4. Answer three short questions: **How did you hear about us?**, **What do you do for work?** and **Where do you spend time typing?** With your profession, Dictate loads the terms of that profession, see [Specialty vocabulary](https://help.medisynchealth.ai/en/dictate/specialty-vocabulary). The specialty is optional. 5. On the page **Your data stays with you**, choose **MediSync Local** or **MediSync Cloud** and click **Continue**. If your computer meets the requirements, MediSync Local is preselected. With MediSync Local, Dictate downloads the speech model in the background while you go on. The difference is explained in [MediSync Cloud or MediSync Local](https://help.medisynchealth.ai/en/dictate/cloud-or-local). ## Grant the permissions **Windows** Under **One permission for your microphone**, click **Allow** next to **Allow Dictate to use your microphone**. If Windows blocks the microphone, **Open settings** opens the Windows microphone settings. Turn on access for desktop apps there. **macOS** Under **Give Dictate access to your computer** you allow, one after the other: | In Dictate | In macOS | | --- | --- | | **Allow Dictate to insert text** | **Privacy & Security › Accessibility** | | **Allow Dictate to detect your shortcut** | **Privacy & Security › Input Monitoring** | | **Allow Dictate to use your microphone** | The macOS question about the microphone | Click **Allow** each time and turn on MediSync Dictate in System Settings. Dictate reads only your shortcut, no other keys. **Continue** becomes clickable once every permission is granted. ## Set up 1. **Test your microphone**: choose your microphone and speak. If the bars move, click **Yes**. Otherwise click **No** and choose another microphone. 2. **Which language do you dictate in?**: choose the language you speak most. More in [Languages](https://help.medisynchealth.ai/en/dictate/languages). 3. **Test your shortcut**: hold the shortcut, `Ctrl` + `Win` on Windows, `Fn` on the Mac. If the keys light up, click **Yes**. If your keyboard does not report these keys, choose another one with **Change shortcut**, see [Change the trigger](https://help.medisynchealth.ai/en/dictate/change-trigger). ## Learn Dictate shows three exercises in look-alike programs: a message, an email and a question to an AI. Click into the field each time, hold your shortcut, speak and let go. **Skip** moves on to the next exercise. For the email, the assistant writes the message on request, for example "Write a short email to Ms Becker: I can do Friday at three, no, at four." If the assistant is off, Dictate writes what you say word for word. The assistant's draft is for you to check, see [Edit text by voice](https://help.medisynchealth.ai/en/dictate/edit-text-by-voice). ## Personalise If you are signed in with an account, the last step shows the referral program: **Pass MediSync on.** **Open my invite links** shows your links, more in [Recommend Dictate](https://help.medisynchealth.ai/en/dictate/recommend-dictate). **Finish** closes the first-run setup. With a licence key, the setup ends after the last practice task. ## Where will you dictate first? After the first-run setup, Dictate asks once **Where will you dictate first?** Pick a program, for example **E-mail** or **Doctor’s letter or report**. On the right you see how Dictate writes there. Then you choose: | Button | What happens | | --- | --- | | **Practise once** | An exercise in that program | | **Take the tour first** | The walkthrough of the app | | **Continue without setup** | Closes the question and the **Set up Dictate** card | The walkthrough takes about two minutes. It shows the sidebar, the Action Bar, your shortcut, **Notes**, the **Dictionary** and **Commands**. **Next** and **Back** move through it, **Skip** ends it. ## The Set up Dictate card The sidebar holds the card **Set up Dictate** with the next steps. A click on a step opens the place where you do it: - **Tour (2 min)**, the tour of the app - **Connect calendar**, see [Connect a calendar](https://help.medisynchealth.ai/en/dictate/connect-calendar) - **Add a dictionary word**, see [Dictionary](https://help.medisynchealth.ai/en/dictate/wordbook-and-text-blocks) - **Create a snippet**, see [Snippets](https://help.medisynchealth.ai/en/dictate/snippets) - **Import notes**, see [Import notes](https://help.medisynchealth.ai/en/dictate/import-notes) - **Connect AI apps (MCP)**, see [MCP](https://help.medisynchealth.ai/en/dictate/mcp) - **Share team dictionary**, see [Team dictionary](https://help.medisynchealth.ai/en/dictate/team-wordbook-in-dictate) A step counts as done once you have really done it. The card disappears when every step is done or when you close it. While a note is recording, the card shows that note instead. How dictation works day to day is in [Dictate](https://help.medisynchealth.ai/en/dictate/dictate).