No audio captured (empty transcript)

Updated 8 July 2026

You ran a session, the call happened, and the transcript is empty — or it only has one side of the conversation. Almost every case is one of five causes. Work through them in order; each takes under a minute.

A useful clue before you start: SalesGhost transcribes your microphone and your system audio as two separate streams. So whose words are missing tells you where to look — your side missing → microphone; the other side missing → system audio; both missing → check both, starting with the meeting app's audio path (step 3).

1. Check the microphone permission

If your words are missing, the OS is probably blocking the mic.

  • macOS: System Settings → Privacy & Security → Microphone → make sure SalesGhost is toggled on.
  • Windows: Settings → Privacy & security → Microphone → allow apps to access the microphone, and confirm SalesGhost is allowed.

If you clicked "Don't Allow" on the first-session prompt long ago and forgot, this is where that decision lives.

2. Check system audio capture (macOS)

If the other side's words are missing on a Mac, it's the system-audio permission — the one macOS gates separately from the microphone. Confirm SalesGhost is toggled on under System Settings → Privacy & Security → Screen & System Audio Recording → System Audio Recording Only. The full walkthrough, including what to do when the toggle is missing or won't stick, is in the macOS system audio guide.

On Windows system audio works out of the box, so if the other side is missing on Windows, go straight to step 3.

3. Confirm the audio actually goes through the computer

SalesGhost can only hear audio that plays through your computer. Two common setups silently route it elsewhere:

  • You dialed in by phone while watching the meeting on screen. The prospect's voice is coming out of your phone, not your Mac — SalesGhost hears nothing. Join with computer audio instead.
  • The meeting app's speaker output is set to another device — a room system, a second interface, a Bluetooth speaker that isn't really your system output. Check the audio output setting inside Zoom/Meet/Teams.

Headphones are fine — capture happens before audio reaches your ears.

4. Restart the session

Stop the session from the overlay pill and start a fresh one. Watch the pill: if it shows Listening… and lines appear when you speak, capture is healthy again.

5. Restart the app

If a fresh session doesn't fix it, quit SalesGhost fully (Cmd+Q on Mac; close from the system tray on Windows) and reopen. This clears the rare cases where the OS handed the app a dead audio stream.

Quick self-test without a meeting: start a session and play any video with speech. Talking should produce transcript lines from your mic; the video's speech should produce lines from system audio. Whichever half stays silent is the half to fix.

Still empty? Email us

If you've been through all five, email support@salesghost.app with:

  • The date and time of the call (timestamps let us find the exact session)
  • Your platform (macOS or Windows) and the meeting app you used
  • Which side was missing — yours, theirs, or both

That's usually everything we need to pin it down on the first reply.