The Mavio desktop app is the most powerful way to use Mavio. It runs in your menu bar (macOS) or system tray (Windows) and provides system audio capture, global hotkeys, offline recording, and privacy mode.

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Key features

System Audio Capture

Record any audio playing on your computer — meetings, webinars, podcasts, and more.

Global Hotkeys

Start and stop recordings from anywhere with keyboard shortcuts.

Privacy Mode

Process everything on-device. No audio leaves your computer.

Offline Recording

Record without an internet connection. Audio uploads when you reconnect.

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Installation

See the installation guide for download links and platform-specific setup instructions for macOS and Windows.

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The menu bar / system tray

After installation, Mavio lives in your menu bar (macOS) or system tray (Windows). Click the Mavio icon to access:
  • Record — start a new recording (system audio, microphone, or both)
  • Pause / Resume / Stop — control an active recording
  • Recent meetings — quick access to your latest recordings
  • Upcoming meetings — see what is next on your calendar and toggle auto-record
  • Settings — open Mavio preferences
  • Mavio AI — open the AI chat window

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Global hotkeys

Control Mavio without switching windows. Default shortcuts:
ActionmacOSWindows
Start/stop recordingCmd + Shift + RCtrl + Shift + R
Pause/resume recordingCmd + Shift + PCtrl + Shift + P
Open Mavio AI chatCmd + Shift + ACtrl + Shift + A
Toggle privacy modeCmd + Shift + LCtrl + Shift + L
Customize hotkeys in Settings > Shortcuts.
Hotkeys work system-wide — even when Mavio is not the active window. This makes it easy to start recording during a meeting without switching away from your video call.

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Recording with the desktop app

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System audio

Captures all audio output from your computer. Ideal for recording meetings happening in any application.
  1. Click the Mavio menu bar icon and select Record System Audio.
  2. Or press Cmd + Shift + R / Ctrl + Shift + R.
  3. A recording indicator appears in the menu bar showing elapsed time.
  4. Stop the recording via the menu or the hotkey.

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Microphone

Records from your selected microphone input. Useful for in-person meetings at your desk.

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System audio + microphone

Captures both streams simultaneously. Use this when you are actively speaking in a meeting and want your voice included alongside the meeting audio. Change the default mode in Settings > Recording > Default capture mode.

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Privacy mode

Privacy mode processes all audio locally on your device. When enabled:
  • Audio is transcribed using an on-device AI model
  • No audio data is sent to Mavio’s servers
  • Transcripts and summaries are generated locally
  • You can optionally sync the text results (not audio) to the cloud
Enable privacy mode from the menu bar or with Cmd + Shift + L / Ctrl + Shift + L. See the on-device processing guide for details.
Privacy mode requires a one-time download of the on-device AI model (approximately 1.5 GB). Transcription accuracy may be slightly lower than cloud processing for some languages.

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Notifications

The desktop app sends notifications for:
  • Meeting about to start (5 minutes before)
  • Recording started / stopped
  • Processing complete — transcript and summary ready
  • Action items assigned to you
Configure notifications in Settings > Notifications.

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Auto-start and auto-update

SettingDefaultLocation
Launch at loginOnSettings > General
Auto-updateOnSettings > General
Check for updatesAutomaticBackground, every 6 hours

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System requirements

macOSWindows
OS versionmacOS 12+ (Monterey)Windows 10 (1903+) / Windows 11
ArchitectureApple Silicon, Intel64-bit (x86_64)
RAM4 GB minimum, 8 GB recommended4 GB minimum, 8 GB recommended
Disk space200 MB (+ 1.5 GB for privacy mode model)200 MB (+ 1.5 GB for privacy mode model)
PermissionsMicrophone, Screen Recording, AccessibilityMicrophone

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Troubleshooting

macOS: Ensure Mavio has Screen Recording permission (System Settings > Privacy & Security > Screen Recording). Restart Mavio after granting the permission.Windows: Check that no other application is exclusively locking the audio output device. Close applications like exclusive-mode audio players and try again.
Verify Mavio is running (check the menu bar / system tray). On macOS, ensure Accessibility permission is granted (System Settings > Privacy & Security > Accessibility). If another app uses the same shortcut, change the Mavio hotkey in Settings.
Privacy mode uses more resources than cloud mode because transcription runs locally. If performance is an issue, switch to cloud mode for non-sensitive meetings.

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Advanced features

Customize keyboard shortcuts in Settings > Shortcuts to fit your workflow:
  1. Click the shortcut you want to change.
  2. Press the new key combination you want to assign.
  3. Click Save.
If your chosen shortcut conflicts with another application, Mavio will warn you. You can also disable individual hotkeys by clicking the X next to the shortcut.Available actions for global hotkeys:
  • Start / stop recording
  • Pause / resume recording
  • Toggle privacy mode
  • Open the AI chat window
  • Quick-access recent meetings
  • Mute / unmute system audio capture
If hotkeys stop responding after a macOS update, re-grant Accessibility permission in System Settings > Privacy & Security > Accessibility and restart the app.
The desktop app runs in the menu bar (macOS) or system tray (Windows) by default. You can configure its behavior in Settings > General:
  • Close to tray — when you close the main window, the app minimizes to the tray instead of quitting. This is the default behavior and ensures recordings are not interrupted.
  • Show in dock / taskbar — toggle whether the app appears in the macOS Dock or Windows taskbar in addition to the tray.
  • Tray icon style — choose between the default icon or a monochrome variant that blends with your system theme.
  • Recording indicator — when a recording is active, the tray icon changes color (red dot) and displays the elapsed time on hover.
Choose which audio devices the app uses for recording in Settings > Recording > Audio devices:
  • System audio output — select which output device to capture (useful if you have multiple sound cards or virtual audio devices).
  • Microphone input — choose from connected microphones, including USB microphones, headset mics, and built-in hardware.
  • Separate device per mode — configure different devices for system audio capture vs. microphone recording.
The app detects new audio devices automatically when they are connected. If you frequently switch between devices (e.g., headset at the desk, speakers in a conference room), use the quick switcher in the menu bar dropdown.
In addition to audio, the desktop app can capture periodic screenshots of your screen to provide visual context for your meeting notes:
  1. Go to Settings > Recording > Screen capture.
  2. Toggle Capture screen snapshots to on.
  3. Set the capture interval (default: every 30 seconds).
Screenshots are attached to the meeting timeline and appear alongside the transcript, making it easy to reference slides, documents, or shared screens that were visible during the meeting.
Screen capture requires Screen Recording permission on macOS. Screenshots are stored securely and follow the same encryption and privacy policies as audio recordings. In privacy mode, screenshots remain on-device.
The desktop app is fully functional without an internet connection:
  • Recording — audio is captured and stored locally in high-quality PCM format.
  • Upload queue — recordings are queued and upload automatically when connectivity returns. You can view the queue in Settings > Recording > Upload queue.
  • Cached meetings — previously viewed transcripts and summaries are available offline.
  • Privacy mode — transcription runs on-device, so you get a full transcript even without internet.
When you reconnect, the app uploads queued recordings in the background. Large recordings (over 1 hour) are uploaded in chunks with automatic resume if the connection drops again.
The app checks for updates automatically every 6 hours. Configure update behavior in Settings > General:
  • Auto-update (default: on) — updates are downloaded in the background and applied when you restart the app.
  • Notify before updating — shows a notification before applying an update, giving you a chance to defer it.
  • Beta channel — opt in to receive pre-release updates with new features before they are generally available. Go to Settings > General > Update channel and select Beta.
  • Manual check — click Check for updates in Settings to trigger an immediate check.
Updates never interrupt an active recording. If an update is ready while you are recording, it will be applied after the recording ends.