Settings, Shortcuts & Updates
Configure Kalima desktop settings, startup and tray behavior, themes, global keyboard shortcuts, automatic updates, and manual update checks.
The Kalima desktop app keeps its own preferences, global keyboard shortcuts, and a self-updating mechanism so the app fits your workflow and always stays current. This page covers where those settings live, every shortcut, and how updates work.
The desktop-only preferences on this page exist only in the installed desktop app. In a regular web browser, the settings show only the App group.
Where settings live
All preferences live in one Settings dialog, grouped in two parts:
- App: General, Transcription, Audio & recording, and Integrations. These are also available in the browser.
- Desktop app: Recording widget, Meetings, Notifications, Shortcuts, Privacy, and Updates & about. These appear only in the desktop app.
The dialog opens over your current Studio screen, so changing a preference does not navigate away from an active recording. A search field at the top finds any setting by name.
General & startup
General controls how Kalima starts and how it looks.
Startup behavior
A fresh install starts Kalima when you sign in to your computer, hidden in the system tray, so it is ready to detect your next meeting without opening a window. To change that:
Start hidden stays unavailable until Open at login is enabled, since it only applies when the app launches on its own. Your choice holds across restarts, including on a Mac with "Reopen windows when logging back in" switched on.
If you live in back-to-back calls, keep both Open at login and Start hidden on. Kalima quietly waits in the tray, ready to detect your next meeting, without cluttering your screen.
Theme
Choose Light, Dark, or System appearance for the app. System (the default) follows your computer's light/dark setting automatically, including any scheduled switch. Your choice persists across sessions.
Background running & the system tray
Keep running when the window closes is on by default. Kalima stays in the system tray, or the menu bar on macOS, so meeting detection and shortcuts remain available. Turn it off if the close button should close the main window normally.
The tray icon gives you a quick menu:
- Show Kalima brings the window back to the front
- Desktop settings… opens the settings dialog directly
- Start transcription / Stop transcription controls recording without opening the window
- Show recording widget brings back the recording widget if you hid it during a recording
- Install and restart appears once an update is ready
- The current app version
- Quit Kalima fully exits the app
When background running is enabled, the window's close button hides Kalima. Use Quit from the tray menu to exit completely.
Global keyboard shortcuts
These shortcuts work system-wide, even when Kalima is not the focused app, so you can start, stop, or mute from inside your meeting app without switching windows.
| Action | Windows / Linux | macOS |
|---|---|---|
| Start or stop transcription | Ctrl + Shift + T | Cmd + Shift + T |
| Mute or unmute your microphone | Ctrl + Shift + M | Cmd + Shift + M |
| Bring the Kalima window to the front | Ctrl + Shift + K | Cmd + Shift + K |
| Capture a moment (only while a recording runs) | Ctrl + Shift + B | Cmd + Shift + B |
Choose any shortcut button to record a different combination. Kalima shows whether each combination registered successfully and flags conflicts with another application. Reset shortcuts restores the defaults. Ctrl + , on Windows and Linux, or Cmd + , on macOS, opens Settings while Kalima is focused.
If a shortcut reports a conflict, choose another combination or reconfigure the application that already claimed it.
Automatic updates
Kalima keeps itself current so you always have the latest fixes and features without hunting for downloads.
How updates run
The app checks for new releases on a schedule (roughly every six hours, with a first check shortly after launch) and can download them in the background. If a meeting is active, an update waits rather than interrupting your recording, then resumes once you are done.
Checking and installing manually
Update states you might see
The Updates panel shows a clear status as it works:
| State | What it means |
|---|---|
| Up to date | You already have the latest release. |
| Checking | Kalima is looking for a newer version. |
| Available | A newer version exists and can be downloaded. |
| Downloading | The update is being fetched (with progress). |
| Ready | The update is downloaded; restart to install. |
| Deferred | An update is waiting because a meeting is active. |
| Disabled | Automatic updates are turned off for your build. |
| Error | Something went wrong; the panel explains what. |
Installing an update requires restarting the app. The Release channel is either stable (general releases) or beta (earlier previews), and which channel and update availability you get is managed by Kalima.
Settings reference
A quick map of the desktop preferences and their defaults.
| Setting | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Open at login | Launch Kalima when you sign in to your computer | On (fresh installs) |
| Start hidden | Launch in the tray (needs Open at login) | On (fresh installs) |
| Theme | Light, Dark, or System appearance | System |
| Keep running when the window closes | Keep detection and shortcuts available from the tray | On |
| Default microphone | Choose the input used for new recordings | System device |
| Input gain | Adjust the level applied to future recordings | 0 dB |
| Recording folder | Choose where local screen recordings are stored | Documents/Kalima/Recordings |
| Show the recording widget | Float a small recording window above other apps while you record | On |
| Privacy mode | Keep Kalima windows out of screen shares and screenshots | Off |
| Enable meeting detection | Detect calls on your computer | On |
| Default behavior | Ask me first (Meeting Assist panel) or Start automatically (record high-confidence calls without a prompt) | Ask me first |
| Record in background | Start detected recordings without bringing the window forward (needs Start automatically) | Off |
| Include microphone by default | Add your mic when a detected meeting records | On |
| Auto-stop when call ends | Stop recording when the call ends | On |
| Local diagnostics | Keep a local-only detection log for troubleshooting | Off |
| Desktop notifications | Allow selected operating system notifications | On |
| Notification sound | Let the operating system play notification sounds | On |
| Global shortcuts | Register shortcuts outside the focused window | On |
| Hardware acceleration | Use the graphics processor for rendering | On |
FAQ
The Desktop app group of the Settings dialog exists only in the installed desktop app. In the browser you see only the App group. Open Settings from inside the Kalima desktop app to reach the rest.
By default, closing the window hides Kalima in the tray so it can still detect meetings. Turn off Keep running when the window closes for normal close behavior, or choose Quit from the tray menu to fully exit.
About every six hours, plus a check shortly after launch. You can also check, download, and install at any time from Settings > Updates & about.
Kalima intentionally defers updates while a meeting is active so it never cuts off your recording. The panel shows Deferred in that case. Finish or stop the meeting, then click Download update or Restart to update again.
Automatic updates are not available for your current build. This is managed by Kalima. If you cannot update from the app, download the latest version from the Kalima website and reinstall.
Open Settings > Shortcuts. A conflict badge means another application claimed that combination. Record a different combination or reset the shortcuts to their defaults.
No. Theme is purely cosmetic and changes the app's appearance only. Your transcripts, recordings, and settings are unaffected.