Display a small Floating Window to check Heidi is transcribing at a glance when you switch to other apps.
Floating Window keeps Heidi visible while you work in another tab or app. When you switch away mid-session, Heidi shrinks to a small window that stays on top — so you can confirm transcription is running, switch microphones, pause or stop the session, and jump back to the full Heidi session.
Floating Window is enabled by default on supported browsers. Start a session, switch tabs, and the window appears.
When it's useful
Working in your EHR or PMS during a session.
Running a telehealth visit (Zoom, Google Meet, Doxy) in another tab.
Keeping the patient list off your main screen for privacy while still trusting transcription is happening.
What you'll see in the window
A session timer.
An audio visualiser that moves with your voice. Click the bars to switch microphones.
A pause button to pause transcription. When paused, it turns into a green microphone icon — click it again to resume.
A stop button to end the session. Ending the session will automatically return you to the Heidi tab.
An X to close the window. Note that closing the window does not end the session — transcription continues until you press stop.
If Heidi hits an error, such as no audio detected, or long silences, the audio controller turns red and shows the error message.
Supported browsers
Floating Window is available in most modern browsers. To check if yours is compatible, see if the Floating Window toggle appears under Settings → Display Controls.
If your browser doesn't support Floating Window, the toggle and the window won't appear. Regular transcription will not be affected.
Browser | Support |
Chrome (desktop) | Supported |
Edge (desktop) | Supported |
Other Chromium browsers (Brave, Opera, Vivaldi) | Generally supported |
Arc | Supported, with some known issues |
Safari | Not supported |
Firefox | Not supported |
Mobile browsers | Not supported |
💡 Find our general system requirements on the website.
Enabling/disabling Floating Window
Floating Window is enabled by default. To turn it off:
In Heidi, open Settings.
Go to Display Controls.
Switch off Floating Window.
You can toggle the feature back on from the same location. The setting is saved per browser, so you will need to adjust it for each browser you use.
Troubleshooting
Floating Window isn't activating when I switch tabs
First, check that the session timer has started before you navigate away. The Floating Window only opens once transcription is running. If you switch tabs in the brief gap between pressing start and the timer beginning, the window won't appear.
If the timer is running and the window still hasn’t opened, the most common cause is a stuck picture-in-picture permission for the site. Browsers sometimes cache an outdated permission — either a block, or an ‘allow’ pointing at the wrong setting. To repair this, reset Heidi's site permissions and start fresh.
Chrome
Open Heidi in a tab.
Click the icon on the left of the address bar — the icon will display as either a sliders/settings toggle or a microphone.
Click Site settings.
Find Automatic picture-in-picture in the permissions list and set it to Allow.
If it is still not working after these steps, return to this menu and select Reset Permission
If Chrome still doesn't open the window, check chrome://settings/content/automaticPictureInPicture and make sure Heidi isn't listed under Not allowed.
Edge
Open Heidi in a tab.
Click the padlock at the left of the address bar.
Click Permissions for this site.
Find Picture-in-picture and set it to Allow.
At the top of the page, click Reset permissions and confirm.
Reload the tab and start a session to test.
If the issue persists in Edge, check edge://settings/content/automaticPictureInPicture.
The Floating Window shows "Microphone blocked"
The first time the floating window opens, your browser may ask for microphone permission again, even if you've already granted it for the main Heidi tab. If you missed the prompt or denied it, the window shows Microphone blocked and the visualiser turns red.
Browsers don't let us re-trigger that prompt from inside the floating window. You will need to use the browser settings to reset the microphone permission for Heidi:
Chrome
Click the microphone on the top right of the floating window and click allow.
If you cannot see the microphone, try the following:
Click the icon at the left of the address bar on the Heidi tab.
Click Site settings.
Find Microphone and set it to Allow.
Click Reset permissions at the top, confirm, and reload the tab.
Start a new session. When the floating window opens, accept the microphone prompt if it appears.
Edge
Click the padlock at the left of the address bar on the Heidi tab.
Click Permissions for this site.
Set Microphone to Allow.
Click Reset permissions, confirm, and reload the tab.
When Heidi can’t hear you
The controller turns red when Heidi can't hear what it expects to.
Common causes for this issue include:
The wrong microphone is selected. Click the visualiser bars to switch microphones, or click the X to return to the full Heidi session and check your microphone in the recording controls.
Your browser has muted the Heidi tab. Right-click the tab and unmute it.
Your operating system has the microphone muted, or another app has exclusive control of it. Close other apps that might be using the microphone (Zoom, Teams, Google Meet) and try again.
If audio levels look right in the full Heidi session, but the Floating Window still says No audio detected, stop the session, reload the tab, and start a new session.
The Floating Window toggle is missing from Settings
The toggle only appears on browsers that support Document Picture-in-Picture. If you can't see it, you're most likely on Safari, Firefox or a mobile browser. Switch to Chrome or Edge to use the feature.
The window flashes open and closes immediately
Another tab or app already has a picture-in-picture window open. Close any existing PiP windows (Google Meet, YouTube, other browser tabs) and try again.
Floating Window has issues in Arc
Arc is built on Chromium so the toggle appears, but the floating window behaves differently and we don't currently recommend Arc for this feature. Use Chrome or Edge if you rely on Floating Window during sessions.
Pause or stop in the floating window doesn't always respond
We're aware of an intermittent issue with the in-window controls. If pause or stop doesn't respond, click X to return to the full Heidi session and use the controls there. The session itself is still safe.
Still stuck? Reach out to support and include your browser and version so we can help faster.