# General

Start Blabb with Windows so the shortcut is always live, and put every setting back to its default.

Two settings. One decides whether Blabb is running when you want it; the other undoes everything
you have changed.

| Control | Default |
| --- | --- |
| **Start Blabb with Windows** | Off |
| **Reset all settings** | — |

## Start Blabb with Windows

Off out of the box, and worth turning on for most people.

The shortcut only works while Blabb is running. That is the whole reason this setting exists — a
dictation key that does nothing until you have found and opened an app is a dictation key you will
stop reaching for. With this on, Blabb starts when you sign in and waits in the background, so [[F9]]
works from the first email of the day.

The app's own wording says the same thing: "Blabb's shortcut only works while it is running, so it
can start with Windows and wait in the background."

The cost is a program running that you did not explicitly open, which is exactly why it ships off.
If you dictate a few times a week, leaving it off and opening Blabb when you need it is a
reasonable way round.

> [!TIP]
> There is a second benefit. Keeping Blabb running avoids the reload delay you get on the first
> dictation after a long break — see [What affects speed](/docs/performance/what-affects-speed/).

## Reset all settings

Puts every setting back to its default. It confirms before it does anything.

What it leaves alone is the part worth knowing: **your dictation history and your saved words are
not affected.** The words you taught Blabb to spell survive, and so does everything in the History
window. This resets preferences, not content.

It does not reach **Start Blabb with Windows** either. That is not one of Blabb's own settings — it
is a Windows startup entry, so resetting will not switch it off. Turn it off on this page if that is
what you want.

If what you actually want is your data gone, that is a different button on a different page —
[Privacy settings](/docs/configuration/privacy-settings/) has **Delete Blabb data**.

## See also

- [Privacy settings](/docs/configuration/privacy-settings/)
- [A tour of Settings](/docs/configuration/settings-tour/)
- [What affects speed](/docs/performance/what-affects-speed/)