# Install and activate

Where Blabb comes from, what the free tier gives you, and how licence activation works.

## Install

Blabb is distributed through the Microsoft Store. Installing it is free and does not ask for
a payment method.

The Store handles updates. You do not need to check for new versions.

## The free tier

Blabb Free gives you **2,000 dictated words a day**, with every feature switched on and no card
asked for. The count resets at local midnight.

Words are counted after a dictation finishes, not while it runs, so a sentence that crosses the
limit is still transcribed and typed in full. The allowance only refuses to start the next one —
and that is where the upgrade ask appears.

It exists so you can answer the only question that matters before paying: does this work in the
app you actually use it in? Spend a day of it inside your real workflow rather than in a text
editor.

The **14-day free trial** is a different thing. It begins when you subscribe, and it does involve a
card. See [Subscriptions and plans](/docs/account/subscription-and-plans/).

## Activate

Billing runs through Polar, not the Store. Subscribing gets you a licence key, shown on the
confirmation page at the end of checkout.

1. Open Blabb's settings.
2. Go to **Account**.
3. Paste the licence key and activate.

> [!NOTE]
> The activation is held against your Windows user account on this PC — not against a Microsoft
> account, and not against the installer. Signing in as a different Windows user, or moving to
> another machine, means activating again from the same **Account** page.

## Onboarding

The first launch walks through setup rather than dropping you at a blank window. Six screens:

1. A welcome screen, with links to the [EULA](/legal/eula/) and
   [Privacy Policy](/legal/privacy-policy/).
2. Microphone access, including where to enable it in Windows Settings if it was denied.
3. The dictation shortcut: F9, Ctrl+Space, Ctrl+D, or a combination you press yourself.
4. A guided first dictation, into a practice box with a live microphone level meter, so your first
   attempt is not into a document that matters.
5. Where you write most — optional, and you can pick more than one.
6. A recap: your shortcut, your daily free allowance, and the privacy promise.

There is nothing to buy and no plan picker. The free tier dictates from the first launch, and the
upgrade ask waits until a day's words are actually spent.

Microphone access is not enforced by onboarding, which means you can walk past it — but nothing will
be transcribed until you grant it. If you skipped it, see
[Blabb cannot hear you](/docs/common-issues/microphone-blocked/).

## Where Blabb stores things

Everything Blabb keeps lives in one folder on your PC, `%LocalAppData%\Blabb` — settings, your
dictation history (encrypted), your licence (encrypted against your Windows account), and the logs.
The full breakdown is in [Where your data is kept](/docs/privacy/where-your-data-lives/).

Nothing you dictate goes anywhere else. See
[What stays on your PC](/docs/privacy/what-stays-on-device/).

## Next

- [Your first dictation](/docs/get-started/first-dictation/) — the 60-second version.
- [A tour of Settings](/docs/configuration/settings-tour/) — where everything lives.
- [Subscriptions and plans](/docs/account/subscription-and-plans/) — managing the licence later.