Profiles and audio sources
What is a profile?
A profile is a set of data on how you speak. In order to use Dragon, you must have at least one profile. Each user of Dragon must create his or her own profile.
When you start up Dragon, it activates the profile you used most recently.
You can create and delete profiles in the Profiles pane in the Preferences window.
To change profiles
Click the 
icon in the menu bar and do one of the following:
- Select a profile from the Recent Profiles list.
- Select Manage Profiles... to open the Profiles pane, then select a profile from the list and click the Load button.
Every profile has a name which uniquely identifies it. The name of the active profile is shown with a check mark in the Dragon menu. It is also marked with a green circle in the Profiles pane.
What is an audio source?
There are two types of audio source:
- Dictation sources are microphones you use to dictate with Dragon. For example, you might use:
- Your Mac's internal microphone
- A USB headset
- A Bluetooth microphone
- Transcription sources are recorders used to create audio files for transcription. For example, you might use:
- A smartphone
- A digital recorder
A Dictation Audio Source must be connected to your computer in order to use Dragon.
A Transcription Audio Source does not need to be connected to your computer. However, it is important to create a different Transcription Audio Source for each recording device and select the correct device for each audio file you want to transcribe.
Every profile must have at least one audio source. You can add and delete audio sources in the Profiles pane of the Preferences window.
To switch audio sources
Click the icon in the menu bar and do one of the following:
- Find your profile in the Recent Profiles list and select from the available audio sources for that profile.
- Select Manage Profiles to open the Profiles pane, select an audio source from the list and click the Load button.
If there is only one audio source, you will not see any audio sources listed in the Recent Profiles list.
Missing audio sources
If the selected Dictation audio source is missing (for example, your USB microphone is unplugged), you will see a warning message and will not be able to use Dragon until you connect the missing microphone, select a different microphone, or set up a new microphone for your profile.