Does Terera need a graphics card?
No. Speech recognition runs on the computer’s processor, so a laptop without a graphics card is fine.
Guides · Getting started
Getting started with Terera
Terera is a teleprompter for Windows and Mac that follows your voice word by word, with speech recognition running on your own computer. This guide starts with a ten-step setup for a hardware prompter, then covers your first read, the controls, the keys and what to do when something goes wrong.
Quick start: Terera on a hardware prompter
For Windows and a beam-splitter prompter whose screen connects to the computer, such as the Elgato Prompter. Set Terera up on your main screen first, where you can see its controls.
- Make the prompter a second screen. For the Elgato Prompter, open Camera Hub (1.8 or later), select the Prompter tab and choose Display under Content. Then press Windows+P and choose Extend. The prompter shows your desktop wallpaper.
- Paste your script. In Terera, choose Script, click the box labelled Paste your script, press Ctrl+A and paste. Your text replaces the sample.
- Hold the text still. Choose Settings, then Delivery, and turn off Natural gaze. It is on by default and moves the text around the screen.
- Make the text bright and large. Under Appearance, set Reader surface to Black and Opacity to 100%, and raise Font until you can read it from the camera (46 px by default, up to 76 px).
- Choose voice or a fixed speed. Voice-aware pacing, under Delivery, follows your voice once the voice engine is installed. For a steady scroll, turn it off and set Speed.
- Give yourself time. Under Delivery, set Countdown to 5 s. The default is 3 s.
- Put Terera on the prompter. Press Windows+Shift+Right Arrow (or Left Arrow), then Windows+Up or Terera’s maximise button. Terera fills the prompter. Press B to hide the controls panel.
- If the prompter shows a black or empty window, press Ctrl+Alt+Shift+S to turn off Hide from screen share, which is on by default. A DisplayLink screen such as the Elgato Prompter’s can show a window kept out of captures as black, so this is the likely fix. Screen-share hiding depends on the capture method your app uses, so check your sharing preview before a live call.
- If the text reads backwards through the glass, press B, turn on Mirror under Appearance, and press B again. Otherwise leave Mirror off.
- Start. Press Space with Terera in front, or Ctrl+Alt+Space from any app. The countdown runs, then the script moves. The same key pauses.
If the window gets lost, left-click the Terera icon in the notification area at the right of the taskbar. Terera comes back as a normal window, 1220 by 820 pixels, centred, out of the overlay and with click-through off.
Install and first run
- Download Terera from the download page and open it. On Windows 10 or 11 it installs for your user account, with no admin rights needed. A Mac needs macOS 15.5 or later.
- Choose Start free trial. The 14-day free trial starts at once, with no card or account, even without an internet connection.
- Or paste your key into Licence key and choose Activate. Activating needs an internet connection the first time.
- Choose Set up in two minutes for a guided setup, or Skip setup.
- Choose Download (190 MB) to install the voice engine, or Later. Until it is installed, Terera scrolls at a fixed speed.
- Allow the microphone if Windows or macOS asks, choose your microphone and say the test line.
To install the voice engine later, open Settings, then Delivery, and choose Download voice engine (190 MB). If it fails, the button returns with an explanation; some workplace networks block the download, so try another network, and it resumes where it left off. To buy during the free trial, paste your key under Settings, then Activation.
Where things are
| Area | What it does |
|---|---|
| 1. Window controls | Minimise, maximise and close. Drag the top strip to move the window. |
| 2. Read controls | Start or Pause; Stop (square icon) ends the read; Reset (circular arrow) goes to the top. The question mark opens Shortcuts and help. |
| 3. Status | Progress, time and word count. |
| 4. Script and Settings | Switches the panel between your script and the settings. |
| 5. Profiles | Saves a script with its settings, to find later. |
| 6. Script tools | Find, bold, italic, word colours and Import…. |
| 7. Reader header | Hide the panel, find, Meeting overlay, Rehearse or Perform, and the eye icon for capture visibility. |
Your first read
Script in. Paste into the script box, or choose Import… to open a Word (.docx), text (.txt) or Markdown (.md) file. Word files keep their bold, italics and colours. Save profile (the disk icon) keeps a script with its settings.
Voice or fixed speed. With Voice-aware pacing on, Terera follows your voice word by word and waits when you pause; choose your Microphone under Delivery. With it off, the script scrolls at Speed (8 to 92 px/s), and the arrow keys change Speed.
- Choose Start or press Space. The read begins after the countdown.
- Press Space to pause, and again to resume.
- Press Page Down for the next paragraph. Page Up returns to the start of this one; within its first three words, to the one before.
- Press R to go back to the top. The read pauses there.
- To go back by voice, read an earlier phrase again. Terera moves back to it when it finds a clear match.
- Press F to freeze the text. The microphone stays on. Press F again to carry on.
- Choose Stop to end the read. After 20 seconds or more of speech, a delivery report opens.
Plain keys work when you are not typing in the script box and no button or slider has focus. If a key does nothing, click the Progress readout, then try again. To fix a word while paused, double-click its paragraph, edit it, and press Ctrl+Enter or click away.
Practice window, overlay and other screens
The practice window holds the controls panel. The meeting overlay fills one screen, stays on top, hides the panel and passes your clicks to the window beneath. It starts in Perform, with just your script.
- Choose Meeting overlay, or press M. It opens on the practice window’s screen, without starting the read.
- Choose Send overlay to next display, or press D. The overlay moves to the next screen, left to right.
- Choose Practice, or press Ctrl+Alt+M. The practice window returns.
The overlay is see-through, so on a prompter use the practice window with the panel hidden, as in the quick start. Move it with Windows+Shift+Left Arrow or Right Arrow. On a Mac, the overlay leaves the Dock; Control+Option+M brings it back.
Control from the camera position
A presentation clicker moves a paragraph at a time if it sends Page Up and Page Down and Terera is the app in front. Many clickers send arrow keys instead, which change Speed, not your place, so choose one that sends Page Up and Page Down.
A Stream Deck can run Terera through its global keys, which work even when another app is in front. In the Stream Deck app, drag System, then Hotkey, onto a key and press the shortcut.
| Stream Deck key | Hotkey |
|---|---|
| Start or pause | Ctrl+Alt+Space |
| Next paragraph | Ctrl+Alt+Page Down |
| Previous paragraph | Ctrl+Alt+Page Up |
| Back to the top, paused | Ctrl+Alt+R |
| Freeze or carry on | Ctrl+Alt+F |
| Faster | Ctrl+Alt+Up |
| Slower | Ctrl+Alt+Down |
| Overlay on or off | Ctrl+Alt+M |
| Overlay to the next screen | Ctrl+Alt+D |
A wireless keyboard sends the same Ctrl+Alt keys from any app, and the plain keys (Space, Page Up, Page Down, R, F) with Terera in front.
Your voice may be all you need. With Voice-aware pacing on, Terera follows you, waits when you pause, and can move back when you read an earlier phrase again.
Settings worth knowing
| Setting | Section | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Voice-aware pacing | Delivery | On | Follows your voice. Off, the script scrolls at Speed. |
| Countdown | Delivery | 3 s | Off, 3 s or 5 s before the read starts. |
| Natural gaze | Delivery | On | Moves the text around the screen for a natural look on calls. Turn it off on a prompter. |
| Audience | Delivery | 1:1 | 1:1, 2 people or 3 or more: how Natural gaze moves. Two people means two listeners, not two presenters. |
| Script placement | Delivery | Stations | Moving or Stations, shown for 2 people or 3 or more. With Natural gaze on, Stations holds the text at fixed spots (for 3 or more, with Dramatic scan or Meeting face scan). |
| Speed | Delivery | 28 px/s | The fixed scroll, 8 to 92 px/s. |
| Reader surface | Appearance | Palette | Palette, Black or Paper behind the text. |
| Font | Appearance | 46 px | Text size, 28 to 76 px. |
| Opacity | Appearance | 88% | How solid the text is. |
| Mirror | Appearance | Off | Flips the text left to right. |
| Hide from screen share | Privacy & meeting | On | Asks the system to keep Terera out of captures. |
| Click-through | Privacy & meeting | Off | Passes clicks to the window beneath. On in the overlay. |
On a Mac, many sharing tools capture Terera anyway. Screen-share hiding depends on the capture method your app uses, so check your sharing preview before a live call.
Keyboard shortcuts
Shortcuts and help (the question-mark icon) lists the keys in use on your computer. If another app holds a key, Terera uses an alternative where it has one, and shows it there.
In Terera, on Windows
| Key | What it does |
|---|---|
| Space | Start or pause |
| Page Down / Page Up | Next paragraph / this or the previous paragraph |
| R | Back to the top, paused |
| F | Freeze or carry on |
| Up or Right / Down or Left | Speed up or down by 4 px/s; with Shift, by 10 |
| B | Hide or show the controls panel |
| M | Practice window or meeting overlay |
| D | Overlay to the next screen |
| P / G | Rehearse or Perform / Natural gaze on or off |
| Ctrl+F | Find in the script |
| Escape | Skip the countdown; then leave the overlay |
Global keys, on Windows
These work from any app.
| Action | Windows key |
|---|---|
| Start or pause | Ctrl+Alt+Space |
| Next or previous paragraph | Ctrl+Alt+Page Down / Ctrl+Alt+Page Up |
| Back to the top, paused | Ctrl+Alt+R |
| Freeze or carry on | Ctrl+Alt+F |
| Faster or slower (add Shift for bigger steps) | Ctrl+Alt+Up / Ctrl+Alt+Down |
| Practice window or meeting overlay | Ctrl+Alt+M |
| Overlay to the next screen | Ctrl+Alt+D |
| Natural gaze on or off | Ctrl+Alt+G |
| Click-through | Ctrl+Alt+C |
| Hide from screen share | Ctrl+Alt+Shift+S |
Screen-share hiding depends on the capture method your app uses, so check your sharing preview before a live call.
On a Mac
| On Windows | On a Mac |
|---|---|
| Ctrl+Alt+Space | Control+Option+Return |
| Any other Ctrl+Alt key | Control+Option with the same key, such as Control+Option+M |
| Ctrl+F | Command+F |
| Plain keys in Terera | The same |
Troubleshooting
I can’t see Terera
- Left-click the Terera icon in the notification area at the right of the taskbar. Terera comes back as a normal window, centred, out of the overlay. On a Mac, press Control+Option+M to leave the overlay.
- If the window is blank or see-through, right-click the Terera icon and choose Restart in safe mode (solid background).
- If the prompter shows a black or empty window, press Ctrl+Alt+Shift+S to turn off Hide from screen share. Screen-share hiding depends on the capture method your app uses, so check your sharing preview before a live call.
- If the prompter shows nothing at all, check Extend and Camera Hub’s Display setting, then update Camera Hub and the DisplayLink driver, as Elgato suggests.
The text is backwards
Open Settings, then Appearance, and switch Mirror. Keep whichever reads correctly from the reading position.
It doesn’t follow my voice
- Under Settings, Delivery, check that Voice-aware pacing is on and the voice engine is installed. If not, choose Download voice engine (190 MB).
- Choose the right Microphone.
- Allow the microphone: on Windows, under Settings, Privacy & security, Microphone, for desktop apps; on a Mac, under System Settings, Privacy & Security, Microphone.
- If the text is frozen, press F. If the read is paused, press Space.
- Read in English, the language this version follows.
It lags behind me
Move the microphone closer or use a headset, and close heavy apps: speech recognition runs on the computer’s processor. Then resume on a clear phrase. If Terera still trails, press Page Down, or turn off Voice-aware pacing and set Speed.
A shortcut does nothing
Open Shortcuts and help: a key marked not registered is held by another app. For plain keys, bring Terera to the front and click the Progress readout. If the text is frozen, press F: paragraph jumps wait until you unfreeze.
How do I get back to the start?
Press R, or Ctrl+Alt+R from any app. The script returns to the top and pauses.
Questions
Does Terera need the internet?
Only to download Terera and its 190 MB voice engine, to activate a licence key the first time, and for an occasional licence check. The free trial starts without a connection, and voice following runs on your computer.
Does this work on a Mac?
Yes, on macOS 15.5 or later, Apple silicon or Intel. The global keys use Control+Option in place of Ctrl+Alt, and Control+Option+Return starts or pauses.
Which languages does Terera follow?
English. With Voice-aware pacing off, a script in any language scrolls at a fixed speed.
Sources
- Elgato, “Elgato Prompter: Display Mode”: Camera Hub 1.8 or later; Prompter tab, Display under Content. Checked 10 November 2026.
- Elgato, “Elgato Prompter: No Image or Display”: Camera Hub and DisplayLink driver updates. Checked 10 November 2026.
- Elgato, “Stream Deck System Actions”: the Hotkey action. Checked 10 November 2026.
- Microsoft Support, “How to use multiple monitors in Windows”: Windows+P and Extend. Checked 10 November 2026.
- Microsoft Support, “Keyboard shortcuts in Windows”: moving and maximising the active window. Checked 10 November 2026.
- Microsoft Support, “Turn on app permissions for your microphone in Windows”. Checked 10 November 2026.
- Apple Support, “Control access to the microphone on Mac”. Checked 10 November 2026.
Related guides: a teleprompter for Windows, a teleprompter for Mac and all guides.