QUILL Lite 1.2

Version 1.2.0, released October 3, 2026.

Welcome to QUILL Lite 1.2. This is the release about words. QUILL Lite now has a thesaurus that finds the word you are really on, a dictionary that works without AI, and an AI dictionary that reads your word in its own sentence and tells you whether it is the right one.

It is also the release about knowing what happened. QUILL Lite keeps a list of everything it has told you, F9 says the last important thing again, and if something goes wrong while you are busy elsewhere, it waits for you rather than slipping past.

Everything works from the keyboard and tells you how it went, the way the rest of QUILL Lite does.

Testing rebuild: 1.2.0 (build 4)

Build 4 runs on Python 3.14. Its installer also removes the older Python 3.13 runtime once no QuillVille app on your computer uses it.

Dictation is kinder to screen reader users with a headset. QUILL Lite no longer writes down your screen reader reading back what you said, saying the same phrase twice writes it twice, and the sound for a written phrase is a soft tone instead of something that sounded like the letter “c”.

Build 4 keeps everything from build 3:

Build 3 retains build 2’s local-recording transcription fix and Windows audio duration fallback. It prepares downloaded model availability in the background, and completed transcripts are saved privately for opening from Notifications. Your current document stays unchanged until you choose to open a result.

Routine settings saves also run in the background and still report failures through Activity. Python HTTPS requests use the Windows certificate store while checking certificates and hostnames. The installer is current-user only and does not offer an administrator-only installation.

The bundled changelog records the complete build changes. These testing packages are not a GitHub release or a Stable-channel promotion.

If you already use QUILL Lite

Your settings, recent files and recovered work come with you exactly as they are, and Help > Check for Updates (Ctrl+Alt+U) offers 1.2.0 like any other update.

One key has moved. Tools > Keyboard Manager is now Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Space. Its old key, Ctrl+Alt+Shift+R, shows and hides Quill Radio from anywhere, so while Quill Radio was running the Keyboard Manager never opened. QUILL moved its Keyboard Manager to the same key, so the two still match.

Try this first

  1. Put the cursor on a word you are not happy with and press Shift+F7. Arrow through the meanings, press Tab to reach the words, and press Enter on one you like. It goes into your sentence in the right form.
  2. On another word, press the Applications key. You find two new submenus, Thesaurus for that word and Dictionary for that word.
  3. Press Alt+F10 for Look Up Word. It works without the internet, and tells you more if you let it go online.
  4. Press Ctrl+, for Preferences and type “spelling” in Find a setting. Press Down, then Enter, and you are on that setting.
  5. Press Shift+F9 for Activity, the list of everything QUILL Lite has told you since you opened it. Press F9 any time to hear the last important thing again.

Finding the right word

The thesaurus

Press Shift+F7, the same key as in Word and QUILL, or choose Tools > Thesaurus. It opens on the word you are on.

A thesaurus lists plain forms of words, run rather than running. QUILL Lite works your word back for you, so “running” finds “run”, “happier” finds “happy” and “stopped” finds “stop”, and it tells you so. Then it puts your choice back in the form your sentence needs. Choose sprint for running and you get sprinting. Choose glad for Happier and you get More glad, capital letter and all.

It is the same thesaurus QUILL uses, and it comes inside QUILL Lite. Nothing is downloaded and nothing is sent anywhere.

Want the short version without a window? Say Word Summary (Ctrl+Alt+Shift+[) tells you what the thesaurus knows about a word: how many meanings it has, the first few replacements, and its opposites.

Look Up, the dictionary without AI

Press Alt+F10, or choose Tools > Look Up Word. Offline, you get synonyms, opposites and related words from the word list inside QUILL Lite.

Check Use online sources and you also get definitions with examples, more words, rhymes and a short Wikipedia summary. Only the word is sent, never your sentence or your document, and only after you check the box. QUILL Lite remembers your choice.

Press Enter on a word to put it in place of yours. Add to Dictionary teaches a word to your spell checker.

The AI dictionary

A thesaurus knows every meaning of bank. It cannot tell which one your sentence means. Tools > Dictionary can, because it sends the word and the sentence it is in (never the rest of your document) and answers in plain words written to be listened to.

There are twelve questions to ask, each with a key of its own:

When an answer offers words, Tab to Choices and press Enter, or choose Use This Word. It goes into your document as one step, and one Ctrl+Z takes it back.

The AI dictionary needs your ChatGPT subscription or your own AI key. It does not use QUILL’s free AI service, because a dictionary gets asked many times a day and would use up the free allowance quickly.

Checking your word lists

Tools > Spelling > Dictionary Status (Alt+Shift+;) tells you how many words your personal dictionary and this document’s own list hold, where each file is kept, and whether the thesaurus is there.

If you would rather not have any of this, turn off Dictionary and thesaurus in Tools > Customize Features (Ctrl+Alt+F10). It is on to begin with, and off in the WordPad and Notepad profiles.

AI help with a Google Gemini key

Use My Own AI Key (Alt+F2), which used to be called Use My Own OpenAI Key, now opens on a Provider list: OpenAI or Google Gemini. Choose one, paste that company’s key, and everything follows your choice: where your text goes, which models you can pick, and what they cost. QUILL Lite never guesses from the key or the model name.

You can keep both keys saved and switch with the Provider list. With a Gemini key, Ask About an Image (Ctrl+F5) works too, and so do the AI dictionary and Tidy Dictated Text.

If you use your ChatGPT plan in more than one Quill app, each app now keeps its own sign-in. Signing out of one leaves the others signed in, and Use My ChatGPT Subscription (Alt+F5) tells you when another app on this computer is already signed in, so signing in here is one Allow in your browser.

Knowing what happened

Activity and Repeat Last Result

Help > Activity (Shift+F9) lists everything QUILL Lite has told you since you opened it, newest first. Each row offers what you can do about it:

If work finishes after you closed the window that started it, the result lands here instead of being lost. A large file you opened while you were busy elsewhere is here too, as Opened or Could not open.

Help > Repeat Last Result (F9) says the last important thing again. That is QUILL Lite’s own last message, not the last thing your screen reader read. Both keys do the same in QUILL, Quill Radio and QUILL Cast.

When your settings cannot be saved

Sometimes Windows will not let QUILL Lite save your settings, perhaps because the disk is full. Now you are told once, with the reason. Your choices keep working for the rest of the session, the warning stays in the status bar’s Message cell, and Activity offers Retry. When a later save works, you hear that too. Preferences no longer says “saved” when it was not.

Finding a setting

Preferences (Ctrl+,) has a Find a setting box at the top. Type a word, press Down to reach the matches, and press Enter on one to go straight to it. Ctrl+F takes you back to the box. Searching never changes a setting, and OK and Cancel work just as before. Quill Radio and QUILL Cast have the same box in their Preferences.

Making QUILL Lite your text editor

The installer is for your Windows account only. It does not offer an all-users install or need administrator approval. The separate option below that opens QUILL Lite whenever a program asks for Notepad changes a computer-wide setting, so Windows still asks for administrator approval for that action.

Every QUILL Lite install now tells Windows that QUILL Lite can open text, Markdown, rich text, HTML and CSV files. It takes nothing over. QUILL Lite simply shows up in Open with, and in Windows Settings under Default apps, where you choose which app opens what. The Custom install’s checkbox for opening .txt and .rtf files is gone, because there is nothing left to ask.

Open Preferences (Ctrl+,) and look under Windows and your files. A line there tells you what opens in place of Notepad right now.

The Make QUILL Lite My Text Editor… button takes you the rest of the way. It explains what Windows lets an app do and what you choose, then opens the Default apps page for QUILL Lite. Choose .txt, pick QUILL Lite, and choose Set default. It works from a portable copy too.

Some programs still open Notepad by name. If you would like QUILL Lite to open for those as well, check Open QUILL Lite instead of Notepad and press OK. It is off to begin with. It changes Notepad for everyone on the computer, so Windows asks for administrator approval, and clearing the box puts Notepad back. On Windows 11, QUILL Lite also shows you where to turn off the newer Notepad’s app execution alias. Uninstalling QUILL Lite puts Notepad back for you.

QUILL for All has both of these too, in its own Settings. Only one program can open in place of Notepad, so if QUILL already does, QUILL Lite tells you before it takes over, and QUILL does the same.

Choose Stable, Beta or Dev

New in this version: Release Channel…, on the Help menu. Every copy stays on Stable, the version we check with JAWS and NVDA, unless you choose otherwise. Beta gets new features a few weeks early; Dev is the work in progress, for testers.

Arrowing through the three only explains them. If you choose Beta or Dev, a short warning says plainly what could go wrong and how to come back, and nothing moves until you check I understand and choose Move. Before it moves, QUILL Lite saves a copy of your settings, keys and recent files list. Your documents are not copied, and updates don’t change them.

Coming back to Stable is safe. If Stable can read everything you have saved, QUILL Lite offers to go straight back. If it can’t yet, QUILL Lite says so plainly and lets you either wait for Stable to catch up (it moves you across by itself), or go back to the copy of your settings saved when you joined. A copy of how things are right now is saved first, so nothing is thrown away.

On Beta and Dev, QUILL Lite downloads new versions in the background so they are ready when you are, and never installs one without asking. It waits on a metered connection, during Quiet Hours, and while Quill Radio is recording.

Quill Radio and QUILL Cast share one engine with QUILL Lite on your computer. When one of you moves to Beta or Dev, it gets its own copy of the engine, so the apps you leave on Stable are never touched. That copy uses about 335 MB of disk space until your last app comes back to Stable.

If an update ever fails to start, it undoes itself, puts back the version you had, and tells you so the next time QUILL Lite opens. The window’s Update History button shows everything the updater has done.

Help > About shows a build number after the version. The initial 1.2.0 release was build 1; this testing rebuild is 1.2.0 (build 3). If a newer build is published to your update channel without a new version number, Check for Updates offers it to you. Uploading a testing package alone does not publish it to an update channel.

Dictating in Spanish

New, and ready for you to try: you can dictate in Spanish. Open Dictation Settings (Alt+Shift+F6), choose Spanish under Dictation language, and press Enter. Or press Ctrl+Shift+F11 to switch between English and Spanish at any time, even while you are dictating.

QUILL has the same thing, in the same place. The user guide’s “Dictating in Spanish” has the whole list. If something comes out wrong, tell us through Help > Get Help from Support. We’re keen to hear how it goes.

Better accuracy: optional speech models

Dictation works the moment you install. If you want more accuracy, you can now download a larger model: the same local models VS Code offers for its own dictation, plus the rest of the Whisper family.

Open Dictation Settings (Alt+Shift+F6) and press Better Accuracy: Speech Models… (Alt+B). The list starts with our suggestion, NVIDIA’s Nemotron 3.5 ASR Streaming (VS Code’s default), then NVIDIA’s two Parakeet models, Whisper small, base and tiny, the rest of Whisper from base.en to large-v3, and a lighter Moonshine base. Each one says what it is good for, how big it is, which languages it knows, which computers suit it and whether yours should keep up.

The user guide’s “Better accuracy: optional speech models” has every model’s published accuracy, what we measured, and “Nemotron or Parakeet: which should I try?”.

Dictation that keeps up with you

Dictation learned a lot this time, much of it from studying how VS Code does it. Everything here is in QUILL too, on the same keys.

More Dictation Settings… (Alt+A in Dictation Settings) holds the new choices. The user guide’s chapter on writing by voice has a section for each, and there is a new lesson, “Write by talking”, in Help > Tutorials….

Dictation: more you can do by voice

There is a lot more you can do just by talking now. All of it is in Tools > Dictation, all of it is in QUILL too on the same keys, and five new lessons in the “Working in a document” track of Help > Tutorials… walk you through it.

Turn a recording into text

Got a voice note, an interview or a lecture you need in writing? Press Shift+F5 (or Tools > Dictation > Transcribe a Recording…), choose the file, and keep working while QUILL Lite listens to it in the background. It uses the same speech engines you dictate with:

The user guide’s “Transcribing an audio file” has the whole story, including which model suits which recording.

Follow-up for testers: reopen a completed transcript

This is a follow-up after the 1.2.0 release, not part of 1.2.0. A completed transcript is now saved privately and linked from its completion notice in Notifications. Activate the notice when you are ready to open the result; it stays separate from the document you were editing.

Your recent documents, one key away

New: press Alt+Shift+0 (or choose File > Recent Documents…) to see every document you opened recently, newest first, and press Enter on the one you want. The list was always there, under File > Open Recent, but it was easy to miss. Now it has a key and a window of its own.

Alt+Shift+1 to Alt+Shift+9 still reopen the first nine straight away, and pinned documents now come first there too. QUILL has the same window on the same key, and the same quick keys on its Open Recent menu. The user guide’s “Opening something you worked on recently” has the details.

Notes on your document

QUILL Lite now has inline notes, the same ones QUILL has, on the same keys. A note is a comment on a line or a selection: a question, a reminder, or what you think of a plan somebody sent you. They are on Tools > Inline Notes.

Notes are private unless you say otherwise. In a Markdown or HTML document you can write a note into the file instead, as a hidden comment that anyone who opens the file can read, including an AI assistant. That makes QUILL Lite a good way to review a plan an AI wrote: leave your notes in it and hand the file back. A script can then list or clear them with QuillLite.exe --notes.

Snippets moved to Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Home to make room for the notes on the same keys as QUILL. Alt+Shift+I is now Add Inline Note.

Checking off tasks

Put the cursor on a task line, such as - [ ] Write the tests, and press Ctrl+Alt+Enter (Format > Toggle Task Done). The box is checked and you hear how many tasks in the list are done. Press it again to uncheck, or select several tasks to check them together. Ctrl+Z takes it back.

A web page you can share

File > Export as HTML… (Ctrl+Alt+Shift+End) saves a copy of your document as one web page, ready to email or put on a website. Task lists show as check boxes. Your document stays as it was.

Opening a document however it arrives

Copy a file in File Explorer, a path from a chat or a link from an email, then press Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Enter (File > Open from Clipboard). QUILL Lite opens it. File > Open from URL… asks before it downloads anything, naming the website and the size, and shows you how the download is going. You can also drag files onto the window to open them.

Careful with your files

These ideas come from PlanCake, a small app by Andre of Oire Software for reviewing AI-written plans. Thank you, Andre.

Things that work better now

Keys new in 1.2

Key What it does
Shift+F7 Thesaurus
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+[ Say Word Summary
Alt+F10 Look Up Word
Ctrl+F10 Word Explorer
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+’ Define in Context
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+] Find the Word For
Alt+Shift+; Dictionary Status
Alt+Shift+. Remove Quote Marks, on its new key
Alt+Shift+0 Recent Documents
Shift+F9 Activity
F9 Repeat Last Result
Alt+Shift+I Add Inline Note
Alt+Shift+J / Alt+Shift+K Next and Previous Inline Note
Alt+Shift+H Speak Inline Note
Alt+Shift+Delete Delete Inline Note
Alt+Shift+Enter List Inline Notes
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Home Snippets, on its new key
Ctrl+Alt+Enter Toggle Task Done
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+End Export as HTML
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Enter Open from Clipboard
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Space Keyboard Manager, on its new key
Ctrl+Shift+F11 Switch Dictation Language
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+PageDown Start or Stop Live Transcript
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+PageUp Dictation Context for This Document
Alt+F9 Dictation Status

The rest of the AI dictionary’s keys are in the user guide. All of these are in QUILL too, on the same keys.

Where to learn more

The QUILL Lite User Guide, in the Start menu beside QUILL Lite, covers everything here in thirteen chapters:

Help > Tutorials (Ctrl+Alt+F1) has nine short lessons, if you would like a guided start.

If you get stuck, choose Help > Get Help from Support (Ctrl+Alt+F2), or write to support@community-access.org. A person at Community Access reads every message.