The pill does not appear when I hold the key

Q: The pill does not appear

Check the tray icon is there and not paused. If another app already uses Right Ctrl, pick a different talk key in Settings.

The short answer

Check the tray icon is there and not paused. If another app already uses Right Ctrl, pick a different talk key in Settings.

Work through these in order

Is it running? Look for the Perfect Dictation icon in the tray, at the bottom right of the screen. It may be hidden behind the small arrow. If it is not there, open Perfect Dictation from the Start menu.
Is it paused? Right-click the tray icon. If it says it is paused, resume it.
Are you holding the right key? Settings shows the talk key. If you changed it, use the new one.
Are you signed in? If the app is waiting for you to sign in, it shows that in its window. Sign in and try again.
Is another app taking the key? Some games, remote desktop tools and virtual machines grab Right Ctrl for themselves. Try in Notepad. If it works there, choose a different talk key in Settings.

Full-screen apps and games

Some full-screen games and presentation tools draw over everything, including the pill. Dictation may still work behind them, and the text arrives in History. Switch to a normal window to see the pill.

After an update

If the pill stopped appearing right after an update, quit Perfect Dictation from the tray menu and open it again from the Start menu.

Still nothing?

Open a ticket and tick Include app details. That sends your app and Windows versions and recent timings, never what you said, which usually shows us the cause straight away.