Free tool
Meeting recording to text
Free meeting transcription for the recordings you already have: drop in a Zoom, Teams, Google Meet or Webex recording, and get what was said as text with a time on every paragraph, ready to copy or save.
- Free
- No sign-up
- Nothing is stored
Drop your meeting recording here, or Choose your meeting recording
MP4, M4A, MOV, WebM, MKV, MP3 or WAV. Up to 30 minutes of each file, 3 free files a day. The language is detected automatically.
Tired of downloading recordings? NoteOwl records your calls on your Mac with no bot joining, transcribes them there with unlimited transcription, labels each speaker and writes the notes.
How it works
How do you transcribe a meeting recording?
Download the recording from your meeting app, then drop it on the converter. Your browser reads its sound, cuts it into short pieces at pauses and has each one transcribed, so the transcript appears while you watch.
- 1
Download the recording
From the meeting app’s recordings page, its folder on your computer, OneDrive or Google Drive. A video or an audio-only file both work.
- 2
Drop it here
The sound is transcribed piece by piece, with a time on each paragraph. Up to 30 minutes of each recording are transcribed.
- 3
Save the transcript
Copy it into your notes, or download a Word document, a text file, or SRT and VTT subtitles.
Where do Zoom, Teams, Google Meet and Webex save recordings?
Each app keeps its recordings somewhere different: on your computer, in its own cloud, or in OneDrive or Google Drive. Find the file there, download it, then drop it on the converter. Whoever started the recording, or the meeting’s organizer, usually has the download.
- Zoom, recorded on your computer
- Where the file isThe Zoom folder in Documents: an MP4 video and an audio-only M4A
- Good to knowFree and paid accounts, in the desktop app
- Zoom, recorded to the cloud
- Where the file isRecordings & Transcripts in the Zoom web portal: open the recording, click Download
- Good to knowPro, Business and Enterprise accounts
- Microsoft Teams
- Where the file isThe organizer’s OneDrive, in the Recordings folder; channel meetings in the channel’s SharePoint site
- Good to knowLinked in the meeting chat
- Google Meet
- Where the file isThe organizer’s Google Drive, in the Google Meet folder
- Good to knowA link is emailed to the organizer
- Webex
- Where the file isCloud recordings in User Hub → Recordings; recordings on your computer are MP4 files
- Good to knowCloud recording on paid plans
| Recorded with | Where the file is | Good to know |
|---|---|---|
| Zoom, recorded on your computer | The Zoom folder in Documents: an MP4 video and an audio-only M4A | Free and paid accounts, in the desktop app |
| Zoom, recorded to the cloud | Recordings & Transcripts in the Zoom web portal: open the recording, click Download | Pro, Business and Enterprise accounts |
| Microsoft Teams | The organizer’s OneDrive, in the Recordings folder; channel meetings in the channel’s SharePoint site | Linked in the meeting chat |
| Google Meet | The organizer’s Google Drive, in the Google Meet folder | A link is emailed to the organizer |
| Webex | Cloud recordings in User Hub → Recordings; recordings on your computer are MP4 files | Cloud recording on paid plans |
Which meeting recordings can you transcribe?
Video and audio-only files alike: MP4, M4A, MOV, WebM, MKV, MP3 and WAV. The converter uses only the sound, so a recording of a shared screen transcribes the same as one of faces. If your app saves an audio-only copy, that one is smaller to download.
- 1
Find the recording
On the meeting app’s recordings page, in its folder on your computer, or in OneDrive or Google Drive.
- 2
Download it
Save the video or, when there is one, the audio-only file. Either works.
- 3
Drop it on the converter
The transcript appears paragraph by paragraph, each with its time in the meeting.
Does the transcript name each speaker?
No. The free converter writes one transcript with times, without names. For short calls that’s quick to fix by hand: listen to the first minute, then type each person’s initials where they start. NoteOwl on a Mac labels each speaker for you.
What can you do with a meeting transcript?
Search it, quote it and share the parts that matter. These are the jobs people transcribe meeting recordings for.
Notes for people who missed it
Paste the parts that matter into an email or the team chat.
Decisions and numbers
Search the transcript for the figure or date someone gave.
Quotes from a customer call
Use the times to find each quote and check it against the recording.
Minutes
Turn the transcript into minutes with the free meeting minutes builder.
Captions for a webinar
Download SRT or VTT and add them to the recording before you share it.
Training and onboarding
A recorded walkthrough as written steps for the next new hire.
Is there a page for your meeting app?
Yes: each page below is this same converter, with the steps to find and download that app’s recordings, and what to do when the app can’t record at all.
Video meeting apps
Calls and chat apps
Video messages
How do you get your next meeting transcribed without downloading anything?
Use NoteOwl. It records your calls on your Mac in Zoom, Teams, Google Meet or any other app, with no bot joining. When the call ends it writes the transcript with each speaker’s name, then the summary and action items, with unlimited transcription. Nothing is uploaded.
FAQ
Questions about transcribing meeting recordings
Is this meeting transcription free?
Yes. Transcribe 3 meeting recordings a day, up to 30 minutes of each, with no account or sign-up. The Word, text and subtitle downloads are all included.
Does the transcript show who said what?
No. The free converter writes one transcript with times but no speaker names. NoteOwl on a Mac labels each speaker in its meetings and recordings, and recognises a voice you’ve named before.
Is the meeting recording uploaded?
No. Your browser reads the file on your device and sends only short pieces of its sound, over a secure connection, to a cloud AI transcription service, which transcribes each piece and discards it. A video’s picture is never sent, and NoteOwl stores no audio and no text.
What if the meeting ran longer than 30 minutes?
The converter transcribes the first 30 minutes and says so above the transcript. To get the rest, cut the recording into parts first. NoteOwl on a Mac records and transcribes meetings of any length.
Should I use the video or the audio-only file?
Either gives the same transcript, because only the sound is used. An audio-only file, such as the M4A that Zoom can save, is smaller and quicker to download from the meeting app, so use it when you have one.
Can it transcribe a meeting in another language?
Yes. It detects the spoken language of each part of the recording and shows the main one with the transcript. A meeting that switches between languages is written in each one as it goes.
Can it join my meeting and record it?
No. This converter works on recordings that already exist. To have calls recorded without a bot joining them, NoteOwl records the call’s sound on your Mac and writes the transcript as soon as the call ends.
Keep exploring
More free tools
- Audio translatorA free audio translator: drop in a recording and get what was said in another language, as a translated transcript with times, Word, SRT or VTT, with the original beside it; nothing is stored
- Video translatorA free video translator: drop in a video and download subtitles in another language, timed to the speech, as SRT or VTT; only the sound is sent, nothing is stored
- Subtitle translatorA free subtitle translator: drop in an SRT or VTT file and download it in another language, every subtitle keeping its number and times; SRT, VTT or bilingual SRT; nothing is stored
- Online voice recorderRecord your voice in the browser with a level meter, timer and pause, play it back, and save it as MP3 or WAV; nothing is uploaded
Related
- AI meeting notes without a botHow NoteOwl records calls from your Mac with no bot joining, and what you get when the call ends
- Speaker recognitionTranscripts that say who said what: speakers separated automatically, and a voice named once is recognised in later meetings, on your Mac
- AI meeting summariesAI meeting summaries, decisions and action items written on your Mac from any template, when the call ends
- Video to textTurn video to text free: drop in an MP4, MOV, M4V, MKV or WebM video and get an AI transcript with times, as text, SRT, VTT or Word; only the sound is sent, nothing is stored
Every meeting transcribed, privately on your Mac
Free to download. Runs entirely on your Mac.
macOS 26 or later · Apple Silicon (M1 or newer) · 16 GB memory minimum, 24 GB recommended
About NoteOwl
NoteOwl is private AI meeting notes and memory for the Mac. It captures meetings without a bot joining the call, labels every speaker, writes summaries and action items, and builds a memory of every conversation that you can chat with — fully offline, because the speech recognition and the AI run on the Mac itself. Dictation into any app is free; Pro is a one-time purchase.
NoteOwl pricing: what’s free and what Pro adds
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