Free tool
Video to text converter
Turn video to text with this free converter: drop in a video and your browser takes out its sound, which is transcribed into text with a time on every paragraph, ready to copy or save as text, subtitles or Word.
- Free
- No sign-up
- The video stays on your device
Drop your video here, or Choose your video
MP4, MOV, M4V, MKV or WebM video. Up to 30 minutes of each file, 3 free files a day. The language is detected automatically.
Transcribing videos every week? NoteOwl transcribes MP4 videos on your Mac with unlimited transcription, labels each speaker and keeps every recording searchable. Nothing is uploaded.
How it works
How do you transcribe a video to text?
To convert video to text, choose the video or drop it on the converter. Your browser reads only its sound track and cuts it into short pieces at pauses; AI transcription turns each piece into text and the transcript appears as you watch. The picture never leaves your device.
- 1
Choose the video
An MP4, MOV, M4V, MKV or WebM file: a phone video, a screen recording, a downloaded call or a lecture.
- 2
The sound is transcribed
The browser takes out the sound and transcribes it piece by piece. Up to 30 minutes of each video are transcribed.
- 3
Copy or download
Copy the text, or save a TXT file, SRT or VTT subtitles timed to the video, or a Word document.
Which videos can you turn into text?
MP4, MOV, M4V, MKV and WebM: the videos phones, screen recorders, video calls and editors save. The converter needs only their sound track, which is AAC, Opus or Vorbis in almost every one. AVI, WMV and FLV files can’t be opened in a browser.
- MP4
- Where it usually comes fromPhones, Zoom recordings, most video editors and screen recorders
- Its soundAAC
- MOV
- Where it usually comes fromiPhone camera, QuickTime Player and Mac screen recordings
- Its soundAAC
- M4V
- Where it usually comes fromHandBrake and other Mac video exports
- Its soundAAC
- MKV
- Where it usually comes fromOBS Studio and other recording apps
- Its soundAAC or Opus
- WebM
- Where it usually comes fromBrowser screen recorders and many web videos
- Its soundOpus or Vorbis
| Video | Where it usually comes from | Its sound |
|---|---|---|
| MP4 | Phones, Zoom recordings, most video editors and screen recorders | AAC |
| MOV | iPhone camera, QuickTime Player and Mac screen recordings | AAC |
| M4V | HandBrake and other Mac video exports | AAC |
| MKV | OBS Studio and other recording apps | AAC or Opus |
| WebM | Browser screen recorders and many web videos | Opus or Vorbis |
How does a video become text without uploading it?
Your browser opens the video on your device and reads only its sound track; the picture is never decoded. The sound is cut at pauses into pieces of 30 seconds or less, and only those small pieces are sent to be transcribed, then discarded.
That’s why a large file is no problem. However big the video, a full 30 minutes of speech sends only about 11 MB of sound. Keep the page open until the transcript is ready: a phone can pause a page that’s in the background.
What do you get from a video?
A transcript with the time each paragraph starts in the video, subtitles timed to the speech, and a Word document. Copy the text in one click, or download whichever you need.
- Transcript (.txt)
- What’s in itParagraphs, each with the time it starts in the video
- Good forNotes, quotes, blog posts
- Subtitles (.srt, .vtt)
- What’s in itNumbered cues of one or two short lines, timed to the speech
- Good forYouTube, video editors, web players
- Word (.docx)
- What’s in itThe transcript as a document, with the video’s length and language
- Good forEditing and sharing
| Download | What’s in it | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| Transcript (.txt) | Paragraphs, each with the time it starts in the video | Notes, quotes, blog posts |
| Subtitles (.srt, .vtt) | Numbered cues of one or two short lines, timed to the speech | YouTube, video editors, web players |
| Word (.docx) | The transcript as a document, with the video’s length and language | Editing and sharing |
What can you use video transcription for?
Anything where people talk on camera or over a screen. These are the videos people turn into text most.
Recorded calls
A downloaded Zoom, Teams or Google Meet recording, as a searchable transcript.
Lectures and webinars
A recorded class or talk, ready to turn into notes.
Screen recordings
A product demo or walkthrough, as written steps.
Interviews on camera
Every answer as text, with times to find the clip.
Social and YouTube videos
Your own uploads as text for captions, descriptions and posts.
Phone videos
A toast, a family story or a site visit, written down.
Is there a converter for your type of video?
Yes: each page below is this same converter, set up for one kind of video file, with advice on where that file comes from.
By video file type
How do you make subtitles from a video?
Download the transcript as SRT or VTT once it’s ready. To see every subtitle first, with its times and line breaks, use the free subtitle generator, which works on the same videos and lays out each cue for easy reading.
Want unlimited video transcription on your Mac?
Use NoteOwl. It imports MP4 videos and audio files of any length on your Mac and transcribes them there, unlimited, with on-device AI models. It labels each speaker, saves SRT subtitles with their names, and keeps every recording searchable. Nothing is uploaded.
FAQ
Questions about converting video to text
Is this video to text converter free?
Yes. Transcribe 3 videos a day, up to 30 minutes of each, with no account. Copying the text and every download, from plain text to SRT subtitles and Word, are included.
Is my video uploaded?
No. Your browser reads the video on your device and takes out only its sound. Short pieces of that sound go over a secure connection to a cloud AI transcription service, which transcribes each piece and discards it. The picture is never sent, and NoteOwl stores no audio and no text.
How big can the video be?
The size barely matters, because only the sound is read. In our test, a 1 GB full-HD video and a 62 MB copy of the same 6-minute talk were both transcribed in about 6 seconds. What counts is the length: the first 30 minutes of each video are transcribed.
Can it turn a YouTube link into text?
No. The converter works on video files on your device, not on links. For your own YouTube videos, download the file from YouTube Studio first, then drop it here.
Can I get subtitles for the video?
Yes. Download the transcript as SRT or VTT: each subtitle has a start and end time, holds one or two short lines and follows the speech, so it lines up with the video. The free subtitle generator shows the subtitles themselves before you save them.
Which languages can a video be in?
Most widely spoken languages. The converter detects the spoken language from the sound and shows it with the result. A video in one language transcribes best; one that switches languages is written in each as it goes.
Why won’t my AVI or WMV video open?
Browsers can’t read AVI, WMV or FLV files, so the converter can’t take their sound out. Convert the video to MP4 first, or export just its sound as an MP3 or WAV file and use the audio to text converter.
Keep exploring
More free tools
- Subtitle generatorA free AI subtitle generator: drop in a video or recording and download SRT or VTT subtitles timed to the speech, two short lines per cue; only the sound is sent, nothing is stored
- Meeting recording to textMeeting transcription free in your browser: drop in a Zoom, Teams, Google Meet or Webex recording and get a transcript with times; only the sound is sent, nothing is stored
- 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
Related
- Audio to textTranscription software for your Mac: drop in an audio or video file and get a speaker-labelled transcript with timestamps, unlimited, with nothing uploaded
- Extract audio from videoTake the sound out of an MP4, MOV, WebM or MKV video in your browser and save it as MP3, M4A (no re-encoding) or WAV; nothing is uploaded
- MP4 to MP3 converterTurn an MP4 video’s sound into an MP3 in your browser, Zoom and Teams recordings included; nothing is uploaded
Videos into notes, 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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