How to transcribe a Zoom recording

You recorded the call, you go looking for the transcript, and there isn't one. A local Zoom recording does not get Zoom's automatic audio transcript.

Short answer: Zoom only produces that transcript for cloud recordings, on a paid plan. A recording saved to your own computer is an audio and a video file. Import either one into a transcription app and you get the text back, with the speakers separated. On a Mac you can also skip all of this and record the call as it happens, which is the last section below.

Why Zoom did not make a transcript

Zoom's audio transcript requires a Pro, Business, Education or Enterprise account, with cloud recording and audio transcription both enabled. Zoom's documentation states that it does not apply to local recordings.

So if you are on the free plan, or you chose "Record on this Computer" rather than "Record to the Cloud", no transcript was going to appear. That is expected behaviour, not a fault.

One exception worth checking: if someone enabled "Save closed caption as a VTT file" in Zoom's recording settings, a captions file may be sitting in the folder alongside the recording. It is rougher than a transcript and it has no speaker names, but if it is there it is free.

Where the file is

By default a Mac saves local recordings in Documents, then Zoom, in a folder named for the date and the meeting. If it is not there, check the folder set in Zoom's recording settings, which can be changed.

File	What it is
audio_only.m4a	The audio on its own. Use this one.
zoom_0.mp4	The video, carrying the same audio.
double_click_to_convert...	Working files left over from the conversion.

If the folder holds only the conversion files and nothing you can play, the conversion did not finish. In Zoom, open Meetings, then Recorded, select the meeting and choose Convert.

Turning the file into text

1. Open AI Transcribe on your Mac, or on your iPhone if the file is there instead.
2. Import the recording. Audio or video, up to three hours per file.
3. Wait for it to process. How long depends on the length of the recording and your connection.
4. You get a transcript with timestamps, split into speaker turns.
5. From there you can produce meeting notes, action items or a summary, and ask questions against the transcript instead of scrubbing the audio.

What the speaker labels can and cannot tell you. Zoom's audio_only.m4a mixes every participant into one track, so transcription can separate the voices but has no way to know who they belong to. You get Speaker A and Speaker B. Click a label in the transcript to put a real name on it, and do that before you share the notes with anyone.

Recording the call as it happens

Importing a file afterwards works, but on a Mac you do not have to wait for the call to end, and you do not have to have set anything up in Zoom beforehand.

AI Transcribe records your microphone and the sound your Mac is playing, which is both sides of the conversation, and keeps them on separate channels in the file. Nothing joins the meeting and nothing appears in the participant list, because the recording happens on your machine rather than inside Zoom.

The part that matters in practice is that you can start it once the call is already running:

• Press the record shortcut, Control Option R by default, from whatever app you are in.
• Or open the recording controls from the menu bar icon, without switching to the app.
• A small pill floats above the Dock while it runs, showing a timer and the waveform, with pause and done.
• A live preview of the text can run alongside it, so you can see it is working.

When you stop, the recording is already in your library and transcribes like any other file.

Two limits worth knowing. macOS asks for microphone and system audio permission, and the system audio one usually needs approving in System Settings before the first recording works. And it captures sound only, so a shared screen or slides are not recorded.

Recording laws differ by country and by state, and some require every participant to consent. Worth knowing which rule applies to you, because Zoom will not announce this recording on your behalf.

Common questions

Can I transcribe a recording someone else sent me? Yes, as long as you have the actual audio or video file, in a format the app can open, under three hours.

Does this work for Teams or Google Meet recordings? Yes. Download the recording first, then import it the same way. The app does not care which platform produced the file.

What if the meeting ran longer than three hours? Split the file before importing, or record it in parts.

Do I need the video file? No. Use audio_only.m4a when it is there. The video transcribes just as well if that is all you have.