Convert a Zoom recording to text
Upload your Zoom recording — cloud or local — and get a transcript of the meeting.
Drag a file here or browse
MP3, WAV, M4A, FLAC · MP4, MOV, MKV, WebM · up to 2 GB
Set language, translation, or vocabulary hints below before transcribing
YouTube, Dropbox, Google Drive, or any direct MP3/MP4 link
Not applied on Gemini 3.5 Transcribe — the model can't combine vocabulary hints with word-level timestamps
.m4a accepted directly · up to 2 GB · 10 minutes free every day
How it works
Upload your file
Drag and drop your .m4a file onto the box below, or paste a link. No account needed to start.
AI transcribes it
OpenAI Whisper, Microsoft MAI-Transcribe 1.5, or Google Gemini 3.5 Transcribe converts the audio to text, detecting the language automatically.
Download the transcript
Get plain text back, plus SRT and VTT subtitle files when the recording carries timing information.
Generate more
From the finished job, request an AI summary, an action list, or a translation into any of 103 languages — applied straight to the completed transcript, no re-upload needed.
About .m4a files
Zoom saves two versions of every recording by default: audio_only.m4a and a full video MP4 with the gallery or speaker view baked in. Both contain the same spoken content, so which one you upload here doesn't change the transcript — but the M4A is typically a tenth the size of the MP4 or smaller, since it's carrying only the audio instead of a full recorded video feed. If you're just after a transcript, that's the one to grab.
For a cloud recording, both files are on the Zoom web portal under Recordings — open the meeting, and the download options are usually listed under the recording itself. For a locally recorded meeting, Zoom saves the same file pair to a folder on your computer (usually inside a "Documents/Zoom" folder) once the meeting ends and the recording finishes converting.
Multi-speaker Zoom calls are usually a mix of a laptop microphone, a phone joined by audio-only, and sometimes weaker connections that produce brief audio dropouts or compression artefacts — none of that is specific to Zoom, but it's worth knowing that transcription accuracy on a multi-participant call depends more on each person's microphone setup than on the recording itself.
Upload the M4A (fastest) or the MP4 (if that's the only file you kept) directly. You'll get a plain-text transcript, with SRT and VTT subtitle files available alongside it if you want captions synced to the meeting recording.
Where these files usually come from
- Zoom cloud recording (audio_only.m4a)
- Zoom local recording folder
- Downloaded meeting recordings shared by a colleague
- Webinar recordings exported from Zoom
Things to know
It's easy to upload the full gallery-view MP4 out of habit, which uploads far slower than necessary since the transcript only needs the audio.
Check the Zoom recording page or local folder for audio_only.m4a first — it produces an identical transcript and uploads much faster.
Simple pay-as-you-go pricing
10 minutes free every day. Beyond that, €0.02/minute with a €0.50 minimum — no subscription. Files are automatically deleted within 24 hours.
Frequently asked questions
- Should I upload the Zoom M4A or the MP4?
- Either works and produces the same transcript, but the audio-only M4A is much smaller and uploads faster since it doesn't carry the recorded video feed.
- Where do I find my Zoom recording files?
- Cloud recordings are on the Zoom web portal under Recordings, with both the audio_only.m4a and full MP4 listed as download options. Local recordings save to a folder on your computer (usually under Documents/Zoom) once the meeting ends.
- Can it separate what each meeting participant said?
- Speaker labeling is available as an option before you upload — it identifies who's speaking at each point in the transcript, which is useful for multi-participant Zoom calls.
- Does a poor connection during the call affect the transcript?
- Yes, in the sections where it happened. Brief dropouts or compression from a weak connection can produce gaps or errors right at that point in the transcript, while the rest of the call transcribes normally.
- Are Zoom recordings kept private after transcription?
- Yes. Files are automatically deleted within 24 hours of upload and are never used to train AI models.
Related formats
Built for your workflow
Transcription for Researchers
Fast, accurate transcription for interviews, focus groups, and fieldwork — supporting 64 languages and multiple files at once.
Transcription for Lawyers
Fast, private transcription for depositions, client calls, and hearings — audio or video, with automatic 24-hour file deletion.
64 languages supported — language is detected automatically.
Already have subtitles, not audio?
If you're trying to convert an existing SRT or VTT file rather than transcribe new audio, the browser-based subtitle tools handle that instantly, with nothing uploaded anywhere.
See subtitle tools →