Voice memo to text: transcribe a voice memo or note

How to transcribe a voice memo

Four steps turn a recording into text, and the longest of them is moving it off the phone.

1. Move the recording to your computer. iPhone Voice Memos saves every memo as .m4a; send it to your computer by AirDrop or the Share menu. Other recorders give you MP3, WAV or OGG, which work the same way.
2. Drop the file on the page. Drag it onto the upload area at the top, or click the area to pick it. No conversion is needed.
3. Start the transcription. A guest’s first upload is transcribed right away at no charge, whole up to 10 minutes and for the first 10 minutes beyond that. Once signed in, you see the price first and press Transcribe.
4. Copy or export the text. Copy the lines straight into your notes app, or download TXT, Markdown, SRT or VTT.

Speech runs at roughly 150 words a minute, so two minutes of talking give about 300 words: a page you would otherwise type from memory while rewinding the audio. Ideas, shopping lists, lecture notes and rehearsed speeches all fit that scale.

Getting the recording onto the page

Every memo is an ordinary audio file, and it reaches the upload area the way any file does, from a folder on your computer.

• iPhone Voice Memos: every memo is an .m4a. AirDrop it to a Mac or send it to your computer from the Share menu; on a Mac, the Voice Memos app also lets you drag a recording to the desktop.
• Android recorders: apps save M4A, MP3 or WAV depending on the app; any of them uploads without conversion.
• Voice messages from messengers: these are usually OGG or Opus files; see how to transcribe an OGG file.
• Dictaphones: MP3 or WAV from the device memory, as in the guides to MP3 recordings and WAV to text.

The format itself, and why an M4A needs no conversion, is explained in the guide to why an M4A needs no conversion.

What makes a note transcribe well

A note transcribes well when one voice is close to the microphone and nothing else is competing with it.

• Hold the phone near your mouth: twenty to thirty centimetres is enough; a phone in a pocket records fabric rustle louder than speech.
• Pick a quiet spot: wind, traffic and a running tap cost more words than a strong accent.
• Say names and numbers slowly: they are the words you cannot guess from context when you read the text later.
• Speak in short sentences: the transcript carries one timestamp per phrase, so short sentences give you lines you can find by time.

If a passage still comes out garbled, its timestamp takes you to the spot in the player, and you correct that line by hand. We publish no accuracy percentage, because it depends on the recording; the free first memo is the honest test, and the overview explains what makes any recording transcribe well.

What to do with the text

A voice note transcript is useful in three ways: as notes you can search, as subtitles for a clip, and as raw material for AI actions.

Searchable notes are the plain case. Paste the TXT or Markdown into your notes app and find the memo by any word in it, which an audio file never allows. If the memo goes with a video, SRT or VTT gives you subtitle files with timing. And when the memo is long, an AI action such as a summary of a voice memo turns a rambling five minutes into a short list; it runs only when you choose it and comes with the transcription at no extra charge.

Free and paid minutes, in numbers

Each audio minute uses one minute of balance, rounded up, and a first upload of up to 10 minutes is free.

• A 90-second idea is a free first upload, no account needed.
• A 20-minute brainstorm uses 20 minutes, more than the 10-minute sign-up gift, so a pack covers the rest.
• A 3-minute reminder after the first one uses 3 minutes of the gift.

The price is shown before anything starts and charged only after success; the table of packs and prices lists the packs.

Limits

This page transcribes finished recordings only: it does not record from a microphone, does not take links and does not label speakers.

• No recording on the page: record in Voice Memos or another app, then upload the file.
• No live dictation; the text appears after the whole file is processed.
• No speaker names, only timestamps.
• Files over 100 MB need sign-in, and files over 500 MB or 4 hours are turned away.

Frequently asked questions

How do I transcribe a voice memo on an iPhone?

Voice Memos saves each recording as an .m4a file. Send it to a computer, by AirDrop to a Mac or from the Share menu, then drop the file on the upload area of this page and the transcript comes back with timestamps.

Can I transcribe a voice memo for free?

Yes, the opening one: a guest’s first upload costs nothing, whole up to 10 minutes. Later ones draw on your balance, and signing up adds 10 gift minutes.

Can I transcribe a voicemail the same way?

Only if you can save the voicemail as an audio file. There is no phone-line or link import, but once the message is a file it behaves like any other voice note.

Which formats do voice notes come in?

Most often M4A from iPhone, MP3 or WAV from digital recorders, and OGG or Opus from messengers. All of them upload as they are.

Is my voice memo kept on your server?

No. The original is deleted as soon as the sound has been extracted from it, or after about an hour if the transcription never starts; only the text stays, in your browser or in your account. The privacy policy has the full rules.

Does the transcript say who is speaking?

No. There are no speaker labels, only a timestamp on every line. For a memo to yourself that is rarely a problem.