Transcribe a recording

Turn an existing audio file into a meeting with a transcript, speakers and a summary, on Mac or iPhone.

What it does

Any audio you already have, a voice memo, a recorded call, an interview, can be processed like a meeting: transcribed on the device, split into speakers if the speaker model is installed, and summarised with action items. The result appears under Meetings in the Library.

Supported formats: m4a, mp3, wav, aac, caf, aiff.

On Mac

Either:

Open the Library, click the arrow next to Record and choose Transcribe a Recording…, then pick the file; or
drag an audio file from the Finder onto the Library window.

On iPhone

In Voice Memos, Files or any app that shares audio, tap Share.
Choose Scribe in the share sheet.
Scribe opens and starts processing. Keep it open until the progress steps finish, or let it continue in the background; if iOS pauses the work, it resumes the next time you open Scribe.

You can also use Transcribe a Recording… from the Record menu in the Library and pick a file from Files.

What you’ll see

The meeting’s title is the file name without its extension and its date is the file’s creation date. Both can be changed.
The same processing steps as a live meeting: Saving audio, Transcribing, Identifying speakers (if the model is installed), Summarising.
The file is copied into Scribe’s meeting storage; your original is not touched. As with a live meeting, the copy is deleted once the transcript exists unless Keep recordings’ audio is on, in which case you can play it back.

Common problems

“The meeting language isn’t installed.” Transcription uses your dictation languages. Add the language of the recording under Settings › Languages first, and download the language pack if it needs one.

The speakers are all “Speaker 1”. Install the 13.7 MB speaker model (Mac: Settings › Meetings; both: the toggle on the recording sheet) and choose Retry transcription from the meeting’s menu.

A long file stops early on iPhone. Processing is capped at four hours of audio, the same as a live recording.