How to transcribe voice memos on iPhone, Mac and Android
Voice memos are the easiest way to catch a thought before it's gone: an idea on a walk, a recap after a meeting, a lecture recorded from the back row. Getting anything out of them later is the hard part, because audio can't be skimmed. Voice memo transcription fixes that by turning the recording into text you can search, copy and clean up.
Here's how to get a memo off your phone, when the transcript Apple builds in is enough, and how to turn a rambling ten-minute memo into notes you'll actually use.
The short version
- Save the voice memo as a file on your phone or computer.
- Upload it in the box at the top of this page.
- Press Transcribe and read the text, with a timestamp on every line.
- Copy it, or download it with a free Claras account.
The tool accepts the formats recorder apps use: M4A, MP3, WAV, OGG, Opus and WEBM. Your first memo is free with no account.
How to transcribe a voice memo from your iPhone
iPhone recordings live inside the Voice Memos app, so the first step is to save a copy as a file.
- Open Voice Memos and tap the recording you want.
- Tap the More button (three dots) and choose Share.
- Tap Save to Files, pick a folder such as Downloads or iCloud Drive, and tap Save. The file is an M4A.
- Open this page in Safari, tap the upload box and choose the memo from the folder you just used.
- Press Transcribe.
Prefer to work on a computer? From the same Share menu, AirDrop the memo to your Mac or email it to yourself, then upload it from there.
From the Voice Memos app on a Mac
If iCloud is turned on for Voice Memos, the recordings from your iPhone also show up in the Voice Memos app on your Mac. Drag one to your desktop, or use the Share button, to get the M4A file. Then drag that file into the box on this page.
From an Android phone
Android phones ship with different recorder apps depending on the maker, but almost all of them have a Share option on each recording. Share it to your Files app, Google Drive or email, then upload it here from your phone's browser or your computer. Android recorders usually save M4A, MP3 or OGG files, and all three work here.
Some Android phones, such as Pixels with Google's Recorder app, can transcribe on the device while you record. If yours does that and the text is good enough, you're set. This tool helps when your recorder doesn't transcribe, or when you want timestamps and a file you can download.
Transcribe voice notes from WhatsApp and other chat apps
Voice notes people send you are recordings too. In WhatsApp, press and hold the voice message and look for the option to share or forward it, then save it to your files. These voice notes are usually Opus files, which this tool accepts, so you can upload them the same way as a memo.
This is handy when someone sends a long voice note while you're in a meeting, or when you want the details of a message in writing. If you're transcribing something a friend or colleague sent, keep the text to yourself unless they're happy for it to be shared.
Doesn't my iPhone already transcribe voice memos?
It might. Recent versions of iOS can show a transcript inside the Voice Memos app, for some languages and on supported devices. If you see a transcript option when you open a recording, try it first. It's built in and it costs nothing.
A separate tool still earns its place in a few situations:
- Your iPhone, or the language you speak, isn't supported by the built-in transcript.
- Someone sent you their memo, and you're on Windows, Android or a work laptop.
- You want a file to keep: plain text, text with timestamps, or an .srt subtitle file.
- You need more than the words, like a summary of a long memo or answers to questions about it.
Turning a rambling memo into notes
Spoken thoughts don't arrive in order. A ten-minute memo might start with a grocery list, wander into a business idea and end with a reminder to call your sister. Once it's text, here's a simple way to sort it out.
- Skim the transcript once and mark the lines that matter. If a line is unclear, its timestamp tells you where to listen again.
- Pull out the actions first. Anything that starts with "I need to" or "remind me to" goes straight to your to-do list.
- Group the rest by topic and paste each group into the note or document where it belongs.
- Delete the filler. The "so, anyway, where was I" lines don't need to survive.
For long memos, Claras can do the first pass for you. It writes an AI summary with a TL;DR and key points, and in the Ask AI chat you can type "list every to-do I mentioned" and get answers that point to the timestamp.
Record memos that transcribe well
- Hold the phone close, about where you'd hold it on a call, and away from wind.
- Pause between ideas. A breath between topics makes the transcript much easier to sort later.
- Say the topic out loud. Starting with "Idea for the newsletter" or "Notes from the Smith call" gives you something to search for.
- Say unusual names slowly. You can fix the spelling in the text in a second, as long as the word was clear.
- Check the audio quality setting. The iPhone's lossless option makes much bigger files. Compressed is plenty for speech and keeps memos small enough for the free tool.
Long memos, lectures and meetings
The free tool takes files up to about 4 MB and transcribes the first 10 minutes, which covers most quick memos. If you record whole lectures or meetings, the Claras app transcribes files several hours long. You can export the result as TXT, PDF or .srt, or send it to ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or NotebookLM.
A free Claras account includes 1 hour of file transcription a month, no card needed. Pro is $5 a month for 10 hours and Unlimited is $12 a month for 100 hours, each with a 14-day free trial. You can compare them on the pricing page.