How to Transcribe a Zoom Meeting Recording (2026 Guide)

Zoom meetings generate important decisions, action items, and conversations that are hard to capture in real-time notes. Transcribing your Zoom recordings gives you a searchable, shareable record of everything that was said. Here's how to do it, whether you use local or cloud recordings.

Step 1: Find your Zoom recording files

Zoom saves recordings in two places depending on your settings. You need to know which one you're using before you can transcribe.

Local recordings

If you selected "Record on this Computer" during the meeting, Zoom saves files to your local machine. The default location is:

• Windows: C:\Users\[Username]\Documents\Zoom\
• Mac: /Users/[Username]/Documents/Zoom/

Each meeting gets its own folder with the date and meeting name. Inside, you'll find an MP4 (video), M4A (audio only), and sometimes a chat.txt file. The M4A audio fileis what you want for transcription -- it's smaller and faster to upload than the video.

Cloud recordings

If you selected "Record to the Cloud" (available on paid Zoom plans), your recordings are stored in your Zoom account. To access them:

1. Log into zoom.us and go to Recordings in the left sidebar
2. Find the meeting and click on it
3. Click Download next to the "Audio Only" file (M4A format)

Cloud recordings are also accessible from the Zoom desktop app under the "Recordings" tab, but downloading from the web portal gives you more control over which file format you grab.

Step 2: Supported audio and video formats

Zoom produces recordings in MP4 (video) and M4A (audio). Most transcription services, including TranscribeCat, accept both formats along with MP3, WAV, FLAC, OGG, and WebM. You don't need to convert anything -- just upload the file as-is.

Tip: Always use the audio-only file (M4A) rather than the video (MP4) for transcription. It uploads 5-10x faster and produces identical results since transcription only uses the audio track anyway.

Step 3: Transcribe the recording

Once you have the audio file, the transcription process takes just a few minutes:

1. Go to TranscribeCat and create a free account (or log in)
2. Click Upload and select your Zoom M4A or MP4 file
3. Select the language spoken in the meeting (or leave on auto-detect)
4. Enable Speaker Diarization if you want speaker labels (highly recommended for meetings)
5. Click Transcribe and wait 2-5 minutes depending on recording length

The result is a timestamped transcript with each speaker's dialogue labeled. A typical 1-hour Zoom meeting costs just $2 to transcribe with TranscribeCat, with no subscription required. See pricing details.

Speaker labels for meeting participants

Meeting transcripts are only useful if you know who said what. Speaker diarization is the AI feature that identifies different voices in a recording and labels them (Speaker 1, Speaker 2, etc.).

Modern diarization works well for meetings with 2-8 participants where speakers take turns. It can struggle when people talk over each other, which is common in energetic discussions. Here's how to get the best results:

• Ask participants to mute when not speaking. Background noise from unmuted mics confuses speaker detection.
• Use "Original Sound" mode in Zoom. Go to Settings > Audio > "High fidelity music mode." This disables noise suppression that can distort voice characteristics the AI uses for identification.
• Record audio-only per participant if your Zoom plan supports it. Some plans allow separate audio tracks per speaker, which gives perfect diarization.

After transcription, you can rename "Speaker 1" to the actual participant's name in the transcript editor. This makes the document ready to share with your team.

Sharing transcripts with your team

Once your meeting is transcribed, there are several ways to share it:

• Copy-paste into Slack, Notion, or Google Docs: The fastest approach. Copy the full transcript or just the key sections.
• Export as TXT or SRT: Download the transcript file and attach it to the meeting calendar invite or share via email.
• Create meeting minutes: Use the transcript as a reference to write a concise summary with action items, decisions, and follow-ups. This is more useful than sending the raw transcript.
• Searchable archive: Store transcripts in a shared drive organized by date. When someone asks "When did we decide X?" you can search across all meeting transcripts instantly.

For teams that transcribe meetings regularly, having a consistent workflow saves significant time. Designate one person per meeting to handle the recording and transcript, or rotate the responsibility. Learn more about team transcription workflows on our business solutions page.

Zoom's built-in transcription vs external services

Zoom offers its own transcription feature on Business and Enterprise plans. Here's how it compares to external services:

Zoom's built-in transcription is convenient if you already have a Business plan -- it runs automatically on cloud recordings. But if you're on a free or Pro plan, or need better accuracy for non-English meetings, an external service is the way to go.

The biggest advantage of external transcription is flexibility. You can transcribe Zoom recordings alongside recordings from Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, phone calls, or any other source -- all in one place. For tips on getting the best results from any audio source, check our guide on improving transcription accuracy.

Quick recap