Voice memo to text

1. Open Voice Memos and tap the recording.
2. Use the three-dot menu or the Share button, whichever your version shows.
3. Choose Save to Files, AirDrop, or Mail, so the file lands somewhere you can reach from your browser.
4. On a Mac, you can also drag the recording from Voice Memos to your desktop.
5. Upload the file above. M4A needs no conversion.

On Android, recorder apps differ. Look for Share or Export, and pick MP3, M4A, or WAV if the app asks for a format.

On supported iPhones, the Voice Memos app can show a transcript inside the app. If yours does, you may not need to upload anything.

This page helps when your phone shows no transcript, when the memo was recorded on an Android phone or a handheld recorder, when you want a plain .txt file, or when the audio is on a computer rather than your phone.

The transcript appears as plain text on the page. Copy it, or download a .txt file named after your memo with _transcript added. There are no timestamps and no speaker labels.

The limit is 50 MB per file. Memos are usually small, but a CD-quality stereo WAV reaches 50 MB at about five minutes. Run a big one through the WAV to MP3 converter first.

• Hold the phone close to your mouth, not across the table.
• Keep fingers off the microphone, and do not rub the case or rustle paper.
• Record away from traffic, fans, wind, and music.
• Pause between thoughts, so the text is easier to split into paragraphs later.
• Say names and unusual terms slowly, and check them in the transcript.

Search it with Ctrl+F or Cmd+F instead of replaying the audio. Mark the action items and move them into your to-do list. Turn a spoken draft into an outline by cutting repeats and reordering the points.

If you only need the gist of a long memo, use the Podcast Summarizer. It takes an audio file and returns a summary.

Choose the page that matches your source.