Transcribe a Zoom Recording to Text: Step-by-Step Guide

The meeting is over, the recording is sitting in a folder, and you need text you can search, quote or turn into minutes. This guide walks through the whole path: find the file, pick the right format, transcribe it, correct it and export it. Retranscrit works on recordings after the fact, which is exactly this situation.

Where to find your Zoom recording

Where the file lives depends on how you recorded.

• Local recording. When the meeting ends, Zoom converts the recording and, by default, saves it in a Zoom folder inside your Documents folder. Each meeting gets its own subfolder named after the date, time and title. Inside you usually find an MP4 (video) and an M4A (audio only).
• Cloud recording. Sign in to Zoom on the web, open your recordings list and download the files from there. Whether cloud recording is available depends on your Zoom plan and your account settings.

If you cannot find a local recording, open Zoom's settings and check the recording section: it shows the folder path currently in use.

Which file to upload: video or audio-only

Retranscrit accepts MP4, MOV, WEBM and MKV for video, and MP3, WAV, M4A, OGG, FLAC and AAC for audio. So both of your Zoom files work.

For a transcript, the audio-only M4A is usually the better choice. The text comes from the voices, not the picture, and the audio file is much smaller, which matters because of the size limits:

Keep the MP4 if you want to watch the video next to the text while you correct it, or if you only have the video. A one-hour Zoom video can easily exceed the Free size limit, but the Free plan also caps files at 15 minutes, so for full-length meetings you will need Pro or Business anyway. Details are on the pricing page.

Step by step: upload your recording and get a timestamped transcript

1. Open the right page. For a video file, use the video to text page. For an M4A or other audio file, use the audio to text page.
2. Upload the file. Check it is under your plan's length and size limits first.
3. Wait for the transcription. Retranscrit uses Whisper-class speech recognition. It adds punctuation and detects the language automatically, and it supports more than 90 languages.
4. Open the result. You get a timestamped transcript in an editor.

You can try this without an account. Be aware that without one, the transcript and the file are deleted after 24 hours (more in the privacy section below). If you want to keep working on the text tomorrow, create a free account.

On clear audio the site says accuracy is generally above 95%, but there is no guaranteed figure. Zoom calls often have cross-talk, echo and weak microphones, so plan to proofread.

Fix names, jargon and unclear passages in the synced editor

The editor has a player synchronized with the text. Timestamps are clickable, so you can jump to any sentence and hear it. There is also a search box, inline correction and automatic saving.

A fast proofreading routine:

• Search for names first. Look up the spellings that speech recognition tends to get wrong (people, companies, product names) and correct each occurrence.
• Search for jargon and acronyms. Fix them once you have spotted one wrong version.
• Listen to the doubtful parts only. Click the timestamp next to any passage that reads oddly, listen, and correct it.
• Check numbers and dates. Replay these every time, since a wrong figure in minutes causes real problems.

Speaker identification (who is talking) is available on Pro and Business only. On the Free plan, you add speaker names yourself when you need them.

Turn the transcript into meeting minutes, key points and action items

A raw transcript of a one-hour meeting is long. The AI tools on the transcript help you get to something shareable:

• Summary and key points and chapters: available on the Free plan, limited to 3 generations per month.
• Meeting minutes with decisions and actions: Pro and Business.
• Chat with the transcript: ask something like "What did we decide about the budget?" The answers cite the moments in the recording, so you can verify them. Pro and Business.
• Translation that keeps timestamps, for a multilingual team: Pro and Business.

Pro includes 100 AI generations and 200 chat questions per month; Business includes 400 generations and 1,000 questions. Always read the generated minutes against the transcript before sending them: AI can miss a nuance or attribute an action to the wrong person, especially when speakers are not identified.

Export options and what each plan includes

If you need a DOCX of the minutes, you need Pro. It costs 9.90 EUR per month or 99 EUR per year, with a 7-day free trial (a card is required and you can cancel any time). Business is 24.90 EUR per month or 249 EUR per year.

Privacy and retention: what happens to your recording after upload

Meetings often contain sensitive material, so here are the facts:

• Data is hosted in Paris, in the EU.
• There is no human review of your content.
• You can delete a transcript manually at any time.
• Without an account, the transcript and the file are deleted after 24 hours.
• With an account, the transcript text and AI results stay in your account. Only the uploaded audio or video file is deleted, after 7 days on Free, 30 days on Pro and 90 days on Business.

If the meeting is confidential, delete the transcript once you have exported what you need, and check your company's rules before uploading.

When Retranscrit is not the right tool

Be clear about what it does not do:

• Live captions or real-time transcription. Retranscrit does not do real time. Zoom's own captioning features are the place to look.
• A bot that joins your meetings. There is no bot for Zoom, Teams or Meet. You record the meeting yourself, then upload the file.
• Integrations and API. There is no public API, no mobile app, and no connection to tools such as Zapier, Notion or Drive. You export files and move them yourself.
• Very high volumes. If you transcribe many hours every month and do not want to pay, a local open-source Whisper setup is a valid option. It requires some technical comfort and your own computer's resources, but it has no monthly minute cap.

FAQ

Can I transcribe a Zoom recording for free? Yes, within limits. The Free plan covers 30 minutes of transcription per month, with files up to 15 minutes and 25 MB. Without an account you can also try it, but the transcript is deleted after 24 hours.

Should I upload the MP4 or the M4A? The M4A audio file is usually enough and is far smaller. Upload the MP4 if you want to watch the video while proofreading, or if you only have the video.

Can Retranscrit join my Zoom meeting and transcribe it live? No. It works only on recordings after the meeting, with no bot and no real-time transcription. Record the meeting in Zoom, then upload the file.

Can I get the speaker names in the transcript? Speaker identification is available on Pro and Business. On the Free plan you can edit the text yourself to add names.