Transcribe a Zoom recording on your Mac.
Zoom only writes transcripts for cloud recordings on paid plans. Everything else, the local recordings and the files people send you, you can transcribe on your own Mac without the call going anywhere.
To transcribe a Zoom recording without uploading it: find the recording on your Mac (local recordings save under Documents/Zoom by default, with an audio-only M4A beside the MP4 video), then drop the file into an on-device transcription app. Edict transcribes it on your Mac with speaker labels and SRT, VTT, or text export, at roughly 150x real time. Zoom’s own transcripts exist only for cloud recordings on Pro plans and above.
Last verified 2026-07-24
Two kinds of Zoom recording
Local recordings live on your Mac: by default under Documents/Zoom, one folder per meeting, with the video as MP4 and an audio-only M4A beside it. The Zoom app’s Recording settings show the exact location if it’s been changed. Cloud recordings live in Zoom’s web portal, where you can play them, share them, or download the files.
Which kind you have decides everything about transcripts, because Zoom only makes them for one of the two.
When Zoom transcribes for you
Zoom’s audio transcription applies to cloud recordings only, and its own requirements list reads: "A Pro, Business, Education, or Enterprise account", "Cloud recording enabled", "Audio transcription enabled". If that describes your setup, the transcript is already waiting in the web portal and you don’t need this page.
That gate excludes a lot of recordings: everything recorded locally on any plan, every meeting on a free account, and every file someone else recorded and sent you. Those never get a Zoom transcript. They’re also exactly the recordings you can handle without re-uploading a word of the call.
The on-device route
- 01
Find the recording. For local recordings, open Documents/Zoom and pick the meeting’s folder; the M4A audio file is all a transcript needs, though the MP4 works too. For cloud recordings, download the file from the web portal first.
- 02
Drop the file onto Edict. It transcribes on your Mac (roughly 150x real time, so about 24 seconds for an hour of meeting), and nothing is uploaded, because the app has no cloud to send it to.
- 03
Read it with speaker labels. A meeting transcript is only useful if you can tell who said what; diarization separates the voices for you.
- 04
Export as plain text, SRT, or VTT, or let your agent take it from here: over MCP, Claude Code can submit the recording itself and work from the transcript, summarize it, or pull out the action items, all locally.
Why the no-upload default is worth having
A meeting recording is never only your words. Clients, candidates, teammates: everyone in that M4A spoke on some understanding of where the call would go, and a copy pushed to a transcription server is a copy you no longer control. Keeping the transcript step on your Mac removes the question entirely, and costs you nothing in capability. MacWhisper does this locally too, with speaker recognition of its own on the Pro tier; the speech to text overview compares every tool.
Common questions
Does Zoom transcribe recordings for free?
No. Per Zoom’s support docs, audio transcription requires a Pro, Business, Education, or Enterprise account, and it only applies to cloud recordings. Local recordings never get a Zoom transcript on any plan.
Where does Zoom save recordings on a Mac?
Local recordings go to Documents/Zoom by default, in a folder per meeting containing the MP4 video and an audio-only M4A. The Zoom app’s Recording settings show and change the location. Cloud recordings are downloaded from Zoom’s web portal.
How do I transcribe a Zoom recording someone sent me?
Same as your own: drop the MP4 or M4A into an on-device transcription app. Edict transcribes it on your Mac with speaker labels and exports SRT, VTT, or plain text; the file never gets uploaded anywhere.
Can I get who-said-what from a Zoom recording?
Yes, that’s speaker diarization. Edict labels each speaker in the transcript and in the SRT and VTT exports, which is what makes an hour-long multi-voice meeting readable.
Is it safe to upload a Zoom recording to a transcription site?
That’s a judgment call about other people’s words, not only yours. The way to not have to make it is to transcribe on-device: the recording stays on your Mac and no third party ever holds a copy.
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