# Transcribe — Transcribe audio and video to text on Mac

Turn speech in audio or video into text or subtitles with Apple's on-device speech recognition. Part of OneMacTools, 151 private tools in one native Mac app (macOS 26 or later); category: On-device AI. Runs on your Mac; nothing is uploaded.

Transcribe interviews, lectures and videos into plain text or timed SRT subtitles, in English and other major languages, without uploading the recording.

Page: https://www.onemactools.com/tools/transcribe-audio-to-text · Download: https://www.onemactools.com/download · Pricing: https://www.onemactools.com/pricing

## How to use it
1. **Add the recording.** Drop audio or video files onto Transcribe: interviews, lectures, voice memos or MP4 and MOV videos. Or select them in Finder, right-click and choose Quick Actions › OMT: Transcribe, which uses your last settings.
2. **Choose the language.** In the right-hand panel, set Language to the language that's spoken. System language uses your Mac's own.
3. **Choose text or subtitles.** Set Save as to Text for a transcript, or Subtitles (SRT) for timed captions.
4. **Click Transcribe.** Apple's on-device speech recognition writes down what's said. For videos, the soundtrack is taken out first. The first time you use a language, macOS may need to download its speech model.
5. **Open the transcript.** A .txt or .srt file named after each recording is saved in a new dated folder in Downloads › OneMacTools. Open it with the Preview (eye) button or Show in Finder.

## Options
- **Language:** System language, the default, uses your Mac's language. You can also choose Chinese, English (India), English (UK), English (US), French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese or Spanish. If on-device transcription doesn't support the language yet, you're told before anything runs.
- **Save as:** Text, the default, saves the whole transcript as plain text. Subtitles (SRT) saves numbered, timed captions you can load in a video player or upload with a video.

## Tips
- Clear audio gives the best transcript. Record close to the speaker and avoid music and background noise. Clean Up Audio can reduce noise in an existing recording first.
- Pick the English that matches the speakers, US, UK or India, for better results with accents and spellings.
- Check names, numbers and technical terms before you quote or publish a transcript.
- The text transcript is one continuous block without speaker names. For a summary with decisions and action items, use Meeting Notes.
- For short, readable captions burned into a video or added as a subtitle track, use Auto Subtitles, which splits speech into captions for you.

## Questions
**How do I transcribe audio to text on a Mac without uploading it?**
Drop the recording or video onto Transcribe, choose the language and whether you want text or SRT subtitles, and click Transcribe. Speech recognition runs on your Mac.

**Can I make subtitles?**
Yes. Choose Subtitles (SRT) for numbered, timed captions you can add to a video. To put subtitles straight onto the video, use Auto Subtitles.

**Which languages can it transcribe?**
English (US, UK and India), Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese and Spanish, or your Mac's own language if on-device transcription supports it.

**How do I transcribe a video to text?**
Drop the video onto Transcribe with Save as set to Text. The audio is taken out of the video for you, and the transcript is saved as a .txt file.

**Does it show who is speaking?**
No. You get the words without speaker names. Choose Subtitles (SRT) if you need to see when each part was said.

**How do I transcribe a voice memo on a Mac?**
Drag the recording out of the Voice Memos app into a Finder folder, then drop the .m4a file onto Transcribe.

**Why does it say the language isn't supported?**
On-device transcription in macOS covers a set of languages. If the one you chose, or your system language, isn't one of them yet, pick a listed language that matches the speech.