Quick answer: open Voice Memos, tap the recording, tap the More button, then tap Copy Transcript. Apple supports that on iPhone 12 or later in listed languages and regions. If you want a Markdown file, share the recording to Brain Dump: Voice to Markdown and tap Transcribe Now.
How to transcribe a voice memo on iPhone
Voice Memos can transcribe a recording without a separate app.
- Open Voice Memos, in the Utilities folder.
- Tap the recording you want as text.
- Tap the More button, then pick one:
- View Transcript to read it, select a passage, and tap Copy.
- Copy Transcript to take the whole thing at once.
- Paste into Mail, Messages, Notes, or any other text field.
Apple's requirements: iPhone 12 or later, in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese, or Traditional Chinese. Apple also notes it is not available in every country or region, so a supported phone in an unsupported region will not show a transcript.
Two behaviours people miss:
- Old recordings are covered. A memo recorded on iOS 17 or earlier is transcribed automatically the first time you open it in the current Voice Memos, as long as it has speech in it.
- Transcripts are searchable. Tap the Search button and enter a word. The list filters on words spoken inside the audio as well as titles. Selecting a term in a transcript moves the playhead to that point in the waveform.
View the transcript while you are still recording
You do not have to wait for the recording to finish.
- Start recording in Voice Memos.
- Swipe up from the top of the waveform.
- Tap the Transcription button. The waveform is replaced by live text with the current word highlighted.
Useful when you are dictating something you need to get right the first time, because you can see a name or a number go wrong while you are still talking.
Ways to transcribe a voice memo on iPhone
Voice Memos, Notes, and Live Captions are built into iPhone. Brain Dump is a separate app. The useful differences are output shape, device requirements, and whether you need a local model.
| Method | Output | Availability | Main limitation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Voice Memos | Flat text with punctuation | iPhone 12 and later | No structure, no headings |
| Notes | Transcript attached to a note | iPhone 12 and later | Deleting the audio deletes the transcript |
| Live Captions | Rough captions you copy | iPhone 11 and later, where supported | You have to play the memo through in real time |
| Brain Dump | Markdown note from imported audio or video | Check current App Store requirements | On-Device mode needs its local model; Automatic can use cloud fallback when available |
Pick Voice Memos unless one of the next three sections describes your situation exactly.
Transcribe inside a note with Apple Notes
Notes solves a different problem: the transcript lives beside the rest of your writing instead of in a separate app.
- Open Notes and open or create a note.
- Tap the attachment button, then tap Record Audio.
- Record, then stop.
- Tap the recording to see the transcript, then choose Add Transcript to Note or Copy Transcript.
Use this when you are already outlining in Notes and the words are going to end up there anyway. One warning from Apple's own documentation: deleting the audio recording deletes the transcript with it. Add the transcript to the note before you clean up.
Notes has the same floor as Voice Memos, iPhone 12 and a supported device language. Call and FaceTime transcripts also land in Notes, on iOS 18.1 and later.
Live Captions when Voice Memos is unavailable
Live Captions runs on iPhone 11 and later where Apple supports the feature. Its language, country, and region availability is separate from Voice Memos transcription, so check Apple's availability notes before treating it as a fallback.
- Settings > Accessibility > Live Captions, turn it on.
- Tap Live Captions, then iPhone Audio.
- Play the memo and let it run.
- Tap the More button, then Copy Captions.
It is slow, because you sit through the whole recording at playback speed, and the punctuation is rougher. Apple states plainly that Live Captions accuracy may vary and should not be relied on in high-risk or emergency situations. Treat it as a salvage route, not a workflow.
Share an iPhone voice memo to another app for text
The built-in transcript is flat text. When the memo needs to become a document, share the audio out instead of copying the words.
To Brain Dump, for a Markdown note:
- In Voice Memos, tap the recording, then tap the More button.
- Tap Share, then choose Brain Dump.
- Tap Transcribe Now. Brain Dump opens and imports the recording for transcription.
The Brain Dump share extension accepts audio and video items, not only Voice Memos recordings. Its app listing describes local transcription and Markdown file storage. AI rewriting is a separate, optional step you trigger yourself.
This route gives you a different output and a different transcription configuration. For local processing, Brain Dump uses a local whisper.cpp model. Choose On-Device mode to work offline when that model is available; Automatic mode can use cloud transcription when the local model is not ready and cloud transcription is available. Choose On-Device when the recording must stay local.
To Files, if you want the audio itself:
- Tap the recording, tap the More button, then Share.
- Tap Options to choose the file format. Rendered gives you a single .m4a with effects and layers mixed down. Editable keeps layers adjustable for a recipient with compatible software.
- Scroll down, tap Save to Files, pick a folder, tap Save.
Apple notes the default export is .m4a, which flattens layers and turns Spatial Audio into stereo. That is fine for speech and it is a widely supported audio format.
If Brain Dump is not in the Share Sheet: swipe left over the row of buttons, tap More, then tap Edit. Tap the add button next to Brain Dump to put it in Favorites, drag it to reorder it, then tap Done. These changes apply to the app whose Share menu you are editing.
One tap with a Shortcut
A Shortcut collapses the share steps into a single Share Sheet entry. Grab it from the shortcuts library, or build it yourself in about two minutes. After that the path from Voice Memos is Share, then the Shortcut name.
Which method to use
- Need the words, right now: Voice Memos, Copy Transcript.
- Need the transcript inside something you are writing: Notes.
- Voice Memos transcription is unavailable: try Live Captions if your device, language, and region support it.
- Need headings, bullets, and a file you will keep: share to Brain Dump and choose On-Device if the recording must stay local.
One route to avoid when privacy matters: uploading the .m4a to a browser transcription service. Check the selected app mode before sharing a recording you need to keep local.
Fixes for the four things that usually go wrong
- No transcript at all. Check the phone is an iPhone 12 or later, the device language is one Apple lists, and the feature is available in your country or region.
- Share button greyed out. Tap into the recording first. You cannot share from the collapsed list row.
- Names and jargon come out wrong. Fix them once in a custom dictionary and they stick for later recordings.
- Long recordings stall on share. Trim the silence in Voice Memos before sharing. A 40-minute memo that is 30 minutes of dead air transfers and transcribes as 40 minutes.
Accuracy, offline, and privacy
Privacy depends on the selected mode. Apple documents the model, language, region, and workflow requirements for Voice Memos, Notes, and Live Captions, but the linked Voice Memos page does not promise offline processing. In Brain Dump, On-Device mode works offline when the local model is available; Automatic mode can use cloud transcription when that model is not ready and cloud transcription is available. If the audio must stay on the phone, select On-Device before you import it.
On accuracy, the honest state of the evidence is thin. Tom's Guide ran a hands-on comparison and found Voice Memos made fewer errors than Google Recorder. That is one reviewer with one set of recordings, not a benchmark. Expect proper nouns, acronyms, and crosstalk to be where any of these break first.
If punctuation is the thing that annoys you, iOS inserts commas, periods, and question marks automatically in supported languages, and you can turn that off in Settings > General > Keyboard > Auto-Punctuation.