How to transcribe a Zoom, Google Meet or Teams recording, without a bot in the meeting

You want a transcript and minutes of an online meeting, but you don't want an extra participant in the call. There is a simple way: record the meeting with the app you already use, then transcribe the file afterwards. Nobody extra joins the call.

This guide shows where Zoom, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams put their recordings, and what to do with the file next.

One rule first: no bot does not mean no consent. Tell everyone that the meeting is recorded and what for, and record only with their agreement. The rules differ between countries and organisations, so check what applies to you.

Step 1: Record the meeting in the app you use

What follows is from each vendor's help pages, checked on 9 October 2026. Plans and settings change, so check the linked page if something looks different.

Google Meet also notes that participants get a notification when the recording starts or stops. That helps, but it does not replace asking.

Step 2: Download the file

SonaFact does not connect to your Zoom, Google or Microsoft account. You download the recording yourself and upload it, which also means you decide which meetings leave the meeting app.

• Zoom: open the folder from the Recording tab. A video file (MP4) or an audio file (M4A) both work.
• Google Meet: open the organiser's Google Drive, find the "Google Meet" folder and download the video.
• Teams: open the recording from OneDrive or the channel's SharePoint, and download it if your organisation allows downloads.

If you only need the words, a smaller audio file is enough. SonaFact also accepts video files such as MP4, MOV, MKV and WEBM.

Step 3: Upload and get the transcript

1. Sign up for free, or try it first without an account.
2. Upload the file. You can add several at once.
3. SonaFact separates the speakers automatically. Rename a speaker once and the name changes everywhere in the transcript.

How long a file you can upload depends on the plan:

Prices for the paid plans are on the pricing page, in your currency.

Meetings where people switch languages, for example between Spanish and English, work too: SonaFact recognises the language part by part.

Step 4: Turn the transcript into minutes you can check

From the transcript you can create meeting minutes: participants, decisions, tasks with people and deadlines, and a short summary. The minutes can be in another language than the meeting.

AI documents can get things wrong, so SonaFact makes them easy to check:

• Every point links to the moment in the recording where it was said. One click and you hear the source.
• Uncertain words are underlined in the transcript, so you know which names and numbers to listen to first.
• Check a quote shows whether a sentence was said exactly like that, and takes you to that moment.

The underlining and Check a quote are in every plan, including Free.

Step 5: Share and export

Share the transcript or the minutes by link, and let colleagues comment on the text. Or export them as DOCX, PDF, TXT, CSV or Markdown.

When the project is over, you decide how long recordings are kept: SonaFact can delete them automatically after the time you choose, and you can delete a single recording at any time.

A short checklist

• Everyone knows the meeting is recorded and has agreed.
• The recording is saved where you expect (table above).
• You downloaded the file and uploaded it to SonaFact.
• You listened to the decisions, numbers and deadlines in the recording before sending the minutes.

Start free with your last meeting recording — 3 transcriptions a day, up to 30 minutes each, no card.

Try it on your own recording

The free plan gives you 3 transcripts a day, up to 30 minutes each, without a card — enough to judge the transcript, the speakers and the editor yourself.