How to Transcribe a Webinar: Live or From the Recording

There are three ways to get a webinar transcript: use text the host provides, transcribe the browser tab while you watch, or transcribe an authorised recording afterward. Check the host's options first. Live tab transcription gives you text during the session; a replay lets you pause, listen again and review the transcript before sharing it.

Meetings Brief processing choice: The device-only instructions below require On this device. Live notes also offer Online with Groq when available: selected audio leaves your device in short batches after your processing choice, with shared limits. Online is available for existing recordings: audio goes through private Supabase upload storage to the provider named before upload (Cloudflare Workers AI or Groq), subject to shared usage limits. Check permissions and privacy; AI briefs separately send transcript text to Anthropic.

Choose your route

First: check what the host already provides

Before you set anything up:

• Read the event page and the confirmation email for replay or transcript details.
• If captions are offered during the session, turn them on. Captions visible in the player do not necessarily mean there is a downloadable transcript; check the replay page or ask the host.
• Check the event's terms for recording, transcription, AI processing and reuse. Personal notes and a republished transcript are different uses; do not infer either permission from being able to watch.

Route 1: transcribe the webinar live in your browser

If the webinar plays in a browser tab, Meetings Brief live notes can transcribe its audio on your computer. No bot joins; tell the host or speakers before transcribing and follow the event's permission rules. Check the AI-processing distinction below before starting.

1. Open the webinar in desktop Chrome or Edge. If you joined through a desktop app, check whether the platform offers a browser option; tab capture works best when the webinar is in the same browser as the transcription page.
2. Open live notes in the same browser. Select Meeting language and Tab in this browser. For listening only, switch off Include my microphone in Transcription settings before starting. Leave it on if your own spoken contribution should be included.
3. Press Start transcription. If your microphone is included, handle the microphone permission request so your contribution can be captured.
4. Select the webinar tab in the browser's sharing window. Leave Also share tab audio on, then press Share. Selecting the source on the page alone does not start sharing.
5. Check the meeting sound meter while the webinar plays speech. If it is flat, check that the correct tab is shared, its audio is enabled and playback is not muted. A silent opening slide will not move the meter.
6. Keep both tabs open and leave the webinar playing. You can switch tabs, but paused playback provides no speech to transcribe. Press Stop and finish when the session ends.

On this device: Where Chrome's on-device recognition covers the language, words appear as people speak. Otherwise a Whisper model in your browser adds text in batches of roughly 30 seconds. Either way, the audio stays on your device.

A complete live capture of at least 150 words automatically requests an AI brief. When you stop, transcript text goes to Anthropic's AI. Daily limits apply. Short or interrupted captures wait for review or a request. Confirming your email enables delivery; disabling automatic email does not disable the on-page brief or its text processing.

If you need a transcript without that automatic summary step, use an authorised recording with /transcribe instead. There, a brief is a separate requested action. Read the privacy policy and choose a route the event and your organisation permit.

The Meetings Brief Chrome extension offers a toolbar route for supported on-device Chrome languages. Follow its setup and consent notice; it is a separate capture route, not a way to bypass the event's rules.

Keep the transcript within the permitted audience. A live summary can help organise notes, but it does not certify a speaker's claims or create permission to redistribute the talk.

Route 2: transcribe the recording afterward

If the host shares a downloadable recording:

1. Download the replay if the terms allow it.
2. Open the transcription tool, expand Change mode & settings and choose On this device, then select the spoken language before choosing a file. The steps below use local processing. If you choose Online instead, the recording is uploaded to the service named before consent, subject to its displayed file and shared-usage limits.
3. On this device: Add the file. MP4 and MOV video and common audio formats can be read directly if your browser supports their decoding. The file is transcribed in your browser and is not uploaded. If it cannot open, use a permitted compatible audio export rather than repeatedly retrying the same unsupported file.
4. Download the result. Choose Download .txt, or Subtitles .srt / Subtitles .vtt for timed text. Review the whole result against the recording, including the Q&A and transitions between sections.

The first run downloads the speech engine and model: roughly 96 MB in total on Faster or 260 MB on More accurate. Device memory and browser decoding still limit a long recording; if it fails, try a short compatible excerpt, then use shorter parts as needed. The long-recording guide covers splitting and review.

If the replay can only be streamed, Route 1 can work while it plays in your browser, provided transcription and its automatic text processing are permitted.

What to do with the transcript

A webinar transcript is most useful when you turn it into something short:

• Takeaways: the three to five points you would tell a colleague.
• Answers from the Q&A: often the most practical part of a webinar, and easy to lose.
• Resources mentioned: verify links, tools, books and dates against the host's materials before passing them on.
• Actions for you or your team: distinguish your proposed next step from something the speaker or team actually agreed to do.

Example: a claim is not a commitment

This example is fictional. A speaker says, "We hope to open the pilot in May, if the security review is complete." A useful recap says "Pilot opening is tentative: May depends on security review. Check the host's announcement before planning around it." It should not say "Pilot launches in May" or assign a teammate an action they did not agree to.

Copy this webinar recap template

---

Webinar: [title] Host: [organization] Date: [date]

Why I attended: [the question I wanted answered]

Key takeaways

1. [Point, with timestamp]
2. [Point, with timestamp]

Useful Q&A

• Q: [question] A: [answer, checked against the recording where available]

Resources mentioned: [links and names]

What we will do: [action, owner, date]

Sharing note: [what may be shared, under the event's terms]

---

If you are hosting the webinar

Plan captions and transcripts before the event. The W3C's transcript guidance distinguishes audio information from essential visual information. For a replay with charts or demonstrations, a descriptive transcript must explain the relevant visual content as well as the speech; raw speech-to-text alone does not provide that.

If you transcribe your own webinar recording, review it before publishing: correct names and terms, add speaker labels, and note relevant sounds or visual content the text depends on. For subtitle files, see the guide to making subtitles.

Troubleshooting

No text appears. Check the sound meter. If it isn't moving, the tab may be muted, the wrong tab may be shared or tab audio may be switched off. Stop and share the webinar tab again.

The webinar is in a desktop app. Try the "Another browser or app" option if it's offered and enable audio when sharing the window or screen. Window and screen audio depend on your computer and browser. If no sound arrives, join the webinar in the browser instead, or transcribe the recording afterward.

The transcript has the wrong words throughout. Check the selected language, then the actual audio and model setting. The language is one possible cause, not a diagnosis. Compare a representative short excerpt before restarting a long session.

Speakers are not labeled. Live notes can separate your microphone ("You") from the tab ("Others") when Chrome's on-device recognition is running, but it doesn't tell the webinar speakers apart. Add names yourself when you write the recap.

Frequently asked questions

Should I tell the host I am transcribing?

Tell the host or speakers and obtain permission where required by the event, your organisation or applicable rules. No bot appears in the attendee list, so the product does not notify them for you. Check separately before sharing or publishing the text.

Does live transcription work on a phone?

Capturing a webinar tab needs desktop Chrome or Edge. The phone's microphone mode is different and cannot hear a webinar running on that same phone. Use a computer for tab capture, or transcribe an authorised downloaded recording within your device's memory and decoding limits.

Can I get a transcript of a webinar I missed?

If the host offers a replay and its terms permit transcription. Use an authorised downloaded file or the browser replay route, noting the different AI-processing behaviour above.

Does Meetings Brief upload the webinar audio?

Public live capture and file transcription after choosing On this device recognise audio locally. Online file transcription instead uploads audio through private storage to the service named before consent (Groq or Cloudflare), subject to shared usage limits. The webinar platform has its own data handling. On live notes, completed captures of at least 150 words automatically send transcript text for an AI brief; on the file transcription page, a brief is a separate requested action. Confirming or disabling email is a separate delivery choice.

Sources and scope

Product details and W3C transcript guidance checked on 4 November 2026. The recap template and fictional example are original working aids. Recording, transcription and reuse permissions depend on the event's terms and applicable rules; this guide is not legal advice.