Transcribe WhatsApp Audio to Text

Voice notes from Android, iPhone and WhatsApp Web, turned into text you can read, search and translate

To transcribe a WhatsApp voice note, save or share the audio out of WhatsApp (it is usually an .opus or .ogg file), then upload it to LiteScribe. You get a transcript with timestamps and speaker labels in any of 99 languages, which you can translate, search and export. 120 free minutes every month.

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What is a WhatsApp voice note file?

A WhatsApp voice note is the recording you make by holding the microphone button in a chat. WhatsApp compresses it with Opus, a codec built for clear speech in very small files, and stores it in an Ogg container. Saved or shared from a phone, the file usually ends in .opus; downloaded from WhatsApp Web or the desktop app, it usually ends in .ogg. Both hold the same audio, and LiteScribe reads either one as it is.

File size: Voice notes are tiny. WhatsApp records speech at a low bitrate, so a one-minute note is usually well under 1 MB and even a 30-minute monologue is only a few megabytes, which uploads in seconds on mobile data.

WhatsApp at a glance

Type: Audio
Container / codec: Opus audio in an Ogg file (.opus or .ogg)
Compression: lossy
Full name: WhatsApp Messenger

How to get the audio file out of WhatsApp

Android: touch and hold the voice message, tap Share (in the top bar or under the three-dot menu) and save it to Files or Google Drive, or email it to yourself
iPhone: touch and hold the voice message, tap Forward, then the Share icon in the corner, and choose Save to Files, AirDrop or Mail
WhatsApp Web or the desktop app: hover over the voice message, open the small arrow menu and choose Download
A whole chat: Export chat with media includes every voice note as its own audio file; unzip it first if it arrives as a ZIP

When the transcript inside WhatsApp is not enough

WhatsApp can show a transcript of a voice message inside the chat, on some phones and in some languages, once you switch it on in its settings. That is handy for a quick read. LiteScribe is for the rest: long notes you want as readable text with timestamps, any of 99 languages, notes forwarded to you or saved as .opus files, recordings with several speakers, a translation into another language, and a searchable library to keep them in.

The local route

Not every file should be uploaded just to get a transcript out of it. On the desktop app LiteScribe supports secure transcription for sensitive material, running the speech model on your own hardware and adding an on-device summary afterwards. See the full set of privacy and offline guides for the model download and the hardware it uses.

Why transcribe WhatsApp audio with LiteScribe

Long notes, readable text

A ten-minute voice note becomes paragraphs with timestamps, so you can skim it, quote it, or jump back to the exact moment.

99 languages

Pick the language or let automatic detection find it, including languages your phone does not transcribe in WhatsApp.

Translate any note

Got a voice note in a language you do not speak? Translate the transcript into the one you read.

Saved and searchable

Every transcript stays in your LiteScribe library, so you can find an old voice note by what was said instead of scrolling back through a chat.

What people transcribe WhatsApp voice notes for

1
Reading a long voice note from a client, colleague or relative when you cannot listen out loud
2
Keeping a written record of instructions, prices or agreements that arrived as WhatsApp audio
3
Understanding a voice note in a language you do not speak by translating the transcript
4
Turning interviews, field reports or student answers collected over WhatsApp into text for notes and reports

How to transcribe a WhatsApp voice note

1
Get the voice note out of WhatsApp
On Android, touch and hold the voice message, tap Share and save it to Files or Drive. On iPhone, touch and hold it, tap Forward, then the Share icon, and choose Save to Files. On WhatsApp Web or the desktop app, open the message menu and choose Download.
2
Upload the file to LiteScribe
Open LiteScribe in your browser, the desktop app or the mobile app and upload the .opus or .ogg file as it is. There is no need to convert it to MP3 first, and a voice note uploads in seconds.
3
Pick the language, or translate
Choose the spoken language or let automatic detection find it among 99 languages. If the note is in a language you do not read, translate the transcript into one you do.
4
Read, search and export the text
The transcript arrives with timestamps and speaker labels and stays in your library, where you can search it later. Ask the built-in AI for a summary or the action items, or export it as DOCX, PDF or TXT.

LiteScribe takes WhatsApp audio as it is

There is nothing to convert first. LiteScribe accepts the .opus and .ogg files WhatsApp produces, alongside MP3, M4A, WAV and the other common audio and video formats, in the web app, the desktop app and the mobile app.

Export formats Speaker labels

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Yes. Save or share the voice note out of WhatsApp, then upload the file to LiteScribe. It returns a transcript with timestamps and speaker labels that you can search, translate, or export to DOCX, PDF or TXT.

WhatsApp can transcribe voice messages inside the chat on some phones and in some languages. LiteScribe works on the audio file itself, in any of 99 languages, with timestamps, speaker labels, translation and a library you can search, which helps with long notes and with anything you need to keep.

They are Opus audio in an Ogg container. Saved from a phone, the file usually ends in .opus; downloaded from WhatsApp Web, it usually ends in .ogg. LiteScribe accepts both directly, so you do not need to convert to MP3.

On most Android phones they sit in Android/media/com.whatsapp/WhatsApp/Media/WhatsApp Voice Notes, in numbered subfolders. You can open that folder in a file manager, or simply use Share on the message in the chat.

Touch and hold the voice message, tap Forward, then tap the Share icon and choose Save to Files. You can then upload it to LiteScribe from the Files app, or AirDrop or email it to your computer first.

Yes. LiteScribe includes 120 free minutes every month with no credit card required, which covers a lot of voice notes.