Zoom calls are where a lot of important information lives — decisions, action items, interviews, lessons. Turning a meeting into text makes it searchable and shareable. Here are three ways to do it, depending on whether you want live captions or a transcript of the recording.
Option 1: Zoom’s built-in transcription
Zoom offers live captions and, on certain paid plans, an automated audio transcript of cloud recordings. It’s convenient if it’s included in your plan, but it’s tied to Zoom’s cloud, availability depends on your account type, and accuracy on names and jargon is mixed.
Option 2: A live AI note-taker
Tools that join your call and transcribe in real time (and often summarise it) are great for live notes. The trade-offs: a bot joins your meeting, your audio goes to their cloud, and free tiers cap monthly minutes. If real-time capture is your priority, this is the route — see our ScribeForge vs Otter.ai and ScribeForge vs Notta comparisons.
Option 3: Transcribe the recording (most private)
If you record the meeting, you can transcribe the file yourself — accurately and privately. This is the best option for confidential calls.
- Record the meeting. In Zoom, use Record (to this computer) to save an audio/video file locally.
- Open ScribeForge. Drag in the recording.
- Transcribe locally. Whisper processes it on your machine — nothing is uploaded, and there’s no minute cap.
- Generate notes. Use AI prompts for a summary, decisions and an action-item list.
- Export. Save TXT or CSV to drop into your docs or CRM.
Best for sensitive calls: transcribing the recording locally keeps internal discussions off third-party servers. See meeting transcription for teams.
Tips for a better Zoom transcript
- Ask participants to use headsets — it dramatically cuts echo and crosstalk.
- Record locally for the highest-quality source audio.
- Do a quick speaker-labeling pass after transcription for multi-person calls.
Which option is right for you?
- Live notes, don’t mind the cloud: a real-time AI note-taker.
- Already have the recording, want privacy: transcribe it locally with ScribeForge.
- Occasional, included in your plan: Zoom’s built-in transcription.
Download ScribeForge free and turn your next Zoom recording into searchable notes — privately, on your own computer.