To transcribe WhatsApp voice notes to text on a PC, save the voice note on the computer and run it through a program that supports its format, OGG with the Opus codec. WhatsApp's transcription is only documented on Android and iPhone, and Word's Transcribe feature does not accept that file.
Can WhatsApp transcribe voice notes on the computer?
Not in any documented way: WhatsApp only explains how to transcribe voice messages on Android and on iPhone. The feature was launched in November 2024 and turns the voice note into text inside the chat itself. According to WhatsApp, the text is generated on the phone and personal voice messages remain end-to-end encrypted, so not even the company itself can listen to them or read the transcript.
For WhatsApp Web and the Windows and Mac apps, the same help page gives no steps: it only says that the feature is available on some devices and that you may not have it yet. This is what it publishes for each case, checked on 22 October 2026:
| Android | iPhone | Web, Windows and Mac | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Languages | English, Portuguese, Spanish and Russian | 12 with iOS 16 and 20 with iOS 17; Spanish is on both lists | No list |
| Requirements | Turn it on in WhatsApp settings | iOS 16 or later and Siri turned on | No published steps |
| Where the text is generated | On the phone | On the phone | Not stated |
| Who sees the transcript | The person who receives the voice note, not the sender | The person who receives the voice note, not the sender | Not stated |
Neither Catalan, nor Galician, nor Basque is on any of the lists. And if what you need is the text on the computer, the safe option is to take the audio to the PC.
How to turn on voice message transcripts on your phone
Voice message transcripts are off by default and are turned on in Settings, Chats, Voice message transcripts. The steps are almost the same on both systems:
- Open WhatsApp and go to Settings (on iPhone you can also tap your profile photo).
- Tap Chats and turn on Voice message transcripts.
- When it asks you to choose a language, pick the one in which you receive almost all your voice notes. In a law firm in Spain, Spanish.
- On Android, tap Set up now, or Wait for Wi-Fi if you prefer it to get ready when you are on Wi-Fi. On iPhone, confirm with Change to and the chosen language.
- To transcribe a voice note, press and hold it and tap Transcribe. On Android, the option is inside the three-dot menu.
The text may take a few seconds to appear, and if it is long it expands with the icon that appears in the message itself. On iPhone, if Siri was not turned on before, you will have to download the language when you turn on the feature. The language is changed later in Settings, Chats, Transcript language, and if you turn transcripts off, that choice goes back to its default value.
How to save a WhatsApp voice note on your computer
A voice note reaches the computer in two ways: from WhatsApp Web or the desktop app, or by exporting the chat.
From WhatsApp Web or the desktop app
Open the chat on the computer, hover the mouse over the voice message and open its menu, the small arrow that appears in the corner of the message. If Download appears there, the file is saved wherever your browser or your computer keeps downloads. A warning: WhatsApp's help explains how to save photos and videos on the computer, but it does not publish the steps for voice messages, so the name and position of the option may change from one version to another.
By exporting the chat from the phone
This is the route that WhatsApp does document, and it lets you get several voice notes out at once:
- Android: inside the chat, three-dot menu, More, Export chat and Include media. Then you choose how to send it, for example to your email. WhatsApp warns that it only attaches the most recent media.
- iPhone: tap the contact's name, then Export chat, and choose to include all the media or only the files you pick. The result is a ZIP file you can save in Files or send to yourself.
The conversation also comes out as a text file, which lets you keep the audio and the context of the chat together in the matter's folder.
What format the audio comes in: OGG with Opus
A WhatsApp voice message is an OGG audio file compressed with the Opus codec. WhatsApp's technical documentation for developers sets it out like this: a voice note must be an .ogg file encoded with Opus, and if it is sent in another format, transcription fails.
The same audio can appear with two different extensions. The IETF standard that defines how Opus is stored inside an OGG file (RFC 7845, from 2016) recommends the .opus extension and the audio/ogg type, while WhatsApp talks about .ogg files. If you see either of them in your folder, it is the same type of file.
The format matters because not every program opens it. Before choosing where to transcribe, check in its help that it supports OGG or Opus. If it doesn't, you will first have to convert the voice note to MP3 or WAV with an audio conversion program, which is one more step and one more file to keep.
How to transcribe the WhatsApp audio on your PC
On the PC there are three routes: Word's Transcribe feature, a transcription website or a local program. This is how they compare for a WhatsApp voice note, as of 22 October 2026:
| Word's Transcribe | Free website (TurboScribe) | Program on your computer | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Does it accept .ogg or .opus? | No: only .wav, .mp4, .m4a and .mp3 | Yes, OGG and OPUS | Depends on the program |
| Where it is transcribed | At Microsoft; the audio stays in your OneDrive | On its servers, with its main infrastructure in the United States | On your computer |
| Limit | 300 minutes a month, only in Word for Windows with a business account | 3 files a day of up to 30 minutes, one at a time | The program's own |
Word's Transcribe feature
Word transcribes audio from Home, Dictate, Transcribe, Upload audio, but it doesn't open the voice note without first converting it to one of its four formats. It needs Microsoft 365 (in Word for Windows, with a business account) and it saves a copy of the audio in your OneDrive, in the Transcribed Files folder. In its favour: it recognises Spanish and also Catalan. The full steps are in how to transcribe audio in Word.
Free transcription websites
Some online services accept the voice note as it is, and for one-off voice notes TurboScribe's free plan is usually enough. The trade-off is that the file is uploaded to its servers, although it states that it does not train models on what you upload. We compare this and other services by where the recording ends up in Otter, Happy Scribe, TurboScribe or local transcription.
A program that transcribes on your computer
The third route is an installed program that transcribes on the computer itself, without sending the audio to anyone. Before choosing one, check two things: that it opens OGG or Opus without converting and that it understands Spanish well.
ablalo's Hearings tab is of this kind: it transcribes Spanish audio in OGG and Opus files, as well as MP3, M4A, WAV and other formats, on your own computer, without uploading the file to any server. It lets you search and correct across the whole transcript and export it to Word with timestamps, on Windows and on Mac. With a client's voice note, that means having the text in the case file without the audio leaving the firm.
Limits: what to check before using the text
An automatic transcript of a voice note should always be checked against the audio before you use it. These are the points that fail most often:
- WhatsApp doesn't promise accuracy. Its own help warns that transcripts may not be accurate, and it only works in the language you chose. If the client mixes languages, the result won't be any use to you.
- Amounts, dates and names. They are the first thing to check, because a figure or a surname transcribed wrongly changes the meaning of the sentence.
- Background noise. A note recorded in the street or with the phone far from the mouth is transcribed worse by any tool.
- Uploading the audio is not neutral. With Word or with a website, the client's voice leaves the firm for a third-party server. What to ask any tool beforehand, we explain in client confidentiality and the GDPR when using AI in a law firm.
And when it isn't worth the effort: if the audio is short and has no sensitive data, reading the transcript on the phone and copying the important parts by hand is quickest. In any case, keep the original file with the text, so you can listen to a specific sentence again.
In short
To transcribe WhatsApp voice notes to text on a PC, save the voice note on the computer (from WhatsApp Web, the desktop app or by exporting the chat from the phone) and transcribe it with a program that supports its format, OGG with Opus. WhatsApp's transcription works on Android, in English, Portuguese, Spanish and Russian, and on iPhone with iOS 16 or later, but it is not documented for the computer. Word doesn't accept the file without converting it and uploads the audio to Microsoft; free websites upload it too; a local program transcribes it without it leaving the computer.
Sources: WhatsApp, how to turn voice message transcripts on or off, in its versions for Android, iPhone, web and Windows; launch of voice message transcripts (21 November 2024); how to export your chat history on Android and on iPhone, and how to send and save media in WhatsApp Web (these WhatsApp pages, in Spanish). Meta, audio messages on the WhatsApp Business Platform. IETF, RFC 7845: Ogg Encapsulation for the Opus Audio Codec. Microsoft, Transcribe your recordings. TurboScribe, supported formats, pricing and security and privacy (in Spanish). Checked on 22 October 2026; third-party terms may change.
Frequently asked questions
Can you transcribe WhatsApp voice notes in WhatsApp Web?
WhatsApp's help gives no steps for WhatsApp Web or for the Windows and Mac apps: it only says that the feature is available on some devices. What does work is saving the audio on the computer and transcribing it with a program that supports OGG or Opus.
Does WhatsApp transcribe voice notes in Spanish?
Yes. On Android it supports English, Portuguese, Spanish and Russian, and on iPhone, with iOS 16 or later, Spanish is among the available languages. It is turned on in Settings, Chats, Voice message transcripts.
What format are WhatsApp voice notes saved in?
A WhatsApp voice note is an OGG file with the Opus codec. It can have the .ogg or the .opus extension, but it is the same type of audio.
Can you turn a WhatsApp voice note into text with Word?
Not directly: Word's Transcribe feature only supports .wav, .mp4, .m4a and .mp3, so you have to convert the voice note first. It also uploads the audio to Microsoft, has a quota of 300 minutes a month and Microsoft's help only offers it in Word for Windows with a business account. The steps are in how to transcribe audio in Word.
How can you transcribe WhatsApp voice notes for free on a computer?
There are websites with a free plan that accept the WhatsApp file: TurboScribe, for example, allows 3 files a day of up to 30 minutes (as of 22 October 2026). In exchange, the audio is uploaded to its servers. On the phone, WhatsApp itself transcribes it without installing anything else.
Does the person who sends the voice note see the transcript?
No. According to WhatsApp, the transcript is seen by the person who receives the voice note and has the feature turned on; the sender cannot see it.