Audio to text
How to transcribe WhatsApp audio with the app's own feature
Quick answer
How do you transcribe WhatsApp audio?
To transcribe WhatsApp audio, open Settings, tap Chats and turn on Voice message transcripts. Then touch and hold the audio and choose Transcribe. According to the WhatsApp Help Center, the text is generated on the phone itself, works in Portuguese and only appears for the person who received the message.
About CertuAI: CertuAI is the AI that answers a small business's WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger 24/7, with a built-in CRM, and is a Tech Provider on Meta's WhatsApp Business Platform. Paid plans start at US$ 75 a month, with no lock-in. Create my agent
Where to turn on voice message transcripts, how to use them on Android and iPhone, which languages they work in and what they don't do. All checked against the WhatsApp Help Center.
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Summary in 7 facts
- Where to turn on voice message transcripts, how to use them on Android and iPhone, which languages they work in and what they don't do.
- All checked against the WhatsApp Help Center.
- To transcribe WhatsApp audio, open Settings, tap Chats and turn on Voice message transcripts.
- Then touch and hold the audio and choose Transcribe.
- All three are in the article "How to turn voice message transcripts on or off".
- 01 The text is made on your phone The transcript is generated on the device.
- The steps come from the article "How to turn voice message transcripts on or off" in the WhatsApp Help Center.
Three things to know before transcribing an audio
All three are in the article "How to turn voice message transcripts on or off".
The text is made on your phone
The transcript is generated on the device. The voice message stays protected, and not even WhatsApp can listen to the audio or read the text.
The sender doesn't see it
The transcript appears for the person who received the voice message. It is not shown to the person who sent it.
It can have errors
WhatsApp itself warns that the transcript may contain errors. Names, addresses and amounts are worth checking against the audio.
See how it looks in your industry
Each industry gets different questions on WhatsApp. Pick yours to see how CertuAI's AI serves that kind of customer.
How to transcribe a WhatsApp audio, step by step
The steps come from the article "How to turn voice message transcripts on or off" in the WhatsApp Help Center. On Android, transcription comes turned off.
Open WhatsApp Settings
On iPhone, tap Settings or your profile photo. On Android, open the app menu and tap Settings. Then tap Chats.
Turn on Voice message transcripts
The option is inside Chats. To turn it off later, the path is the same.
Choose the language
Tap Choose language and select the language you receive the most audio in. You can change it whenever you want, under Transcription language.
Touch and hold the audio and choose Transcribe
The text appears on the voice message itself. It can take a few moments for the transcript to be ready.
WhatsApp audio transcription on Android and iPhone
According to the article "How to turn voice message transcripts on or off" in the WhatsApp Help Center, in the version for each device.
| Android | iPhone | |
|---|---|---|
| Where to turn it on | Settings, Chats, Voice message transcripts | Settings, Chats, Voice message transcripts |
| Languages | English, Portuguese, Spanish and Russian | 12 languages on iOS 16 and 20 on iOS 17, with Portuguese on both lists |
| What the device needs | Choose between Set up now and Wait for Wi-Fi | iOS 16 or newer and Siri turned on |
| How to ask for the text | Touch and hold the audio, open the menu and tap Transcribe | Touch and hold the audio and tap Transcribe |
| Who sees the transcript | Only the person who received the audio | Only the person who received the audio |
Swipe the table sideways to see all the columns.
What WhatsApp voice message transcripts are
It's the written version of the audio you received. According to the article How to turn voice message transcripts on or off, the feature converts the voice message into text shown on the screen, and it was designed for accessibility: people who can't listen read the message instead of playing the audio.
It also helps people who are in a meeting, on the bus or at the counter and can't put the phone to their ear. You don't need an outside app or to send the audio to another number: everything happens inside the conversation.
The same article says transcripts are generated on your device. Personal voice messages stay protected with end-to-end encryption, and not even WhatsApp can listen to the audio, read the transcript or share the content of the conversation.
Which languages WhatsApp transcribes audio in
The list changes depending on the device. It comes from the article How to turn voice message transcripts on or off, read in the Android and iPhone versions on October 11, 2026.
- Android: for now, only English, Portuguese, Spanish and Russian.
- iPhone with iOS 16: English, Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Turkish.
- iPhone with iOS 17: the same ones plus Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Hebrew, Malay, Norwegian, Swedish and Thai.
- You choose the language: WhatsApp asks for the language you receive the most audio in. If you turn transcription off, the language choice is erased.
The transcribe option doesn't appear: why
The reasons are in the article I read. The text of How to turn voice message transcripts on or off changes depending on the device chosen at the top of the page.
- The feature hasn't reached your device: the Help Center says transcription was released only on some devices and may not be available to you. The advice is to keep WhatsApp updated.
- On iPhone, a requirement is missing: the system has to be iOS 16 or newer, and Siri has to be turned on.
- Transcription is turned off: on Android it comes turned off, and you have to turn it on in Settings, Chats.
- On a computer: the computer version of the article has no step by step, only the notice that the feature was released for some devices.
What WhatsApp transcription doesn't do
The limits come from the articles How to turn voice message transcripts on or off and How to play voice messages.
- It doesn't guarantee the right text: transcripts may contain errors.
- It doesn't let you copy: you can't delete, edit, copy or paste the transcript of a voice message.
- It doesn't show for the sender: only the person who received the audio sees the text.
- It isn't instant: it can take a few moments for the transcript to become available.
- It doesn't cover every language: on Android there are four.
No time to listen? You can speed up the audio
When transcription isn't available, what's left is listening faster. According to the article How to play voice messages, tapping 1× while the audio plays raises the speed to 1.5× or 2×. You can't listen slower than 1×.
The same article says audio received in sequence plays one after the other, in the order it arrived, and that the audio keeps playing when you open another conversation.
When the audio is from the customer and the business is the one answering
The app's transcription handles one audio at a time, for one person, and the text can't be copied into the customer record. In a business that receives audio all day, someone still has to open each conversation, ask for the text, read it and reply.
At CertuAI, the AI agent understands the customer's audio: the speech becomes text, the reply goes out as text in the same conversation, using what you taught the Brain, and the original audio stays saved in the dashboard so the team can listen and check numbers and amounts. How it works is in WhatsApp chatbot that understands audio.
For a business that sends audio through the official connection, one detail from the article About sending voice messages on the WhatsApp Business Platform matters: to read the transcript, the customer must have turned on voice message transcripts on their device.
Frequently asked questions
Does WhatsApp transcribe audio?
Yes. According to the WhatsApp Help Center, voice message transcripts convert the audio you received into text on the screen. You have to turn the feature on in Settings, Chats.
Does WhatsApp audio transcription work in Portuguese?
Yes. Portuguese is on the Android language list and on both iPhone lists, the iOS 16 one and the iOS 17 one.
Do I need to install another app to transcribe WhatsApp audio?
No. Transcription is a feature of WhatsApp itself, on the devices where it has already been released. The text is generated on your phone.
Does the person who sent the audio see the transcript?
No. According to the Help Center, the transcript appears for the person who received the voice message and is not shown to the person who sent it.
Does WhatsApp listen to my audio to transcribe it?
No. The Help Center says transcripts are generated on the device and that not even WhatsApp can listen to the voice messages or read the transcripts.
Why doesn't the option to transcribe audio appear in my WhatsApp?
The feature was released only on some devices and may not be available to you. On iPhone, it requires iOS 16 or newer and Siri turned on. Keep the app updated.
Can you copy the text of a WhatsApp transcript?
No. According to the Help Center, you can't delete, edit, copy or paste the transcript of a voice message.
Does WhatsApp transcription make mistakes?
It can. The article itself warns that voice message transcripts may contain errors. Check the audio for anything that's a number, a name or an amount.
Where to go next?
Customer audio answered without anyone stopping to listen
The app's transcription helps you read one audio. Answering every customer audio is a different job. At CertuAI, the AI agent understands the customer's audio, replies in text on your number, using what you taught the Brain, and leaves the original audio saved in the dashboard for the team to check.
From US$ 75 per month.
Create my agentIn short
How do you transcribe WhatsApp audio? To transcribe WhatsApp audio, open Settings, tap Chats and turn on Voice message transcripts. Then touch and hold the audio and choose Transcribe. According to the WhatsApp Help Center, the text is generated on the phone itself, works in Portuguese and only appears for the person who received the message.
About CertuAI: CertuAI is the AI that answers a small business's WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger 24/7, with a built-in CRM, and is a Tech Provider on Meta's WhatsApp Business Platform. Paid plans start at US$ 75 a month, with no lock-in. Create my agent