How to Turn On Transcription in Microsoft Teams

Priya had captions running through a 40-minute project review, words scrolling across the bottom of her screen the whole time. When the call ended, she went looking for the text to write her minutes. There wasn't any.

Captions disappear when the meeting does. (Priya is a composite, an illustration rather than a real person.)

Teams transcription is the setting she wanted, and it's only a few clicks away once you know where it is.

This guide covers the steps on desktop and phone, who can start it, the reasons Teams blocks you and who can fix each one, where the transcript ends up, and what to say so nobody is surprised. Every Teams fact comes from Microsoft's support and Learn pages as they read on November 5, 2026, linked in each section. We didn't run a hands-on test; the menu names are Microsoft's wording.

One disclosure: ParrotNotes publishes this blog. Our app doesn't join Teams calls. It records meetings in a room on your phone, so it comes up near the end. If most of your meetings happen around a table, you can try ParrotNotes free now.

How to turn on transcription in Teams

You don't have to record the meeting to get a transcript. Microsoft's live transcription page gives these steps for the desktop app:

1. Join the meeting.
2. Select More actions (the three dots) in your meeting controls.
3. Select Transcribe.
4. Confirm the language everyone is speaking.
5. Select Confirm. Everyone in the meeting sees a notice that transcription has started.

If you press Record instead, transcription starts along with it. Our guide on how to record a Teams meeting covers the video file.

On the Teams mobile app

Tap More options, then Transcription, then Confirm. There's a catch: Microsoft says live transcription is only available on Teams for desktop, and the mobile app supports viewing a transcript after the meeting ends.

So a phone can start it, but you read it later. Open the past meeting in Chat and tap Transcript.

Turn it on for every meeting automatically

If you organize the meeting, open it in your Teams calendar and select Meeting options, then Recording & transcription. Turn on Record and transcribe automatically. As the name says, this starts the recording too, and Microsoft's auto recording page says organizers must switch it on for each meeting they want covered. Your admin can also remove the option entirely.

Stop transcription

On desktop, select More actions, then Transcribing. If the meeting is also being recorded, that option stops only the transcript and the recording carries on. Selecting Recording stops both.

On a phone, tap More options, Transcription, Stop transcription. It also stops when everyone leaves.

Check the language

The meeting's spoken language should match what people are actually speaking, and Teams prompts the organizer or whoever started the transcript if it detects a mismatch. To change it on desktop, select More actions, Transcribing, Show transcript, then Language settings. The change applies to everyone in the meeting.

Teams transcription vs captions vs recording

These three get mixed up all the time. Here's the difference, from Microsoft's admin page on transcription and captions:

If you only need the words for your minutes, transcription alone is enough. There's no video to store, and a one-hour recording runs about 400 MB.

Who can start Teams transcription

Microsoft's table on the live transcription page comes down to this:

People who dial in by phone can't view the transcript at all. Co-organizers can download by default, the same as organizers.

Do you need a special license?

Probably not an extra one. Microsoft's transcription pages tie only some features to Teams Premium or a Copilot license: live translated transcripts, and the organizer's "Who can record and transcribe" and "Who has access" meeting options.

What those pages don't give is a license list of their own. The closest is the recording page, as of November 2026: Office 365 Enterprise E1, E3, E5, F3, A1, A3, A5, M365 Business, Business Premium, or Business Essentials. If yours isn't on it, ask your admin.

Personal accounts are less clear. Microsoft's pages for Teams Free and personal subscriptions describe recording and live captions, and don't describe a saved transcript. Don't count on one there.

Admin policy matters more than the license

Microsoft's admin page says transcription is "both a per-organizer and per-user policy setting." The organizer needs it on, and so does whoever starts the transcript. It's on by default for new meeting policies.

Calls work differently. Call transcription sits in a separate calling policy, and that setting is off by default.

Dan leads a support team and transcribes his weekly group meeting without trouble. When he tried the same on a 1:1 call, he couldn't, and assumed Teams was broken. The block was a separate policy his admin had never touched. One request to IT and a calling policy change fixed it. (Dan is also a composite.)

Why the Teams transcription button is locked

Hover over the lock icon on the button and Teams tells you the reason. This table takes the causes on Microsoft's I can't transcribe a meeting page and adds who can fix each one. Tooltip wording is summarized.

The Copilot row catches people out. Microsoft's Learn page says that when an organizer turns off Copilot, "recording and transcription are also turned off."

Elena is a consultant who joins her client's Monday call as a guest, and her button stays locked every week. No setting on her side will change that. She now asks the client's project lead to start transcription and send her the file afterward. (A composite as well.)

Where the Teams meeting transcript goes

Microsoft says live transcripts are stored in the organizer's OneDrive for Business, even if someone else pressed the button. For channel meetings, the files go to a Recordings folder on the channel's SharePoint site.

To find it, go to Chat, open the past meeting, then select Recap and Transcript. Select the arrow next to Download and choose .docx or .vtt. By default, organizers and co-organizers can download, and only they can delete it.

How long it stays

Microsoft's pages read differently here. The support page says transcripts stay available "until a meeting organizer deletes the transcript." The admin expiration page says "Meeting recordings and transcripts have a default expiration time of 120 days," which admins can change. A1 accounts top out at 30.

Plan for the shorter one. Download the .docx the day after the meeting, then file your notes somewhere permanent.

Turn the file into something useful

A .vtt file is full of timestamps. Paste it into our free VTT to text converter for clean paragraphs, then use the meeting minutes generator or our guide on how to take meeting minutes. If your company has Copilot seats, Copilot can work from that transcript too; our guide to Copilot meeting notes covers what it needs.

Tell people they're being transcribed

Teams shows everyone a notice, but a notice on a screen is easy to miss, and a transcript puts names against exact words in a file people can search. So say it out loud, especially with people outside your company. Here's wording you can copy:

In the invite:

This meeting will be transcribed in Microsoft Teams so we have a written record. The transcript goes to [who]. If you'd rather it stayed off, reply before the meeting.

At the start of the call:

Before we begin, I'm turning on transcription. It writes down what's said, with names, and it goes to [who] for the minutes. Is everyone OK with that?

In the meeting chat:

Transcription is on for this meeting. Tell me if you'd like it stopped.

If someone objects, stop it with More actions, then Transcribing, and take notes by hand instead.

Two Microsoft settings help here. Your admin can turn on Require participant agreement for recording and transcription, which is off by default. With it on, others are muted when transcription starts and must answer Yes or No before they can unmute, and No means view-only.

Each person can also hide their name ahead of time. Go to Settings, Accessibility, Captions and transcripts, and turn off Automatically identify me in live captions and live transcripts.

Recording and transcribing laws vary by place. Our overview of one-party consent states covers the US basics. This is general information, not legal advice.

When the conversation isn't on Teams

Teams transcription only works inside a Teams meeting or call. The budget chat in your manager's office or the walk-through on site has no Transcribe button unless someone starts a Teams call for it. If the call is on Google Meet instead, see Google Meet transcription.

That's where ParrotNotes fits. Set your phone on the table, tell everyone you're recording, and tap record. When you stop, you get a transcript, an AI summary, action items, and a drafted follow-up email. Our guide on how to record a meeting on iPhone covers where to put the phone.

The honest limit: ParrotNotes doesn't join or transcribe Teams calls, so inside Teams, use Teams' own transcription. If someone shares a recording file with you, you can import it into ParrotNotes.

As of November 2026, ParrotNotes Free gives you 100 minutes of recording a month, up to 30 minutes per recording, with an AI summary on every one and 3 imports a month. Pro is $19.99 a month, or $14.99 a month billed annually, for 3,000 minutes, recordings up to 3 hours, and unlimited imports (current plans).

Got a meeting in a room this week? Download ParrotNotes free and capture it with everyone's OK.

The short version

To turn on transcription in Teams, select More actions, then Transcribe, confirm the language, and select Confirm. Then remember:

• Captions aren't saved. Only transcription gives you text afterward.
• No recording is needed. Transcription runs on its own.
• A locked button has a reason. Hover over it and ask whoever can fix it.
• The file lives with the organizer. Plan on 120 days and download early.
• Tell people. Say it out loud, whatever the notice says.

Priya now starts transcription as people join, says so in her first sentence, and writes her minutes from the .docx before lunch the next day. For the meetings that never touch Teams, ParrotNotes is free to try.