ParrotNotes

MP4 to Text Converter

Upload an MP4 up to 10 minutes and 100 MB, such as a Zoom or Teams recording, a screen recording or a webinar clip, and get what was said as text with a short summary. Free with a ParrotNotes account, 3 files a month.

Drop your MP4 here or click to browse

MP4 up to 10 minutes and 100 MB; WebM, MPEG and audio files work too

    How to turn an MP4 into text

    Three steps in the browser. Check the size and the length first: they are the two things that stop an MP4.

    1. 1

      Check the MP4, then drop it in

      The MP4 must be 10 minutes or shorter and 100 MB or smaller. Drag it into the box or click to pick it, then choose the language spoken in it or keep Auto-detect.

    2. 2

      Sign in to start the upload

      Sign in with Google, Apple or a one-time email code. The whole MP4 uploads, so a large file on a slow connection takes a while. Only its sound is transcribed.

    3. 3

      Copy the text or send the link

      The words spoken in the MP4 appear as plain paragraphs, with a short summary beside them. Copy what you need into a document or an email, or send the share link.

    More on this in our guides to transcribing a Zoom recording and recording a Teams meeting.

    Where the MP4 comes from

    Most MP4 files people want as text come from one of three places. Each has its own catch.

    Zoom, Teams or Google Meet

    1. Zoom: download the MP4 from the Recordings page of your account, or open the Zoom folder on your computer for a local recording.
    2. Teams: open the recording from the meeting chat or from OneDrive and download it as an MP4.
    3. Google Meet: the MP4 is in the organizer's Google Drive, in the Meet Recordings folder.

    A full meeting is nearly always longer than 10 minutes. Cut out the part you need before you upload, or convert the MP4 to MP3 and trim the MP3.

    A screen recording

    1. Windows: Snipping Tool and Xbox Game Bar save screen recordings as MP4, so the file works as it is.
    2. Mac: the built-in screen recorder saves a .mov file, which this page does not accept. Use the MOV to MP3 Converter and upload the MP3.
    3. Make sure the recording has sound. A silent screen capture has no words to write out.

    A phone or camera video

    1. Android phones save camera video as MP4. iPhones save .mov, which is not accepted here.
    2. Camera video is heavy: in full HD it usually passes 100 MB within a minute or two.
    3. For anything but a short clip, pull the sound out with the MP4 to MP3 Converter and upload the MP3 instead.

    This page takes MP4 files up to 10 minutes and 100 MB. WebM and MPEG video and MP3, M4A, WAV, FLAC and OGG audio work too. MOV, MKV and AVI are not accepted.

    What comes back

    The speech from the MP4 as text. Nothing from the picture.

    • The transcript

      Everything said in the MP4, punctuated and split into paragraphs. It is plain text, with no speaker names and no time codes.

    • A short summary

      A few lines on what the MP4 was about, shown beside the transcript and saved with it.

    • A link to pass on

      One link opens the transcript for a colleague or a customer. They do not have to sign in, and they cannot see the video.

    • Text you can paste

      Copy the transcript into meeting minutes, a follow-up email, a CRM note or a support article.

    MP4 files people turn into text

    • A clip from a Zoom call with a customer, for the follow-up email
    • A Teams recording of a decision you need in writing
    • A webinar replay you downloaded, for the part with the answer you need
    • A screen-recorded product walkthrough you want as written steps
    • A training video for a new hire who would rather read
    • An Android phone video of a site visit, for the report

    Upload the MP4, or take the sound out first?

    Both routes end with the same transcript. The second one is for MP4 files that are too big, too long or unreadable.

    Upload the MP4 as it is when

    • It is 100 MB or smaller and 10 minutes or shorter
    • It is a meeting clip or a screen recording, which are small for their length
    • Your connection is fast enough to send the whole video
    • You want the fewest steps

    Convert it to MP3 first when

    • The MP4 is over 100 MB: the MP4 to MP3 Converter takes up to 500 MB, in your browser
    • It runs past 10 minutes: convert it, then cut the MP3 with the Audio Trimmer
    • The page could not read the MP4
    • You are on mobile data: an MP3 is far smaller than the video it came from

    Is your video a WebM or an MPEG file? The Video to Text Converter has the steps for those formats.

    Next time, skip the MP4

    ParrotNotes records meetings, calls and voice notes on your phone and turns them into transcripts and summaries, so there is no video file to download, shrink and upload afterwards. The free plan gives you 100 minutes of recording a month.

    Get ParrotNotes free

    MP4 to text converter FAQ

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