Transcribe an audio file from Google Drive to text
Google Drive audio to text: the speech of a recording in Drive as text with the time of every line, exported as TXT, SRT, VTT or CSV. Up to 30 minutes a file on the free plan, no minute limit on Pro.
A recording that lies in Google Drive is taken with the «Download» button and put on the widget above, and the speech of it comes back as text, one line per segment, with the time of every line. One file holds up to 30 minutes.
How to transcribe an audio file from Drive
- 1
Open the folder in Drive
Go to drive.google.com and open the folder where the recording was saved. The name of the file often holds the date of the meeting and the name of the team.
- 2
Download the file
Right click the file and choose «Download». A single file comes down as it is; a folder comes down as a ZIP, which has to be unpacked before the upload.
- 3
Check the rights of the domain
An administrator can switch the downloading, the printing and the copying off for the folder. In that case the button is greyed out and the file stays in Drive.
- 4
Upload and export
Put the file on the widget above and leave the language on automatic detection. The export shows the second of every line: TXT for the words, SRT for the video, CSV for a table.
What you get
- TXT
Plain text for an email, a note or a chat
- SRT
Subtitles for video editors and platforms
- VTT
Subtitles for a browser and a website
- CSV
A table: time, speaker, text
- DOCX
A Word document with speakers and times
- Markdown
Text with headings for notes
What the transcript of a file in Drive holds
- The file in Drive
a recording of a meeting or a lecture that was saved into a folder
- The Download button
one file comes down as it is; a whole folder comes down as a ZIP
- The rights of the admin
an administrator can switch the downloading, the printing and the copying off
- One file
up to 30 minutes on the free plan, no minute limit on Pro
Why the recording in Drive is not a text yet
The recording of the last meeting lies in the folder of the team in Drive, everybody knows that it is there and nobody knows what was said in it. Taking the file takes one click, and a text of that file takes one search afterwards.
Tips
Download one file, not the whole folder, when you need one meeting.
Unpack the ZIP before the upload.
Keep the date of the meeting in the name of the file.
Export SRT when the recording goes back into the video.
Questions this page answers
Can I download a whole folder?
A folder comes down as a ZIP archive, and the archive has to be unpacked before the upload. The files inside it keep their own names, so the date of the meeting stays readable.
What if the Download button is greyed out?
Then the administrator of the domain has closed the downloading for the files of that folder. Ask the owner of the file for the recording itself, or for the link of the file.
Does Drive transcribe the file?
No. Drive keeps the file and shares it; the speech in it becomes text only after the file is uploaded to a transcription engine, like the one on this page.
How long may one file be?
up to 30 minutes, on every plan. A lecture of up to 30 minutes goes in one go, and a longer recording is cut into parts before the upload.
Sources
- SGoogle Drive: how to download a filesupport.google.com · checked 24 October 2026
Reading: 5 minutesUpdated Transcribsi editorial team
Drop a recording — the text arrives in a minute
Speakers by name, a time on every line, export to TXT, SRT, VTT, CSV and Markdown.