Transcribe a Google Meet recording to text
From the Drive .mp4, or from the recording you made yourself if your account is regular Gmail. No Gemini, no extension, nothing uploaded.
Updated: October 2026 · 6 min read
To transcribe a Google Meet meeting you already recorded: download the .mp4 from the Meet Recordings folder in Drive (or use the screen recording you made yourself), open AppGrabbit › Download › Transcribe with AI, drop it in and click Transcribe. The AI engine runs on your PC: out comes a .txt with the prompt for the summary and an .srt with timing. No Gemini, no Workspace plan, no extension. 1 credit · 5 free a month
What Meet does and does not do
Recording a Meet call is only possible with Google Workspace on plans like Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise or Education Plus; with a regular Gmail account or Business Starter the button does not exist. Automatic notes with Gemini are paid too. And the extensions that transcribe “for free” (Tactiq and the like) send the audio to their cloud with a minute cap. If you have the video, you need none of them.
Where your recording is
With Workspace, the recording is saved by itself to the organizer's Drive, in the Meet Recordings folder, and an email arrives with the link. Download it as .mp4. Without Workspace, the recording is the one you made: the Windows Game Bar (Win + G) records the Meet window with audio and leaves an .mp4 in Videos › Captures; OBS Studio does the same with more control.
What you get and how long it takes
- A 1-hour meeting — about 3 minutes with an NVIDIA card; about 12 on CPU only (Fast model).
- The .txt — with “Summarize” on top: paste it and you have the summary and the to-dos.
- The .srt — to go back to the exact minute.
- No cap — neither on minutes nor on file size.
AppGrabbit against the other ways
| AppGrabbit | Meet recording and notes | Browser extensions | Meeting bots | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| With a regular Gmail account | ✓ Yes (you record) | ✗ No | ✓ Yes | ~ Some |
| Works with a meeting that is over | ✓ Yes, with the .mp4 | ~ Only if recorded | ✗ They had to be there | ✗ They had to be there |
| Your meeting never leaves your PC | ✓ Never | ✗ Goes to Google | ✗ Goes to their cloud | ✗ Goes to their cloud |
| Separates speakers | ✗ No | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Cost | 1 credit per transcript (5 free a month) · Pro $8.99/mo · 7-day pass $3.99 | Workspace plan | Free minutes, then a subscription | Free minutes, then a subscription |
Step by step
- 1Install AppGrabbit for Windows — Download the free installer (everything included). Windows will say it protected your PC because the installer is not code-signed: click More info, then Run anyway.
- 2Get the meeting file — If your account is Google Workspace with recording, the video is in the organizer's Drive, “Meet Recordings” folder: download it (.mp4). If your account is regular Gmail, Meet does not record: next time, record the screen yourself with the Windows Game Bar (Win + G) or OBS.
- 3Drop it onto Download › Transcribe with AI — The app reads the .mp4 where it is, pulls the audio out and transcribes it on your PC.
- 4Pick the prompt and click Transcribe — Summarize, Key ideas, Study questions or no prompt: it goes at the top of the .txt so you can paste it into ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini. The first time, the app gets the AI engine ready on your PC (a one-time download) and carries on by itself.
- 5Open the .txt and the .srt — They land in the Transcripts folder inside your downloads folder, and in the Library. The .txt pastes into Word or into your AI; the .srt carries the minute of every sentence.
Frequently asked questions
Gemini notes and automatic transcription belong to paid Workspace plans. With regular Gmail there is no recording and no transcript. If you have the video, that is all you need.
Meet cannot, but your PC can: Win + G opens the Windows Game Bar and records the window with audio; OBS does too. Tell the others you are recording, as the law requires almost everywhere.
No. The transcript is running text; the .srt puts the minute of every sentence.
Not the link: download the file to your PC and drop it in. The app never goes into your Drive.
1 credit per transcript. Free comes with 5 credits a month and, at 0, you can claim 1 more every 48 hours. The 7-day pass (USD 3.99, no renewal) removes credits for a week; Pro removes them for good at USD 8.99 a month. No minute cap and no file-length cap.
Nothing. The audio is transcribed by Whisper (whisper.cpp) running on your computer, on your NVIDIA card if you have one or on the CPU if not. You can unplug the internet and it keeps working. Only the first time does it download the engine and the model.
Source: Record a video meeting in Google Meet (Google Help)
Related guides
Transcribe your Meet call, on your PC
Windows 10/11 · 1 credit per transcript, 5 free a month · No Gemini, nothing uploaded