Meeting Transcription

Real-time translation for multilingual meetings

Maybe the weekly sync is with the Berlin office and half of it slides into German. Or a client's English runs out halfway through the demo and they finish in Japanese. You follow most of it, then miss the one sentence that mattered.

With real-time translation you don't wait for a summary after the call. You read the answer as it's given and can reply straight away, instead of asking them to say it again in English. If the other person installs the extension too, you each read the other in your own language.

Set the language people speak in the call, or leave it on Auto, and pick the language you want to read. The translation runs as subtitles over the call page and as a growing transcript in the side panel, so if you look away for a moment you can scroll back and catch up.

If you understand some of the language, turn on Original text in the settings. The source line then sits above each translation, so you see what was said next to what it became.

Whose voices end up in the meeting transcript

It listens to the call tab, which is everyone else in the meeting. Your microphone stays out of it, so the text is the other side of the conversation: the people you joined the call to understand.

Nothing joins the call either. There's no extra participant in the list and no message in the meeting chat. It's a tool on your side of the screen.

It can run entirely on your computer

Most real-time translation services work over the internet. The call audio goes to their servers, the text comes back, and every line waits for that round trip.

Audio Translator can do all of it on your own computer. With no server in the middle there's less between the words and the subtitles, so the translation keeps pace with the speaker even when the connection is busy carrying the call itself. And what's said in the meeting doesn't have to leave your machine.

How to transcribe a meeting in Google Meet, Zoom or Microsoft Teams

The extension works with the browser tab where you click its icon, so the call needs to be open in the browser. If the call runs in the Zoom or Microsoft Teams desktop app, the extension doesn't hear it, even on the same computer.

Google Meet transcription and translation

Google Meet already runs in the browser, so there's nothing to set up. Join the call, click the Audio Translator icon in the toolbar and pick your languages. Lines start coming in about a second after someone speaks. You don't need to be the host.

Zoom transcription and translation

When you open a meeting link, Zoom offers its app. Close that prompt and look at the bottom of the page for "Join from your browser". Once you're in the call in the browser, click the extension icon on that tab.

Microsoft Teams transcription and translation

Open the meeting link in the browser and choose "Continue on this browser" when Microsoft Teams suggests its app. Join, then click the extension icon.

Transcribe a recorded meeting

A recording that plays in a browser tab works the same way: a file in Google Drive or Dropbox, the Zoom cloud recordings page, your company's video portal. Press play and click the icon. It goes at the speed of playback, so an hour of recording takes an hour. For videos, podcasts and live streams outside work, see the audio translator page.

Built-in captions in Google Meet, Zoom and Microsoft Teams vs. this extension

Google Meet, Zoom and Microsoft Teams have their own captions and transcripts. Translated captions there depend on the plan, and the transcript is usually started by the host. As a guest on someone else's call, you often can't turn either on.

	Translated captions	Who starts the transcript
Google Meet	Some Workspace plans	Host or co-host
Zoom	Some paid plans	Host
Microsoft Teams	Some paid plans	Organizer
This extension	39 languages	You, as a guest too

When everyone in the call speaks the same language, you can also use it as a plain meeting transcript. Set both languages to the language of the meeting and the text comes out untranslated.

Save the meeting transcript with timestamps

Turn on Autosave in the side panel once. After that every session is written to Downloads/audio-translator as its own .txt file, named by date and time. Each line starts with a [mm:ss] timestamp from the start of the call, so you can find the moment someone agreed to a deadline.

It's plain text, so it goes anywhere. Send it to whoever missed the call, or paste it into the AI chat you already use and ask for minutes and action items. If you'd rather not keep files, Copy transcript puts the whole call on the clipboard.

How accurate it is

Each version is checked on the same English video that also has subtitles typed by a person. About 95 words in 100 match them. YouTube's automatic captions get about 96 on that video. That figure is for English speech. Other languages are checked on their own videos.

Tips before the call

• Click the icon and pick your languages a few minutes before the meeting. Whatever was said before you click isn't in the text, and the first time you use a pair its translation pack downloads.
• Before you send the file around, skim it for names and figures.
• Pin the call tab so you don't close it by accident. Closing it ends the transcript.

Tell people before you transcribe

The extension doesn't announce itself, so that part is up to you. In many places it isn't only polite. Some US states, including California, require everyone on a call to agree before it's recorded, and in the EU a transcript of a conversation counts as personal data. Your company may have rules about meeting transcription too.

A short "I'm keeping a transcript for my notes, is that okay?" at the start usually covers it. This isn't legal advice; for a sensitive meeting, ask whoever handles that at your company.

Browser and Android

The main version is the extension for Chrome and other Chromium-based browsers, on the Chrome Web Store. That's the one for meetings on your computer. There's also an Android app on Google Play that shows subtitles in a small window on top of other apps.

Who makes it

Audio Translator is made by an independent developer, not a meeting software company. This page describes version 0.8.15 from October 2026. Questions and bug reports go through the contact form, and reviews are on the Chrome Web Store.

Meeting transcription FAQ

Does it work for calls in the Zoom or Microsoft Teams desktop app?

No, only browser tabs. Open the meeting link in Chrome and choose "Join from your browser" in Zoom or "Continue on this browser" in Microsoft Teams. You're in the same call, and the extension can hear it.