How do you turn on meeting transcription in Microsoft Teams?

You turn on meeting transcription in Microsoft Teams in two places. An admin controls whether the feature is allowed, through the Transcription setting in a meeting policy. Then, inside a meeting, a person can start a live transcript from the meeting controls, or the transcript starts on its own when the meeting is recorded. Teams does not turn transcription on for you outside the policy, so the first step is usually a question for your IT admin.

This page covers the setting, the steps in a meeting, and the conditions that decide whether the option appears. For what to do when the option is missing or greyed out, see why Teams meeting transcription is not available. For the wider picture of voice in Teams, Slack and Notion, read our guide to voice to text in Teams, Slack and Notion.

The admin turns transcription on in the meeting policy

Transcription is a setting in a meeting policy, which an admin edits in the Teams admin center. Microsoft's guide says to go to Meetings, then Meeting policies, select the policy, and toggle Transcription on or off ¹. Microsoft also says this setting is on by default for new policies, so the feature is often already available unless an admin has changed it.

The setting works at two levels, and both must allow it. Microsoft describes transcription as both a per-organizer and a per-user policy setting ². For a meeting to include a transcript, the organizer must have the setting on, and the user who starts the transcript must also have it on ³. An admin can apply a global policy to everyone, or give specific users a custom policy with the setting changed. Microsoft's guide describes both routes in its steps for assigning policies.

If you are not an admin, you cannot see this setting, so ask the person who manages Teams for your organization to check your policy and the organizer's.

To start a live transcript in a meeting, use More actions

Once the policy allows it, you can start a transcript during the meeting. Microsoft's steps for a live transcription, without a recording, begin by selecting More actions in your meeting controls ⁴. Then select Transcribe, confirm the language the group is speaking, and select Confirm. The steps are in Microsoft's help page on live transcription in a Teams meeting.

Live transcription is a desktop feature. Microsoft says it is available only on the Teams desktop app ⁵, so if you join from a phone, use the desktop app to start it.

Everyone in the meeting is told. When live transcription starts, all participants see a notification that the meeting is being transcribed ⁶. You cannot start a transcript without this notice appearing, so tell the group before you begin if you want to avoid surprises.

Recording a meeting starts transcription with it

If transcription is allowed and you record the meeting, Teams starts the transcript at the same time. Microsoft's help page says that when you record a meeting, transcription starts automatically ⁷. You do not need the More actions steps in that case.

The two settings are separate, though. A recording can be made with no transcript if transcription is off, and the stored recording then has no transcript file next to it. Check the transcription setting before you rely on a recording to give you text.

It depends on the policy, the organizer, and the app you use

The setting is only the first condition. Four others decide what you see:

• The organizer's setting. A transcript is included only if the organizer has transcription on. If you are a participant, the option can be missing even when your own policy allows it.
• The app. Live transcription starts only in the desktop app, as described above.
• The plan. Microsoft says standard Teams transcription is included in Microsoft 365 E3 and E5, and that the Transcribe only option needs no extra license ⁸. We could not confirm from Microsoft's pages which other plans include it, so check your license in the admin center.

What to do

1. Ask your admin whether Transcription is on in the meeting policy that applies to you and to the organizer.
2. Open the Teams desktop app before the meeting, and check that More actions shows a Transcribe option.
3. Start the transcript with More actions, then Transcribe, and confirm the spoken language.
4. Tell the group if they have not already seen the notice, since it appears for everyone.
5. After the meeting, find the transcript as our guide to downloading a Teams transcript explains.

If the option does not appear at all, the cause is usually a policy, a license, or the organizer's setting, and the Teams transcription troubleshooting page walks through each one. For the difference between a transcript and dictation, read dictation vs transcription. A transcript is a record of what others said, which is different from typing your own words, as does Microsoft Teams have speech to text explains. If you plan to transcribe a meeting without recording it, see transcribing a Teams meeting without recording.

A meeting transcript records what others say, which is not the same as dictation, where you speak your own words into a text box. Before you record or transcribe anyone, read the consent steps in transcribing a Teams meeting without recording.