Can you transcribe voice messages from Instagram, Discord and other apps?

Yes, in some apps. WhatsApp, Google Messages and Instagram each include a transcript for voice messages you receive. WhatsApp's transcripts are off by default, and Google Messages hides its text until you tap it. We found no official voice message transcript in Discord. The answer depends on the app, so check each one before you assume it works.

WhatsApp: switch it on, and only you can read it

WhatsApp turns voice message transcripts off by default, so you must switch them on yourself ¹. The transcript is visible only to the person who received the message ², so the sender cannot read it. WhatsApp says transcripts are generated on your device, so that no one else, not even WhatsApp, can hear or read the messages ³.

At its 2024 launch, transcripts on iOS 16 and later supported 12 languages ⁴. The Android version supported four: English, Portuguese, Spanish and Russian ⁵. The list may be longer now, so check the app for the current list.

Google Messages: tap the text to open it

In Google Messages, a voice message transcript is hidden by default, and you open it by tapping the text ⁶. Android Central reports that Google says audio messages are not sent to the company and are processed on the device ⁷. The setting is in Message settings, under the voice message transcription option ⁸.

Instagram: a View transcription button in direct messages

In 2025 Instagram added a View transcription button under the audio waveform of a voice clip in direct messages. The recipient can then read the words of the voice message ⁹. The report does not say which languages the transcript supports. The same report says Instagram also raised the maximum length of a clip in DMs to five minutes ¹⁰, which is long enough for a short note you may want to keep as text.

Discord: no built-in transcript we could verify

We did not find an official Discord feature that transcribes voice messages. The results were third-party bots that a server admin adds, and we could not open Discord's help center from this check to confirm the position. If you want a transcript in Discord, a bot is the only route we found, and its features and privacy terms are set by its developer. Read those terms before you add a bot to a server.

Other apps and your own recordings

For an app with no transcript, the usual route is to play the message and write it down, or to export the audio if the app lets you save it. We did not verify the export options for each app. If you have the audio file, the guide to voice memos and voice notes explains how to transcribe a file and check it.

Voice messages in a chat are a convenience, not a record. If you need the words kept, copy them into a document of your own.

Related questions

For a recording you made yourself, see how to turn a voice recording into text on Android. For voice typing in messaging apps, see voice typing in WhatsApp. For the wider subject, see our overview of transcription.