WhatsApp voice to text

Yes — WhatsApp has built-in voice-to-text, called Voice Message Transcripts, released in November 2024. Turn it on at Settings → Chats → Voice message transcripts, then long-press any voice message and tap Transcribe. It runs entirely on your device, so nothing is uploaded. The catch: it supports about 5 languages on Android, and it doesn't exist on WhatsApp Web at all.

How to turn on WhatsApp voice message transcripts

Same path on both platforms, with one extra requirement on iPhone.

On Android

1. Open WhatsApp and go to Settings → Chats.
2. Tap Voice message transcripts and turn the toggle on.
3. Choose your transcript language. WhatsApp downloads a language pack — around 136 MB — so do this on Wi-Fi.
4. Wait for the download to finish before trying to transcribe anything.

On iPhone

1. Go to Settings → Chats → Voice message transcripts and turn it on.
2. Pick your transcript language and let the pack download.
3. Make sure Siri is enabled. WhatsApp's transcription uses Apple's on-device speech engine, and it won't work with Siri turned off.
4. Check iOS Settings → WhatsApp → Speech Recognition is toggled on.

Transcribing a specific voice note

Long-press the voice message in the chat and tap Transcribe. The text appears below the message. On some versions a transcript button sits directly under the waveform instead.

Which languages does WhatsApp voice to text support?

This is the part that catches most people out. The list is short on Android and much longer on iPhone, because the two platforms use different underlying speech engines.

Notably absent everywhere: Urdu, Indonesian, Vietnamese, Bengali, Tagalog, Punjabi and Swahili — several of which are spoken in WhatsApp's largest markets. If your voice notes arrive in one of those, the built-in feature will never transcribe them.

Why does it say "Transcript unavailable"?

This message means WhatsApp tried and couldn't. Working through the causes in order of likelihood:

1. The voice note isn't in your transcript language. The single most common cause. WhatsApp transcribes in the one language you selected in settings — it doesn't auto-detect. A Spanish voice note with the transcript language set to English will fail.
2. The language isn't supported at all on your platform. See the table above. On Android that rules out most of the world.
3. The language pack didn't finish downloading. Go back into Settings → Chats → Voice message transcripts and check.
4. Background noise or unclear audio. Voice notes recorded in a market, a factory or a moving car often fail outright rather than producing poor text.
5. Permissions. On iPhone, Siri disabled or Speech Recognition turned off for WhatsApp will block it. On Android, check WhatsApp's permissions in your app settings.
6. Your WhatsApp is out of date, or the feature hasn't reached your account yet — it rolled out gradually.

If you've been through all six and it still fails, the language is almost certainly the reason. That's not something you can configure your way out of.

Voice to text on WhatsApp Web

There is none. Voice Message Transcripts is a mobile-app feature. Neither WhatsApp Web (web.whatsapp.com) nor the WhatsApp Desktop application can convert a voice message to text, and as of July 2026 there is no sign of it coming.

For anyone running a business on WhatsApp this is the awkward one, because desktop is where the work happens. The realistic options are: read the transcript on your phone and switch back to your computer, download the audio file and run it through a transcription service, or use a browser extension that adds transcription inside WhatsApp Web.

Transcription is not translation

Worth stating clearly because the two get conflated constantly. WhatsApp's voice-to-text gives you the words in the language they were spoken. An Arabic voice note produces Arabic text. If you don't read Arabic, you now have a transcript you still can't read.

WhatsApp's separate Message Translations feature, added in September 2025, translates text messages — and it does not apply to voice note transcripts. So the built-in tools stop one step short of the thing most cross-border sellers actually need.

Is it private?

WhatsApp's version genuinely is, and this is its strongest argument. Transcription happens on your device using the phone's own speech engine. The audio is never uploaded, WhatsApp cannot read the transcript, and end-to-end encryption is preserved.

Any alternative — a website, an app, an extension, including ours — has to process the audio somewhere outside WhatsApp. That's an unavoidable consequence of covering languages your phone can't handle locally. If your language is on WhatsApp's list and privacy is your priority, use the built-in feature. It's the better choice and it costs nothing.

Quick answers

Does WhatsApp voice to text cost anything?

No. It's a free feature, though the language pack uses about 136 MB of storage and data.

Can I transcribe a voice note I sent?

The built-in feature is designed for received messages. To transcribe your own, export the file and use a transcription tool.

Does WhatsApp store my transcripts?

No. Transcription runs locally on your device and the result stays there. WhatsApp has stated it cannot access voice messages or their transcripts.

Can I change the transcript language?

Yes, in Settings → Chats → Voice message transcripts. You can only have one active at a time, and switching means downloading a new pack — which is why multilingual users find the built-in feature frustrating.

Why can't I see the Transcribe option?

Either the feature is off in settings, the language pack hasn't downloaded, you're on WhatsApp Web or Desktop where it doesn't exist, or your app needs updating.

How accurate is it?

Good for clear speech in a supported language, noticeably worse with background noise, heavy accents, or sentences that mix two languages — which describes a lot of real business voice notes.