You can record directly in Word while taking notes in the canvas and then transcribe the recording.  Word transcribes in the background as you record; you won’t see text on the page as you would when dictating. You’ll see the transcript after you save and transcribe the recording.

1. Make sure you’re signed into Microsoft 365, using the new Microsoft Edge or Chrome.
2. Go to Home > Dictate > Transcribe.
   
   
   
3. In the Transcribe pane, select Start recording.
   
   
   
4. If it’s your first time to transcribe, give the browser permission to use your mic. There might be a dialog that pops up in the browser or you may have to go to the browser settings.
   • In the new Microsoft Edge: … > Settings > Site permissions > Microphone > Allow “https://[your company URL]…sharepoint.com”
     
     
     
   • In Chrome: … > Settings > Privacy and security > Site settings > Microphone > Allow “https://[your company URL]…sharepoint.com”
     
     
     
     Tips: 
     • Be careful to set the correct microphone input on your device, otherwise results may be disappointing. For example, if your computer’s microphone input is set to your headset mic based on the last time you used it, it won’t work well for picking up an in-person meeting.
     • If you want to record and transcribe a virtual call, don’t use your headset. That way, the recording can pick up the sound coming out of your device.
5. Wait for the pause icon to be outlined in blue and the timestamp to start incrementing to let you know that recording has begun.
6. Start talking or begin a conversation with another person. Speak clearly.
7. Leave the Transcribe pane open while recording.
8. Pause recording by selecting the pause icon.
   
   
   
9. Resume recording by selecting the microphone icon.
   
   
   
10. When finished, select Save and transcribe now to save your recording to OneDrive and start the transcription process.
11. Transcription may take a while depending on your internet speed. Keep the Transcribe pane open while the transcription is being made. Feel free to do other work or switch browser tabs or applications and come back later.Note: The recordings will be stored in the Transcribed Files folder on OneDrive. You can delete them there. Learn more about privacy at Microsoft.

You can upload a pre-recorded audio file and then transcribe the recording. 

1. Make sure you’re signed into  Microsoft 365, using the new Microsoft Edge or Chrome.
   
2. Go to Home > Dictate dropdown > Transcribe.
   
   
   
3. In the Transcribe pane, select Upload audio.
   
   
   
4. Choose an audio file from the file picker. Transcribe currently supports .wav, .mp4, .m4a, .mp3 formats.
    
5. Transcription may take a while depending on your internet speed, up to about the length of the audio file. Be sure to keep the Transcribe pane open while the transcription is happening, but feel free to do other work or switch browser tabs or applications and come back later.

Note: Recordings are stored in the Transcribed Files folder on OneDrive. You can delete them there. Learn more about privacy at Microsoft.

Your transcript is associated with the document it’s attached to until you remove it. If you close and reopen the pane or close and reopen the document, the transcript remains saved with the document.

You can interact with the transcript in a few different ways.

Access the audio file

The audio file, whether recorded or uploaded, is saved to the Transcribed Files folder in OneDrive.

Play back the audio

Use the controls at the top of the Transcribe pane to play back your audio. The relevant transcript section highlights as it plays.

• Select the timestamp of any transcript section to play that portion of audio.
• Change the playback speed up to 2x.

Relabel a speaker or edit a section

The transcription service identifies and separates different speakers and labels them “Speaker 1,” “Speaker 2,” etc. You can edit the speaker label and change all occurrences of it to something else. You can also edit the content of a section to correct any issues in transcription.

1. In the Transcribe pane, hover over a section you want to edit.
2. Select the Edit transcript section icon.
   
   
   
3. Edit the content or change the label. To change all instances of a label, select Change all Speaker [x].
   
   
   
4. To save your changes, select the Confirm icon.
   
   
   

Add a transcript to the document

Unlike Dictate, Transcribe doesn’t automatically add the audio to the document. Instead, from the Transcribe pane, you can add the entire transcript, or specific sections of it, to the document.

• To add a specific transcript section, hover over the section and select the Add section to document icon.
  
  
  
  
• To add the entire transcript to the document, select Add all to document.
  
  
  
• To delete the transcript or create a new one, select New transcription. You can only store one transcript per document; if you create a new transcript for the document, the current transcript will be deleted. However, any transcript sections you’ve added to the document remain in the document, but not in the Transcribe pane.

Rename a recorded audio file  

You can rename an audio file that has been recorded.

1. Go to the Transcribed Files folder in OneDrive, or at the top of the Transcribe pane, click the name of the recording. When the audio player interface appears, close it to return to the Transcribed Files folder.
   
2. Find your recording, then select Actions > Rename and rename the recording file.
   
   
   
    Note: The Transcribed Files folder looks different depending on whether your OneDrive account is for a business or personal.
   
   
3. Close the Transcribe pane in Word and then reopen it to see the name update.

You can share the transcript with someone in two ways:

• Select Add all to document to add the entire transcript to your document, then share the Word document as usual. The transcript will appear as regular text in the document and there will be a hyperlink to the audio file in the document.
• Share the Word document as usual. The recipient can open the Transcribe pane to interact with the transcript. To protect your privacy, playback of the audio file is by default not available in the Transcribe pane for anyone that you share the Word document with.

You can also share the transcript and enable playback of the audio file in the Transcribe pane:

1. On your version of the Word document, click the filename at the top of the Transcribe pane to go to where the audio file is saved in OneDrive.
2. The Transcribed Files folder in OneDrive opens.
3. Find your recording, then select Actions > Shareand add the email address of the person you want to share the recording with.
4. Share the Word document as usual.
5. The person that you shared both the Word document and audio file with will be able to open the Word document, open the Transcribe pane, and interact with both the transcript and audio file.

Now users with a Microsoft 365 subscription can transcribe unlimited minutes of uploaded audio using the transcribe feature. Previously, the limit was 300 minutes per month per user. There’s been no change for live recordings, and you can still transcribe unlimited minutes of live recordings. 

Note: Unlimited transcription for uploaded audio is available to enterprise customers upon request.

How this change affects your organization

If you request access for your organization, unlimited transcription for uploaded audio is available to everyone in your organization as a preview experience. A limit for uploaded audio may be reintroduced in the future, with the option to purchase additional minutes based on your usage. 

How to prepare 

Fill out this uncapping upload minutes request form to enable the feature for your tenant. To learn more, email VoiceTransFC@microsoft.com.