Getting Started

Download & Install

Download the DMG from localtranscriber.com/download.
Open the DMG — double-click Local-Transcriber.dmg in your Downloads folder.
Drag to Applications — drag Local Transcriber into your Applications folder.
Launch the app — open it from Applications or Spotlight.

Requirements: macOS Sonoma 14.2 or later, Apple Silicon (M1 or newer).

Grant Permissions

On first launch, macOS will ask for two permissions. Both are required:

Speech Recognition

The app uses Apple’s on-device speech recognition engine. When prompted, click OK to allow.

If you accidentally denied it, go to System Settings → Privacy & Security → Speech Recognition and enable Local Transcriber.

Microphone

The app needs microphone access to capture your voice. Click OK when prompted.

If denied, go to System Settings → Privacy & Security → Microphone and enable Local Transcriber.

Note: Local Transcriber also captures system audio (the other side of your calls) using macOS audio routing. This doesn’t require a separate permission — it works automatically.

Choose a Transcript Folder

Before your first recording, you’ll need to set where transcripts are saved.

Click the folder button in the bottom-left corner of the sidebar.
Choose a folder (e.g., ~/Documents/MeetingTranscripts).
The app remembers your choice between launches.

All recordings produce two files in this folder:

A markdown file (.md) — the transcript with timestamps and speaker labels.
An audio file (.m4a) — compressed recording of the full session.

You can change the folder at any time by clicking the folder button again.

Your First Recording

Click the red record button in the bottom-right corner of the sidebar — or press ⌘R.
Start talking, or join a call in Zoom, Meet, Teams, or any app.
Watch the transcript appear in real time in the main panel.
When you’re done, click the stop button (the red square) or press ⌘R again.

After stopping, the app runs post-processing for a few seconds — this improves the transcript with better speaker labels and more accurate text. You’ll see a “Processing” indicator while this runs.

Tip: You can also pause and resume during a recording using the pause button in the detail panel.

Local Transcriber adds a mic icon to your macOS menu bar. Click it to:

Start or stop a recording without opening the main window.
Pause or resume.
See the current recording status and duration.

During a recording, the icon changes to an orange pill showing the elapsed time.

Auto-Updates

The app checks for updates automatically using Sparkle. When an update is available, a banner appears in the sidebar. You can also check manually via Transcriber → Check for Updates… in the menu bar.

What’s Next

Transcripts & Audio Files — understand the file format, audio playback, and manage your recordings.
Speaker Labels — learn how speaker detection works.
CLI & Agent Integration — control the app from your terminal or AI agent.
Troubleshooting — common issues and fixes.