# Meeting and lecture transcription

> Record audio and get a clean, structured note.

Source: https://notate.md/docs/ai/transcription/

Category: AI & transcription

Updated: 2026-08-17

---

Notate records and transcribes meetings, lectures, and quick voice memos into structured notes. It comes with the AI plan, or on the Sync plan with [your own OpenAI key](https://notate.md/docs/ai/bring-your-own-keys/) — transcription is the one AI feature an Anthropic key does not turn on. For a full overview, see the [transcription page](https://notate.md/transcription/).

## Record

Start a recording from the ribbon. On desktop, meeting mode captures your **system audio and microphone together**, so calls and videos come through cleanly. On mobile, Notate records from the microphone and keeps going even if you lock the phone.

## Recording responsibly

Recording laws vary by where you and the other participants are. Some places
allow a recording as long as one person in the conversation agrees to it, and
that person can be you. Others require everyone's permission first, and a few
treat recording without it as a crime.

Notate does not ask anyone for permission on your behalf, so getting it is up to
you. The simplest habit is to say you are recording before you start. This
matters most in meeting mode on desktop, which captures your computer's audio
alongside your microphone, so both sides of a call end up in the transcript.

## Recording modes

Pick a mode before you start. Notate transcribes the same way in each one; the
mode decides how the transcript is turned into a note.

| Mode | What you get |
| --- | --- |
| **Meeting** | Attendees where they are mentioned, key discussion points, decisions made, and action items. |
| **Lecture** | Key concepts, definitions, important points, and a summary, organized under headings. |
| **Memo** | Your own words cleaned up: filler removed, grammar fixed, organized into paragraphs, personal tone kept. |
| **Verbatim** | The transcript almost as spoken, with punctuation, paragraph breaks, and obvious errors fixed. |

Choose Verbatim when the exact wording matters and you would rather edit it
yourself, and Memo when you are talking to yourself and want it to read like
you wrote it.

## Live transcription and the meeting assistant

The transcript builds as you speak, and related notes from your workspace surface while you record, so context is right there.

## The result

When you stop, Notate turns the transcript into a titled note with a summary and the key points, filed wherever you chose. It's plain markdown, so you can search, quote, and edit it right away.