How to record and transcribe a phone call on a Mac
The short answer
On a Mac with macOS 26 or later, you can record a call from the Phone app or a FaceTime audio call: open the call’s options and click Call Recording. Both people hear a notice, and the recording and its transcript are saved to a Call Recordings folder in Notes, with each speaker identified. Transcripts are only made in some languages and regions, and call recording is not available in the European Union and several other places. Flit, a local dictation app for Mac, transcribes a saved call recording on the Mac in languages Apple’s transcripts do not cover, such as German and French.
How to record and transcribe a call on a Mac
- Make the call from the Phone app on your Mac, or start a FaceTime audio call with one other person.
- During the call, open the call’s options and click Call Recording.
- Both of you hear an audio notice that the call is being recorded. It plays again from time to time during the call.
- End the call. The recording is saved to the Call Recordings folder in Notes.
- Open the note and double-click the recording to see the transcript.
- To use the text elsewhere, open the transcript’s options and choose Copy Transcript or Add Transcript to Note.
Phone calls on the Mac go through your iPhone, so it has to be set up to allow calls on the Mac.
Apple’s call recording works the same on the iPhone and the Mac, and both save to Notes. The table shows where it works and what you get; the sections cover the limits. Everything is from Apple’s own pages.
Call recording on Apple devices
| Where | How | Saved to |
|---|---|---|
| iPhone, iOS 18 or later | During the call, open the options and tap Call Recording | Notes, Call Recordings folder |
| Phone app on a Mac, macOS 26 or later | During the call, open the options and click Call Recording | Notes, Call Recordings folder |
| FaceTime audio on a Mac, macOS 26 or later | The same, with one other person on the call | Notes, with the transcript |
| The European Union and several other places | Not available | Nothing is recorded |
What the other person hears
Both people on the call hear an audio notice that it is being recorded, and Apple’s safety guide adds that the notice replays periodically during the call. Only the person who starts the recording needs the feature, and the recording is saved in that person’s Notes.
Laws on recording calls differ from place to place. The notice tells the other person, but whether you also need their agreement is for you to check where you are.
Where you can record, and in which languages
Apple’s iPhone guide lists where call recording is not currently available: Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Egypt, the European Union, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.
The transcript has a separate, shorter list. Apple’s feature availability page gives call transcription in Cantonese, English, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin Chinese, Brazilian Portuguese and Spanish (Mexico and the United States). In any other language, a recording can still be made where recording is allowed, but there is no transcript.
Reading the transcript in Notes
On the Mac, double-click the recording in the note to review the transcript. Apple’s Notes guide describes searching it with Find in Transcript, and copying it with Copy Transcript or Add Transcript to Note. In the transcript, each statement is labelled with who said it.
With Apple Intelligence turned on, Notes can also summarize the recording: double-click it and click Summary.
Deleting the recording deletes its transcript too, so copy the text out first if you want to keep it.
Saving the audio file
The recording itself can be saved out of Notes: Apple’s guide describes Save Attachment, which asks where to put the file. That file is what you need to transcribe the call some other way, for example when it is in a language Apple does not transcribe.
Turning call recording off
Apple says call recording is on by default. On the iPhone, it is switched off in Settings → Apps → Phone → Audio Call Recording.
When the call is in another language
Apple transcribes calls in seven languages. Flit transcribes a saved call recording on the Mac in any language its voice model covers, German, French and Italian among them.
- Save the recording from Notes with Save Attachment, then drop the file on Flit’s Transcribe tab.
- A transcript in paragraphs, saved as a text file, and exported as Markdown, SRT or VTT.
- Nothing is uploaded, and it works with Wi-Fi off.
- Flit is free for 7 days with every feature on, then $19 once, with no account and no subscription.
Good to know
- Flit does not record calls. Apple’s call recording, where it is available, makes the file.
- Apple’s transcript labels each speaker. Flit’s does not.
- Which languages a recording can be in depends on the voice model you choose: Parakeet Ultra covers 25 European languages, Cohere Transcribe 14, Qwen3-ASR 30, Whisper 99 and Omnilingual more than 1,600, with accuracy that varies by language.
- Flit runs on a Mac with Apple silicon and macOS 14 or later, and its voice model is a download of about 0.5 to 2.8 GB that you choose once.
Questions people ask
Can I record a phone call on a Mac?
Yes, on macOS 26 or later, in the Phone app or on a FaceTime audio call with one other person: open the call’s options and click Call Recording. It is not available in the European Union and some other regions.
Where do call recordings go on a Mac?
To a Call Recordings folder in the Notes app, with the transcript, in languages Apple transcribes.
Does the other person know the call is being recorded?
Yes. Apple says both participants hear an audio notice that the call is being recorded, and that it replays during the call.
Which languages get a call transcript?
Apple lists Cantonese, English, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin Chinese, Brazilian Portuguese and Spanish (Mexico and the United States).
Why is call recording missing on my iPhone or Mac?
Call recording is not available in the European Union and several other countries and regions that Apple lists. Where it is available, it is on by default.
How do I transcribe a call recording in German or French?
Save the recording from Notes with Save Attachment and transcribe the file with a tool that covers the language. Flit is a local dictation app for Mac that transcribes recordings on the Mac in German, French and many more. Flit is free for 7 days with every feature on, then $19 once, with no account and no subscription.