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iMessage · audio messages · .caf, .m4a

iMessage audio message to text.

Save the audio message out of the Messages app and drop it here. The .caf files Messages keeps on a Mac and the .m4a saved on an iPhone are both read as they are, in whatever language was spoken.

Free preview and summary Up to 10 hours or 5 GB per file 99+ languages TXT · DOCX · SRT · VTT · JSON

The file you have

How to get an audio message out of Messages.

iPhone: Touch and hold the audio message → Save. It is added to the Voice Memos app, where you can share it to Files as an .m4a.
Mac: Right-click the audio message in Messages and save or copy it; attachments are kept as .caf files.
Expiry: Audio messages delete themselves two minutes after you listen unless you tap Keep, or set Settings → Messages → Audio Messages → Expire to Never.
Format: .caf (Opus) on a Mac, .m4a from Voice Memos. Both upload as they are.

There is no link to paste for this one. Get the file onto your phone or computer first, then upload it in the box above.

How it works

Three steps, the first one is the only one that takes any thought.

Keep and save the message

Tap Keep so it does not expire, then touch and hold → Save.

Share it from Voice Memos to Files

Then open this page on the phone, tap the upload box and pick the file.

Read it

Short messages are text within seconds.

Good to know

What trips people up, and what to do about it.

Already expired? A message that deleted itself after two minutes is gone from the phone. Change the Expire setting to Never for the future.
iOS shows a transcript under some audio messages in a few languages. This is for the others, for long ones, and for when you need the text as a file.
.caf files are fine. There is no need to convert them to MP3 first.
Messages as records: keep the audio file with the transcript; the timestamps let anyone verify a line.

Example. A grandmother sends a seven-minute audio message in Cantonese. Saved to Voice Memos, shared to Files and uploaded from the phone, it is Cantonese text in about fifteen seconds, ready to keep or translate. Checked 4 October 2026: a .caf file with Opus audio and an .m4a uploaded through this site came back as text.

What comes back

More than a wall of text.

The same four things for every iMessage audio recording, whatever its length.

A transcript with timestamps

Every line carries its time. Click a line to hear that second again, or search a name or phrase and jump to each place it was said.

A summary, chapters and key quotes

A brief with the takeaways, chapters with their start times, and the quotes worth keeping. Speakers are identified and named in the summary, key quotes and chapters.

Questions answered from the recording

Ask where a topic came up or what was decided, and get the answer with the time it was said, instead of scrolling the whole text.

Every export

TXT, DOCX, SRT, VTT, JSON from the same transcript: a document to edit, caption files for video, plain text to paste, structured data for your own tools.

Pricing

Free preview. Packs from $4, and the minutes never expire.

A seven-minute audio message is 7 minutes, so the $4 pack (500 minutes) covers it 71 times over. Every recording gets a free preview and a summary you can read before paying; a pack opens the full transcript and every export. Packs are one-time purchases with no subscription and no seat fee.

$4500 minutesBuy $81,000 minutesBuy $122,000 minutesBuy $245,000 minutesBuy

Pick a pack to open secure checkout. Workspace is $19 a month for unlimited transcription (300-hour fair-use mark). Full pricing

What we measured, last 30 days

1,901 recordings, 830 audio hours, 64 languages detected. An hour of audio came back in 3.7 minutes for half of the recordings and within 19.7 minutes for nine in ten, measured from the moment the file landed to the finished transcript. Refreshed 2026-10-02; method on how we test.

FAQ

iMessage audio messages to text, answered.

How do I turn an iMessage audio message into text?

Touch and hold the audio message, tap Save (it goes to Voice Memos), share it to Files, then upload that file in the box on this page.

Can you read .caf files?

Yes. The .caf audio files that Messages stores are read directly.

My audio message disappeared. Can it be recovered?

Not from here. Messages deletes audio messages two minutes after they are played unless you tap Keep or set Expire to Never in Settings.

What does transcribing iMessage audio recordings cost?

The preview and the summary are free. A pack opens the full transcript: $4 for 500 minutes, $8 for 1,000 minutes, $12 for 2,000 minutes, $24 for 5,000 minutes. Packs are one-time, credits never expire, and Workspace is $19 a month if you transcribe every week.

How long can the recording be?

One file can run up to 10 hours or 5 GB. The box on this page takes files up to 500 MB; a larger file continues on the main upload page, which uploads it in parts. Most recordings come back in about two minutes per hour of audio.

Is the recording kept private?

Recordings are transcribed on our own servers and are never used for training. You can delete a recording and its transcript at any time.