How to Transcribe Google Meet Meetings Automatically

Need to transcribe your Google Meet meetings without sending audio to someone else's servers? Hapi records and transcribes Google Meet meetings entirely on your Mac — with speaker labels, 25+ language support, and zero cloud processing.

Enabling Google Meet's Built-in Live Captions First

Before reaching for a third-party tool, know that Google Meet ships free live captions for every account — no Google Workspace subscription required. Click the closed-captions icon in the meeting toolbar to turn them on. They show up in real time during the call, but Google doesn't save them anywhere by default, so they're gone the moment the meeting ends unless you're on a Workspace plan with recording enabled.

That's the gap this guide fills: capturing and saving the transcript, not just seeing captions live.

Google Meet's Built-in Transcription (and Its Limitations)

Google Meet provides automated captions and meeting notes through Google Workspace.

However, there are notable limitations:

• Requires Google Workspace paid plan for full transcription
• Audio processed through Google servers
• Transcripts stored in Google Drive
• Speaker attribution can be inconsistent

How to Transcribe Google Meet with Hapi

1. Download Hapi and grant microphone + screen recording permissions
2. Start your Google Meet meeting as usual
3. Hapi auto-detects the meeting and begins recording both your microphone and system audio
4. When the meeting ends, Hapi transcribes everything locally with speaker labels
5. Review, search, and export your transcript in multiple formats (TXT, JSON, SRT, VTT, Markdown)

The entire process happens on your Mac. Your Google Meet audio never leaves your device.

Google Meet Transcription: Local vs Cloud

Feature	Google Meet Built-in	Hapi (Local)
Privacy	Cloud-processed	100% local
Speaker labels	Varies	Yes
Language support	Limited	25+ languages
Cost	Paid plan required	Free
Export formats	Limited	5 formats
Works offline	No	Yes

For a side-by-side of all the major meeting tools, see the meeting transcription apps comparison.