How to transcribe a meeting offline on a Mac

The one thing to do in advance is use it once while you are online, so the model for your language is on the Mac.

This guide covers what to download before you go offline, how to record and transcribe with no network, what will not work, and how to check an app really is not uploading anything.

Why "offline" matters even when you have Wi-Fi

Most people searching for offline transcription are not on a plane. They want to know the audio is not going anywhere. An app that transcribes with no connection cannot be sending the audio to a speech service, which makes offline the simplest test of a privacy claim.

It also matters on networks that block unknown services, on client sites with strict guest Wi-Fi, and with long recordings that would take a while to upload. Local-first meeting notes goes into why an app that works without a network is a different kind of tool.

Before you go offline

Three things need a connection once. Do them while you have one.

1. Install the app. For Notey, download Notey and open it. It needs a Mac with Apple silicon and macOS 26 or later.
2. Grant the permissions. A meeting recorder needs microphone access, and to record the other side it needs permission to capture the audio your Mac plays. Notey asks for Microphone and Audio capture; it never asks for Screen Recording.
3. Record a short test in your meeting's language. macOS downloads the speech model for each language from Apple the first time an app needs it, then keeps it. A one-minute test while online makes sure the model is there when you are not.

If your meetings are in English and you use Notey, there is a fourth: its after-meeting recognisers are about 1.2 GB in total and are fetched once, in the background. See why Notey re-transcribes a meeting after it ends.

Record and transcribe with no network

With Wi-Fi off, an online call is not going to happen, so offline transcription is usually one of these:

• An in-person meeting with the Mac on the table.
• A recording of a call played back on the Mac, such as one you exported from a call app.
• A call on another device, such as a phone on speaker next to the Mac, where the Mac's microphone hears both sides.

In Notey:

1. Press Start.
2. Talk. Words appear in the transcript as they are spoken; a phrase still being revised is shown lighter until it settles.
3. Press Stop when you finish.
4. Open the meeting from Meetings. The transcript, the recording and the timestamps are all there.
5. Press ⌘K to search every meeting by what was said or by time.

Everything in these steps happens on the Mac. For an in-person meeting, where every voice reaches the Mac through its microphone, getting better meeting transcripts covers placement and habits.

What works and what doesn't

The line in that table is deliberate. The parts that run on the Mac need nothing from the network. The AI notes are written by a language model on a server, from the transcript text; the audio is never sent. Nothing is sent from a Mac with no account at all.

If you want notes from an offline meeting, you can ask for them later, when you are back online. The transcript waits on the disk.

Other ways to transcribe offline on a Mac

Notey is not the only route.

• macOS dictation. Dictation types what you say into any text field. It is built for one person speaking into their own Mac, not for recording a meeting, and it stops when you stop dictating. Apple's Mac User Guide says you can check in System Settings > Keyboard whether your dictation is processed on your device and not sent to Siri servers, and that not every language is available.
• Apps built on Apple's speech APIs. Several Mac apps transcribe audio files using the same on-device recogniser. Check which API they use: Apple's SpeechAnalyzer explains the difference between the newer and older recognisers.
• Apps with their own model. Some apps ship an open-source speech model and run it on the Mac. These often cover more languages; they also use more disk and more processor time, and you should check the model is not downloaded from, or sending anything to, a server during use.

Whatever you use, the language list is the first limit to check. Which languages a Mac can transcribe on the device lists what Apple's on-device transcriber covers.

How to check nothing is uploaded

Do not rely on a product page. Test it:

1. Turn Wi-Fi off and unplug any network cable.
2. Record a minute of speech in the language you use.
3. Check the transcript appears as you speak, or shortly after you stop.
4. Read the privacy policy for the word "audio". It should say whether audio is ever uploaded, and why. Notey's privacy policy says audio is not uploaded to be transcribed and that no fallback, debug mode or crash report sends it.

If a transcript appears with the network off, the recognition happened on the Mac. For the wider picture of what "on-device" means, and what it does not protect, read on-device transcription explained.

Frequently asked questions

Can a Mac transcribe speech without the internet?

Yes, once the speech model for the language is on the Mac. macOS 26 includes an on-device transcriber that apps can use; the model is downloaded from Apple once per language, and after that transcription needs no connection.

What doesn't work offline in Notey?

AI notes and Ask Notey, because they send transcript text to Notey's service to be written. Recording, transcription, search and reading meetings back all work offline, with or without an account.

Can I transcribe an online meeting with no internet?

No, because the call itself needs a connection. What you can do is make sure the transcription does not depend on one, so nothing about the audio has to leave your Mac. With no connection at all, you can transcribe an in-person conversation.

How do I prove a transcription app works offline?

Turn Wi-Fi off, unplug any cable, record a minute of speech and see whether the transcript appears. If it does not, the app needs a server to transcribe.