How to Save Google Meet Captions and Get a Free Transcript

What Google Meet keeps on its own (and what it doesn't)

Short answer to “can Google Meet transcribe a call?”: yes, but only in some plans, and it isn't the same thing as captions.

• Captions: click “Turn on captions” at the bottom of the call (or press c). Captions turn on only for you. You can scroll back through them, but only for the time you were in the meeting with captions on. Once you leave, they're gone. Source: Google's captions help page.
• Transcripts: Meet's own transcript is listed for Business Standard and Plus, Enterprise Starter, Standard and Plus, Teaching and Learning Upgrade, Education Plus and Workspace Individual. It starts from Meeting tools > Transcribe > Start transcription, on a computer or Android, and the file is saved in the organizer's Google Drive. Source: Google's transcript help page.

So with a free personal Google account, or as a guest in someone else's meeting, there is usually no file waiting for you afterwards. You need to capture the text yourself during the call.

How to save Google Meet captions with Clozo, step by step

Clozo is a Chrome extension that reads Meet's captions in your browser and translates them. Along the way it builds a live transcript. It works in your own meetings and as a guest in other people's, with a free Google account. No bot joins the call, and nobody else sees anything.

1. Add Clozo to Chrome. Install it from the Chrome Web Store. You need Chrome 116 or newer on a computer.
2. Join the call on meet.google.com. Clozo turns on Meet's captions by itself (the setting “Turn on captions automatically” is on by default).
3. Agree once. The first time, Clozo asks before anything is sent. Click “Agree and translate”. Without agreement it shows captions but translates nothing.
4. Check the caption language. In Meet, open More options > Settings > Captions > “Language of the meeting” and pick the language people are actually speaking. Clozo detects the spoken language from the caption text; you only choose the language to translate into (by default, your browser's language).
5. Open the transcript. Click the yellow pill in the call and choose “Open live transcript”. It opens in Chrome's side panel.
6. Keep it. Use “Search” to find a word, and “Copy” to paste the text into a document. With Pro you can export TXT or PDF.

Every transcript entry shows the speaker, the time, the original and the translation. That makes it handy if you want to translate Google Meet calls into your own language and keep both versions of what was said. If you want a deeper look at how it works, see how Clozo works.

Google Meet transcript free: alternatives without Clozo

Clozo isn't the only way. Which option fits depends on your plan and on who runs the meeting.

If you or the organizer have one of the plans that include transcripts, Meet's own function is the cleanest option: it saves a file in Drive without extra tools.

Chrome also has Live Caption (Windows and Mac): Chrome settings > Accessibility > Live Caption creates captions for audio in Chrome, including video calls, processed on the device. Its Live Translate option translates these captions. Google's page describes it as captions, though, and doesn't mention saving them as a file, so don't count on it for a transcript. Source: Chrome Help.

Google also offers its own translated captions in some Workspace plans, which is a different feature from saving a transcript. If your goal is Google Meet live translation without those plans, Clozo's translation is what feeds the transcript described here.

What you can do with the transcript, and what it costs

The live transcript is part of the free plan, along with 15 minutes of translation every day in all languages. Only minutes in which something is translated count; silence uses none. The free minutes renew every day at midnight UTC.

• Search: find a name, number or term while the call is still going.
• Copy: paste the whole text into your notes, a doc or an email.
• Export as TXT or PDF: part of Pro, at €6.99 a month or €59 a year (prices include VAT). Pro also gives you 50 hours of translation a month on up to 3 devices. Details on the pricing section.

A habit that saves you trouble: copy the text before you close the tab or the browser. The transcript is only held in the browser's memory. It's gone when Chrome closes. The transcript of your last call stays available until the next call starts or until Chrome closes, whichever comes first.

Common problems when you save Meet captions, and fixes

The captions and translation make no sense

Meet captions one spoken language at a time, the one set in its caption settings. If people speak Spanish but Meet is set to English, the captions are nonsense and so is the translation. Fix it in More options > Settings > Captions > “Language of the meeting”. Clozo's pill menu also explains this under “Captions in the wrong language?”. If the meeting switches languages, change Meet's caption language each time.

Nothing gets translated

You probably haven't agreed yet. Clozo asks the first time (“Agree and translate”). If you clicked “Not now”, you get captions but no translation. You can withdraw or give agreement again in the settings.

Translation stopped in the middle of the call

On the free plan, translation stops after 15 minutes a day. Clozo warns you when 2 minutes are left. When they're used up, Meet's captions stay visible in the original language and a card offers Pro. Copy what you need before then, or plan longer calls around the daily limit.

The transcript is empty or gone

If you closed Chrome, it's gone. If you started a new call, the previous transcript was replaced. Keep the habit of copying before you leave.

Clozo shows a notice that it can't read the captions

This happens if Meet changes its page. Clozo can receive updated page selectors as data, without an extension update, so a fix may arrive without you doing anything.

Wrong names or odd words

Clozo can only translate what Meet captions. Accents, crosstalk, background noise, names and jargon all affect caption quality, and machine translation can add its own mistakes. Check important details before you quote anyone.

Honest limits to know before you rely on it

• It's text, not a recording. Clozo doesn't record audio or video, doesn't make AI summaries or meeting notes, and doesn't translate Meet's chat.
• Google Meet in Chrome on a computer only. No Zoom, Microsoft Teams or Webex, no Meet mobile apps, no Firefox or Safari.
• The translation appears about a second after a sentence ends, not word by word.
• Nothing is stored on a server. Clozo keeps no captions, translations or meeting data. Only the caption text, with the previous sentence or two as context, is sent for translation, and only after you agree. More in privacy in short.
• Tell the others. Clozo asks you to let the other participants know that their captions are being translated, and not to use it in confidential meetings. The same courtesy applies to any transcript you keep.

If you want to try it in your next call, add Clozo from the Chrome Web Store.

Questions and answers