How to transcribe a Skype call recording (2026 guide)

Update, October 28, 2026: Microsoft retired Skype on May 5, 2025 (Microsoft Support). You can't record new Skype calls, but a recording you saved earlier is an ordinary .mp4 file, and you can still turn it into text. That's what this guide covers.

If you saved a Skype call recording before Skype shut down, you can still get a transcript of it. Find the .mp4 on your computer or phone and upload it to an AI transcription tool, which gives you the text in any of 99 languages. Here is how, step by step.

Step 1: Find your saved Skype recording

Skype posted each recording in the chat and kept it online for up to 30 days, so the copies that still exist are the ones people saved to their devices. Look in your Downloads folder first: Skype's Save to Downloads option put the .mp4 there. If it isn't there, search your computer for .mp4 files from the date of the call, or ask the other person on the call whether they saved a copy.

Step 2: Upload the recording to TranscribTxt

TranscribTxt works with any saved Skype recording, in your browser, with nothing to install.

Step by step:

1. Find the .mp4 you saved from Skype.
2. Go to TranscribTxt and upload the file. The language is detected automatically across 99 languages — no need to set it manually.
3. Wait while it processes. In October 2026, half of the uploaded files were transcribed in 14 seconds or less, and a 145-minute recording took 2 minutes 45 seconds. Times don't include uploading, which depends on your connection.
4. Download the transcript as TXT or SRT (JSON on Pro).

Speaker labels (who said what) aren't included: TranscribTxt returns a continuous transcript, so for two-way calls and group conversations you add names during review. Supported inputs include MP4, MOV, WebM, MP3, M4A, and WAV, so audio-only Skype recordings work just as well as video. Your file is deleted after processing, and the transcript isn't stored on our servers.

Plans: Your first file needs no account, and a free account covers 3 files a week, up to 30 minutes each, with no card required. A longer call gets its first 30 minutes free, and the whole file (up to 3 hours) is $2 once. For many files, a one-time $5 Week Pass gives you 7 days of Pro, and Pro is $10/mo or $72/yr.

Step 3: Whisper (local, for sensitive calls)

For confidential Skype calls — legal intake, HR discussions, or NDA-bound client conversations — running Whisper locally keeps the audio on your own machine.

# Install
pip install openai-whisper

# Transcribe the downloaded Skype recording
whisper "skype-call.mp4" --language en --model medium --output_dir ./transcripts

Whisper outputs .txt, .srt, and .vtt files. On an M2 MacBook Pro the medium model handles a one-hour recording in about 6 to 8 minutes. Use large-v3 for non-English or technical audio. For speaker labels, pair Whisper with pyannote-audio — both run locally with nothing leaving the device. See speaker diarization explained for how that attribution works.

Comparing the methods

For most people the workflow is simple: find the saved .mp4 and upload it to TranscribTxt. Reach for Whisper only when the content can't leave your device.

Getting more from your Skype transcript

• Search across calls. Keep transcripts in a shared Notion or Google Drive folder so you can search text instead of replaying recordings.
• Auto-generate notes. Paste the transcript into Claude with: "Summarize this call and list action items with owners."
• Create subtitles. Export as .srt from TranscribTxt and attach captions to the recording before sharing it.
• Multilingual calls. For non-English Skype conversations, TranscribTxt detects the language automatically from the recording, across 99 languages.

A note on consent

Recording and transcribing a call carries legal obligations that vary by location. Some regions require every participant to consent before a call is recorded; others require only one party. Before you transcribe an old call, check that it was recorded with the consent the law required where you and the other people were. This is general information, not legal advice.

Have a saved Skype recording? Upload it now: your first file needs no account, and the first 30 minutes of any file are free.

Moved your calls to another platform? The same approach works for Microsoft Teams meetings, Zoom recordings, and Google Meet recordings. Each has its own upload page too: Teams transcription, Zoom transcription and Google Meet transcription.