---
title: "Read a live transcript during a call"
description: "Turn on Live Transcript to see what is said, as it is said, in a window that floats over your call."
updated: "2026-10-09"
canonical: https://docs.recordstead.app/recording/live-transcript
---

# Read a live transcript during a call

Live Transcript shows what is said during a recording, a moment after it is
said, in a small window that stays above your call on every desktop. It runs
entirely on your Mac and works with or without a license. To follow a call
without recording it, use [Live Transcript Only](https://docs.recordstead.app/recording/live-transcript-only).

## Turn it on

1. Open Recordstead in the menu bar and turn on **Live Transcript**.
2. The first time, Recordstead asks to download a speech model of about 664 MB.
   Click **Download**. The row shows the progress; the model stays on this Mac.
3. Start a recording as usual, by hand or with Call Detection.

**Your result:** the Live Transcript window opens with each recording. Your
words appear under **Me**, or under **Your name** from People, and everyone
else's under **Others**.

Words appear dimmed first and turn solid a moment later, when the phrase is
final. If you scroll up to reread, the window stops following; click **Jump to
Now** to return to the newest words. You can select and copy text, or use
**Copy All** in the window's ⋯ menu.

Live Transcript also works when processing is set to **Record only**. Turned on
during a call, it starts from that moment; the very first time, after the
download, it starts with the next recording.

## Make it fit your screen

- Drag the window's header to move it, and an edge or corner to resize it. Made
  small enough, it shows only the last two phrases.
- Click the collapse button next to ⋯, or double-click the header, to shrink it
  to a pill with the call's time. Click the pill to bring the window back at
  its size.
- Choose **Bigger Text** or **Smaller Text** in the ⋯ menu.

Recordstead remembers the size, place and text size for the next call.

## Hide it for this call

Click × or choose **Hide Live Transcript**. The transcription keeps running. To
see the window again during the call, click the Live Transcript row in the menu
bar; the next recording opens it by itself.

## Follow it in Recordstead

During the call the meeting is already in **Meetings** as **Recording now**,
and its Transcript tab shows the same text. **Open in Recordstead** in the
window's ⋯ menu takes you there, switching to the meeting's workspace if needed.
After the call, it opens the saved meeting's Transcript tab.

## What is saved

The live text is saved with the meeting, in your encrypted library. Unless
processing is set to **Record only**, the final transcript is made separately
after the call, and the Transcript tab shows the live text until it is ready;
then choose **Live Version** from **Show** above the transcript to read the
live text again. With playable audio, you can jump to a phrase using its timestamp,
including the timestamp action in VoiceOver. It stays in Recordstead: it is not exported or searched, and
connected assistants cannot read it.

If you turn Live Transcript off during a call, the text so far is kept. If
Recordstead closes unexpectedly during a call, saved phrases remain in your
library, while the newest unfinished words may be missing. The recording may
also be incomplete. Quitting normally waits for the recording and live text to
finish saving.

If Recordstead cannot finish saving when you quit, it stays open. You can start
a recording again or try quitting again.