# How to record and transcribe a meeting on Mac without a meeting bot

A practical workflow for recording both sides of a Mac meeting, transcribing it locally and reviewing the transcript against the audio.

## What “without a meeting bot” means

A meeting bot joins Zoom, Teams or another call as an additional participant. A native Mac recorder takes a different path. It captures your microphone and the meeting audio already playing through your Mac, so no extra participant needs to enter the call.

That changes the mechanics, but not your responsibilities. Make sure recording is appropriate for the conversation, obtain any recording consent you need and follow the rules or policies that apply to your work.

## 1. Prepare the Mac before the meeting

Follow the [installation and setup guide](/docs/getting-started/) before an important call rather than discovering a missing permission after the conversation has started.

- Use an Apple Silicon Mac running the supported macOS version.
- Complete the one-time speech-model download.
- Allow microphone access for your side of the conversation.
- Allow Screen & System Audio Recording access for the audio playing through your Mac. TapScribe does not record the picture on your screen.
- [Check your recording folder and sync settings](/docs/storage-and-privacy/#check-the-default-folders). New installations use `~/Documents/TapScribe`, which can already sync through iCloud Desktop & Documents.

First-run setup includes an Audio Check. Once setup is complete, use a short test recording and playback to check your audio before an important call.

## 2. Check both Me and Them

TapScribe keeps the two audio sources distinct:

- **Me** is the microphone selected by macOS.
- **Them** is the digital audio playing through your Mac.

Follow [Permissions and audio](/docs/permissions-and-audio/) if either source is missing. During first-run Audio Check, speak and confirm that the Me meter responds. Then play the supplied test sound and confirm that Them responds. If you change microphones or connect headphones later, check the selected input again before recording.

Headphones are useful when possible. With loud room speakers, the microphone can hear the other participants as well as your voice, which may create duplicated remote speech on the Me track.

First-run Audio Check with separate Me and Them meters before either source has responded

## 3. Start the recording

Open the Library and choose **Record meeting**, or use the TapScribe waveform in the menu bar. The recording panel shows elapsed time and separate Me and Them activity so you can confirm that both sources are still present.

TapScribe records the audio from your Mac. It does not depend on a Zoom, Teams or Google Meet bot, so the same capture approach can work across meeting apps that play their audio through the Mac.

## 4. Stop and let the Mac transcribe

When the meeting ends, stop the recording. TapScribe processes the captured speech with the downloaded model on your Mac. The completed meeting then appears in the Library with its recording and transcript together.

Local transcription describes where speech-to-text processing happens. Model downloads, licence checks, software updates and any folders you choose to sync have separate data boundaries. The [privacy page](/privacy/) explains those distinctions.

## 5. Review the transcript against the recording

Transcription is a useful working record, not a guarantee that every word or speaker label is correct. Names, specialist terms, poor microphones, overlapping speech and room noise can all affect the result.

Use the recording beside the transcript when exact wording matters. Click a transcript timestamp to jump to that point and start playback. TapScribe lets you [review the combined conversation or focus on Me or Them](/docs/review-transcripts/). That makes it easier to check a questionable passage against what was actually captured.

## 6. Keep or export the result deliberately

The recording and transcript live in your TapScribe recording folder. From the Library, use **Reveal in Finder** when you need to inspect the underlying meeting folder. You can also copy the transcript or use a configured Markdown workflow to place an independent copy in your notes system.

**Copy Me** and **Copy Them** copy the selected audio source's text. Manual and automatic Markdown exports contain the full transcript, regardless of the viewing filter. The [export guide](/docs/exporting-transcripts/) explains both routes.

Remember that an exported, pasted or synced copy follows the rules of its destination. Deleting the original recording does not remove copies already placed elsewhere.

## A short pre-meeting checklist

1. Confirm that recording is permitted and expected.
2. After setup, make a short test recording.
3. Speak and check Me.
4. Play Mac audio and check Them, then stop and check playback.
5. Prefer headphones for a remote call.
6. Start recording and watch both meters briefly.
7. After the meeting, review important wording against the audio.

[Try the interactive demo](https://tapscribe.app/#how-it-works) to see the recording-to-Library flow without requesting microphone permission or capturing audio.

Source: https://tapscribe.app/guides/record-and-transcribe-a-meeting-on-mac-without-a-bot/

Download and requirements: https://tapscribe.app/download/