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Microsoft Teams Transcription in 2026
Microsoft Teams includes transcription for meetings on supported plans, with live captions and post-meeting transcripts available in most business tiers. Here is how to enable it, what to expect, and what to do when the built-in option is not available.
Enabling Transcription in Teams
Teams transcription is available on Microsoft 365 Business Basic, Business Standard, Business Premium, and Enterprise plans. To start transcription during a meeting, click More actions (the three-dot menu) and select Start transcription. A notification appears for all participants. The transcript appears in a side panel in real-time. After the meeting, the transcript is saved automatically and accessible via the meeting chat or the Recordings and Transcripts section in Teams. Admin policies control whether transcription is available to users, so if the option is missing, contact your IT administrator.
Live Captions vs Full Transcription
Teams supports both live captions (real-time text that does not save) and full transcription (a saved record with speaker names). Live captions help participants follow along without saving any data. Full transcription creates a permanent document stored in OneDrive. For meeting records, use full transcription rather than relying on live captions, which disappear when the meeting ends. Both features can be active at the same time if needed for accessibility alongside a permanent record.
Speaker Labels and Accuracy
Teams transcription attributes spoken segments to specific participants using their meeting identity. This generally produces accurate speaker labels when all participants join with named Microsoft accounts. Guest attendees may appear with generic labels. Accuracy is best for North American and British English. Teams supports transcription in multiple languages, but the language must be set correctly before the meeting starts. Changing the language mid-meeting can cause the transcript to switch inconsistently, so confirm the setting in meeting options beforehand.
Alternatives for Plans Without Transcription
If your Teams plan does not include transcription, or your admin has disabled it, a browser extension captures the meeting and produces a transcript independently. RecordMeeting works when Teams is accessed through the web browser, recording the session at the browser tab level. The resulting transcript includes speaker labels and is stored in a dedicated workspace outside of Microsoft's ecosystem. This is particularly useful for users on Microsoft 365 Basic plans or for external participants who cannot trigger Teams transcription.
Related resources
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