Convert MP4 to text, free

What an MP4 file actually is

MP4 is a video container, but the part that matters for transcription is the AAC audio track inside it. You upload the video and only the audio is read, so there is no need to extract a separate audio file first.

What it means for your transcript

Most MP4s that reach transcription are screen recordings and meeting exports, where audio was captured from a laptop microphone or a conferencing app. That means compressed, sometimes echoey audio — the video quality tells you nothing about it.

The usual problem with MP4

File size. The video track you do not need is what pushes MP4s over the upload limit, which is why extracting the audio first is often worth the extra step.

Getting better results

• → If the MP4 is too large, export just the audio track — it is usually under a twentieth of the size.
• → Conferencing app exports often have one loud speaker and several quiet ones; the quiet ones are where errors concentrate.