Record audio on your Pixel phone

You can record and save audio, turn your speech into searchable words on your screen, and search through recorded audio files. The Recorder app works on Pixel 3 and later Pixel phones.

Important:

• Pixel 3 to Pixel 5a: US English, British English, Singaporean English, Irish English, Australian English, Japanese, German, French
• Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro: US English, British English, Singaporean English, Irish English, Australian English, Japanese, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Latin American Spanish, Canadian French, Indian English

Record audio | Pixel

Create or delete a recording

1. On your phone, open the Recorder app .
2. Tap Record .
   • Your phone will record, even if the screen goes to sleep.
   • While recording, you'll see a "Currently recording" message in your notifications.
   • You can record up to 18 hours on a single recording.
3. When you're done, tap Pause .
4. Tap Save or Delete.
5. To name a recording, tap on the recording Menu Rename.

Edit a recording

You can trim your recording through its audio or through the transcript.

Save a section

1. Tap the recording you want to edit Edit .
2. Select the audio or transcript you want to keep.
3. Tap Crop Save copy.
4. Name the file.
5. Tap OK.

Remove a section

1. Tap the recording you want to edit Edit .
2. Select the audio or transcript you want to remove.
3. Tap Remove Save copy.
4. Name the file.
5. Tap OK.

Label when different individuals are speaking in a recording (Pixel 6 & later)

Important: Speaker labels are available only in English.

You can label when different people are speaking in a recording transcript. The Recorder app will auto-detect different speakers and label them as Speaker 1, 2, 3, etc.

Turn speaker labels on and off

1. Sign into your Google Account.
2. On your phone, open the Recorder app .
3. At the top right, tap your account profile photo or initial.
4. Tap Recorder settings Speaker labels.
5. Tap Yes, I’m in when prompted.
6. You can go back and turn off Speaker labels in "Recorder settings."

Update speaker labels

1. From “Transcript view,” select Edit speaker labels .
2. Select the dropdown menu beside the speaker label you want to modify.
3. To apply changes for the current paragraph, tap Rename, Create a new speaker, or other labels.
4. Tap Save to make the change.

Tip: If you modify a speaker label for an individual paragraph in the transcript, the same speaker labels in other paragraphs will not change.

Split a paragraph to update speaker labels

1. For any recording, tap Edit Split from here.
2. You can create 2 sections from a single paragraph, and make further changes to speaker labels.

How Recorder handles your data for speaker labels

If you enable speaker labels, Recorder will analyze your audio recordings to detect and label distinct speakers within your transcripts. To do this, Recorder:

• Computes models of the voices detected in the recording on the device.
• Gives each voice detected a generic text label (such as Speaker 1, Speaker 2).
• Compares the voices throughout the recording so the transcript can reflect what each voice said and when.

The above steps happen on your phone and the generated speaker text labels will then be saved in your transcript. Note, the voice models referenced above may be considered biometric data in some countries or regions.

Voice models retention and deletion policy

The voice models used to generate speaker labels are stored temporarily on-device until speaker labeling of a transcript is completed, and then deleted (usually within a few minutes).

Search within recordings or read transcripts

You can search for words, phrases, or sounds, like music or applause. You can also find the exact time the word was spoken, or sound occurred.

To search within a recording:

• Tap Search .

To read the transcript of a recording, tap the recording. Near the bottom, tap Transcript.

Share & save recordings

Your recordings stay on your Pixel unless you turn on backup, share the files, copy them to another app, or save them elsewhere, like in Google Drive.

Other apps can use your recordings if you turn on permissions. Learn how to control app permissions.

Share or save an audio file with a person or an app

1. On your Pixel, open Recorder .
2. Touch and hold a recording.
3. At the top right, tap Share Audio.
4. Choose who you would like to share the file with, or the app you want to share the file through.

Share an audio file on the internet (Pixel 3 & later)

Important: By default, backed up recordings and their links are private to your Google Account.

To share a recording with a unique link:

1. Sign into your Google account.
2. On your Pixel, open Recorder .
3. Touch and hold a recording.
4. At the top right, tap Share .
5. Choose if you want to share Audio, Transcript, or Video clip.
6. Select how you want to share the file, then follow the on-screen instructions. 

Important: If you choose the "Shared link" setting, anyone with the link can view and play it.

Delete an audio file on the internet (Pixel 3 & later)

Important: Deleted recordings are permanently removed from recorder.google.com and all synced devices.

To delete a recording on the internet:

1. Go to recorder.google.com.
2. Choose the recording you want to delete.
3. At the top right, tap More Delete Delete.

Share or save a transcript to Google Docs or as a text file

1. On your Pixel, open Recorder .
2. Touch and hold a recording.
3. At the top right, tap Share Transcript.
4. At the bottom, select Google Docs or Text file (.txt).

Share or save audio as a video file

From the recording, you can create a video clip up to 60 seconds.

1. On your Pixel, open Recorder .
2. Touch and hold a recording.
3. At the top right, tap Share Video clip.
4. Then, if you want, customize the video's content, layout, and theme.
   • Content: Select Transcript & waveform or Waveform.
   • Layout: Select Square, Portrait, or Landscape.
   • Theme: Select Dark theme or Light theme.
5. At the top right, tap Create.
6. Tap Save to device or Share. If you choose to share the clip, select the app to share to.
   • If you don't want to save or share, at the top right, tap Done.

Back up & view recordings on your Google Account (Pixel 3 & later)

Back up and sync automatically saves your recordings to your Google Account at recorder.google.com. If you log into your account, you can get your recordings from any device. You can choose to back up and sync some recordings and also choose for other recordings to stay private on your Pixel phone. Learn how to use Recorder without an account.

Important: Storage is shared across Photos, Drive, Gmail, and other services. If you use all of your storage, you can’t back up new files. You can get more storage or clean up space with Google One. Learn how to buy more storage.

Turn back up & sync on or off

Important: If you choose to back up and sync, your recordings are backed up outside your Pixel phone. By default, backed up recordings remain private to your Google Account. Learn more about Google Account privacy policies.

1. Sign into your Google account.
2. On your Pixel, open Recorder .
3. At the top right, tap your account profile photo or initial.
   • Set the Google Account to back up recordings with: Tap the drop down arrow and tap to select the account name.
     • Important: When you create a recording, the recording is associated with the chosen Google Account. You cannot change this account later.
4. Tap Recorder settings Back up & sync.
5. Turn Back up & sync on or off.

Change back up settings

1. On your Pixel, open Recorder .
2. At the top right, tap your account profile photo or initial.
3. Tap Recorder settings Back up & sync.
4. Change your back up settings:
   • Back up with mobile data: Under Settings, tap Cell data usage. Turn on Back up recordings over data.
     • Important: If you back up with your mobile network, charges from your service provider may apply.
   • To back up while roaming: Under "Settings," tap Cell data usage. Turn on Back up recordings over data Back up while roaming.
     • Important: If you back up with your mobile network, charges from your service provider may apply.

View & sync backed up recordings

To find all the recordings backed up to your Google Account, visit recorder.google.com.

To sync recordings on your Google Account that aren’t on your Pixel phone:

1. On your Pixel, open Recorder .
2. From anywhere on your screen, drag down to refresh.

If you use Recorder with different Google Accounts, you can switch between accounts to view the recording library saved to each account. You can only view the recording library of one Google Account at a time.

1. On your Pixel, open Recorder .
2. At the top right, tap your account profile photo or initial.
3. Next to your Google Account information, tap Expand more .
4. Tap the Google Account with the recordings you want to view.

Find missing recordings

If a recording wasn't backed up to an account, it might have been created and saved before an account was added. To find a recording that wasn't backed up:

1. On your Pixel, open Recorder .
2. At the top right, tap your account profile photo or initial.
3. Next to your Google Account information, tap Expand more .
4. Tap Use without an account.

Important: You can't migrate recordings to another account.

Correct text in a transcript

You can change or remove one word at a time in a transcript.

1. Touch and hold the word that you want to change.
2. Tap Edit word.
3. Change the word to the one you want to use.
4. Tap Save.

Use Recorder without a Google Account (Pixel 3 & later)

You can use Recorder without a Google Account so that certain recordings stay private on your Pixel phone. If back up and sync is turned on, your phone switches to and uses the Recorder app to store recordings, even if your phone isn't connected to a Google Account.

To use Recorder without an account:

1. On your Pixel, open Recorder .
2. At the top right, tap your account profile photo or initial.
3. Next to your Google Account information, tap Expand more .
4. Tap Use without an account.

Find and manage your recordings on browser

To find and manage your recordings in a web browser, go to recorder.google.com.

From a web browser, you can edit the recording title, play a recording back, and search within a recording.

Learn how Recorder handles your data

Recorder sends audio to an on-device Google service or app to transcribe it. The audio never leaves your phone. After the audio is transcribed, the Google service or app discards it.

Follow local rules when recording

Many places have rules or laws that prohibit or limit the recording of audio. These places could also decide whether you must get consent from others or the property owner before recording. Make sure to follow all applicable rules and laws, and get permission from others before recording them. Do not record copyrighted materials without permission.

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