To manually transcribe audio, you will need to listen to the audio file and type out what you hear as you hear it. This can be a time-consuming and tedious process, but it is one way to turn an audio or video file into text. There are also transcription software programs available that can help you with the process. These programs can make it easier to pause and rewind the audio, and some even have features that can automatically transcribe the audio for you. To use these programs, you will typically need to upload the audio file to the software, and then the program will convert the speech content of the audio file into written text. The transcribed text can then be saved as a Word document or inserted into other documents as needed.
Also worth reading: Can Offline Embedded Voice AI Tools Really Transcribe Audio Without the Cloud? · How do Gemini 3.5, MAI-Transcribe, and Qwen-Audio stack up in AI transcription accuracy benchmarks for 2026? · What makes on-device speech to text the most private way to transcribe audio in 2025?