How to Transcribe Video in Descript

Updated on:

May 12, 2026

By:

Use this interactive demo to learn how to automatically transcribe and edit video using Descript.

Quick summary

Descript lets you transcribe video automatically as soon as you import a file into your project. Once the transcription is complete, you can review, edit, and export the transcript directly from the Descript editor.

Steps

Import the video into your Descript project.
Wait for the importing process to complete — this may take a few minutes depending on video length.
After import, Descript automatically prompts you to transcribe the video.
Once transcription is complete, review and edit the transcript text directly within Descript.
After making edits, click "Publish" to export the transcript.

📌 Why this matters

Descript's automatic video transcription eliminates the need for third-party transcription tools by converting spoken audio to editable text the moment a video is imported. This makes it significantly faster for content creators, podcasters, and video editors to caption, repurpose, or subtitle their videos without leaving their editing workflow. The ability to edit transcript text directly — and publish or export with a single click — reduces post-production time and lowers the barrier to creating accessible, searchable video content. For teams producing video at scale, Descript's built-in transcription is a core time-saving feature that integrates editing and captioning into one unified platform.

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