Mostly, you can't save live captions themselves. You save a transcript instead. Microsoft Teams says plainly that it "doesn't save captions", Google Meet's captions help describes no save or download option, and Zoom stopped letting anyone save or download closed captions in May 2026. What each platform does offer is a separate transcript feature that someone turns on during the meeting and that produces a file afterwards: a .docx or .vtt in Teams, a transcript in the organiser's Google Drive in Meet, and a .TXT file on your computer in Zoom.
Who can switch the transcript on, who can download it, and which plan you need all differ, and that is usually why "save captions" fails for an attendee. Below is the answer for each platform, taken from Microsoft Support, Google Meet Help and Zoom Support as read on 4 November 2026.
The answer by platform
| Platform | Can you save live captions? | What you get instead | Who can save it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Teams | No: "Teams doesn't save captions" | Transcript, downloaded as .docx or .vtt after the meeting | Organisers and co-organisers by default; others only if the organiser or IT allows it |
| Google Meet | No save option in the captions help | Transcript in the organiser's Google Drive, plus "Record captions" on a recording | The host, co-hosts and whoever started it get the email link; needs an eligible Workspace edition |
| Zoom | No, not since May 2026 | Meeting transcript, saved as a .TXT file to Documents/Zoom | Whoever the host or admin allows: host only up to all participants; Pro, Business or Enterprise account |
| Windows, iPhone, Android, Chrome | Device captions run on your own screen | See [live captions on Windows, iPhone, Android and Chrome](/blogs/live-captions-windows-iphone-android-chrome) | You |
The pattern is the same everywhere. Live captions are for following the conversation as it happens. The transcript is the record. If you need the text after the call, turn transcription on before people start talking, because none of these platforms rebuilds the earlier part of the meeting from captions you watched.
How to save live captions in Microsoft Teams
Microsoft's live captions help page is direct: "Teams doesn't save captions," and "Caption data is permanently deleted after the meeting is over." The same page gives the alternative: "If you'd like a transcript of the meeting, turn on transcription," and "You'll be able to download the transcript after the meeting."
To turn on live captions for yourself, select More actions in the meeting controls, then Captions (on mobile: More options, then Turn on live captions). To keep a record, start transcription instead.
Start a transcript in Teams
- In the meeting controls on Teams for desktop, select More actions, then Transcribe.
- Confirm the spoken language and select Confirm.
- If you start a recording, Microsoft says "transcription starts automatically", so a recorded meeting gets a transcript too.
Microsoft's transcription help page says organisers and people from the same organisation can start and stop transcription. People from another tenant and anonymous participants cannot. It also notes that "Live transcription is only available on Teams for desktop"; mobile users can view the transcript after the meeting ends.
Download the transcript after the meeting
- Open Chat and select the chat for the past meeting.
- Select Recap, then Transcript.
- Use the drop-down next to Download to choose .docx or .vtt.
The transcript is stored in the organiser's OneDrive for Business. "By default, meeting organizers and co-organizers can download it as a .docx or .vtt file." People in the same organisation can't download it unless the organiser changes that in Stream or an IT policy allows it, and external or anonymous attendees can't. So if you were an attendee and want the text from a Teams meeting, ask the organiser to download and share it, or to give you download permission.
Teams live captions vs transcript
| Live captions | Transcript | |
|---|---|---|
| Who sees them | Each person who turns them on, in their own view | Everyone in the meeting while it runs, then the Recap tab |
| Saved after the meeting | No, deleted when the meeting ends | Yes, in the organiser's OneDrive |
| File | None | .docx or .vtt |
| Who starts it | Any attendee, for themselves | Organisers and people from the same organisation |
| Device | Desktop and mobile | Live transcription on desktop only |
Translated captions and translated transcription are part of Teams Premium and Microsoft Copilot, per Microsoft. If the organiser has the licence, all participants can use them.
Can you copy and paste or record Teams live captions?
Microsoft's caption help does not describe copying text out of the captions pane, and the captions are deleted at the end of the meeting, so copy and paste is not a dependable way to keep them. The downloaded .docx is the version you can copy from. As for recording: starting a recording starts the transcript, and the recording itself is saved to OneDrive or SharePoint. Microsoft's recording help lists the licences the person recording needs ("Office 365 Enterprise E1, E3, E5, F3, A1, A3, A5, M365 Business, Business Premium, or Business Essentials") and says guests can't record. That page does not say the recording carries captions in the picture.
How to save live captions in Google Meet
Google's live captions help says "All users can use captions" and that you can "scroll up or down to review the captions" during the call, but it describes no way to save or download them. Captions also "only display for the parts of the conversation where you're in the meeting and have captions turned on". To turn them on, hover over Captions and translation at the bottom of the window, or press c.
Use Transcripts to keep the text
- Join or start the meeting on a computer.
- Click Meeting tools, then Transcribe, then Start transcription.
- In the pop-up, click Start.
According to Google's Transcripts help, "Meeting transcripts are saved in the meeting organizer's Google Drive in the "Google Meet" folder." The transcript is attached to the Calendar event, and after the meeting an email with a link goes to the host, any co-hosts and the person who turned Transcripts on. If host management is on, only the host and co-hosts can start it.
The catch is the plan. Transcripts are listed for Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Starter, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Teaching and Learning Upgrade, Education Plus and Workspace Individual, in English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese and Spanish. Google says you can use Transcripts only "on a computer, laptop, or Android device". If you are on a free personal account or another edition, the Transcribe option may not appear.
Record captions into a Meet recording
Meet has one option the other two lack. Google's recording help says that when you start a recording you can pick a language and select Record captions to embed captions in the recording. In Google Drive you show them with the Closed Caption button, and if you download the file, subtitles can be switched on in players such as VLC or QuickTime Player. Google notes the captions may take a few hours after the recording is ready. Recording itself needs an eligible plan and the host's permission.
How to save live captions in Zoom
Older guides tell you to click Save captions under the caption panel. That no longer works. Zoom's saving closed captions page says: "Starting May 18, 2026, users can no longer save or download closed captions." Zoom's FAQ on the change gives the rollout as "between May 24, 2026, and May 26, 2026". Captions stay available live with up to three minutes of scroll-back, and during recording playback in Zoom.
Save a Zoom meeting transcript
- The host starts it from the toolbar: More, then Transcript. A participant can choose More, Transcript, Request transcription, and the host decides.
- In the Transcript panel, click Save transcript.
- The file is saved as a .TXT in a Zoom folder in Documents (for example C:\Users\[Username]\Documents\Zoom on Windows, /Users/[Username]/Documents/Zoom on a Mac).
Zoom's meeting transcripts settings page says you need a "Pro, Business, or Enterprise account", and "Transcripts are not enabled by default", so a host or admin must turn them on. The setting Allow saving of transcripts to computer by controls who can save: host only, host and co-hosts, all non-guest participants, participants from specified IP ranges, or all meeting participants. If you are an attendee and the save button is missing, that setting is the reason.
For cloud recording transcripts, webinars and captioning the recorded MP4, see captions for Zoom recordings and webinars. For turning a recorded call into text, how to transcribe Zoom recordings and extracting action items from a recorded meeting go further.
Live captions on your own device
Windows, iPhone, Android and Chrome can caption any audio on your screen, including a call in any of the three platforms above. Those captions belong to your device, not the meeting, and are covered step by step in live captions on Windows, iPhone, Android and Chrome.
A saved transcript is not captions in a video
A .docx, .TXT or Drive transcript is text. It is good for minutes, search and quotes, but it does not put captions into a video you post. If you want to share a meeting moment on LinkedIn, in a course or on a team page with captions everyone sees, the captions need to be part of the picture.
The route is short:
- Download the meeting recording from Teams, Meet or Zoom.
- Trim the part you want to 10 minutes or less as an MP4 or MOV.
- Upload it to CapsAI's video to captions tool, read and fix the words in the browser, pick a style, and export one MP4 with the captions burned in. Burn subtitles to video explains what "burned in" means.
CapsAI does not do live captions; it works on recorded files only, in 11 spoken languages, and the captions come out in the language spoken. A new account has 3 free minutes. Packs are paid once with no subscription: $4, $9 or $19 (€4, €9, €19 in the euro area; ₹49, ₹99, ₹299 in India). The web editor exports an MP4 only, not a transcript file.