Local transcription
Transcribe recordings on your own computer with the Noteo desktop app. Your audio never leaves your device.
Overview
In local mode, the Noteo desktop app runs the Whisper speech recognition model on your computer instead of sending audio to our servers.
- Private by design: recordings and transcripts stay on your disk.
- Works offline once the speech model has been downloaded.
- Any format: MP3, M4A, MP4, MKV, MOV, WEBM, OGG, FLAC and more are converted on the fly with ffmpeg.
Requirements
Check these before your first local transcription. The app also checks for ffmpeg and shows a banner if it is missing.
| Requirement | Details |
|---|---|
| Operating system | Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit), macOS or Linux (64-bit). |
| Noteo desktop app | Switch to local mode in the app to transcribe on your device. |
| ffmpegRequired | Reads your audio and video files. On Windows the app can install it for you; see Install ffmpeg. |
| Speech model | Downloaded from the app the first time you transcribe (a few hundred MB to about 1.5 GB depending on the model). |
| Hardware | 8 GB of RAM and 2 GB of free disk space recommended. An NVIDIA GPU speeds things up but is not required. |
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Install ffmpeg
ffmpeg is a free, open-source tool. Pick your operating system below; we preselect the one you are using. Install with a single command, or download it from the website.
Fastest: install it from the app
In the desktop app, click Download & install ffmpeg in the yellow banner. Noteo downloads a ready-to-use build (about 40 MB) and sets it up. No admin rights or PATH changes needed.
Install from the command line
Open PowerShell or Windows Terminal and run one of these commands:
winget install --id Gyan.FFmpeg -ewinget is built into Windows 10 and 11. This installs the gyan.dev build of ffmpeg.
choco install ffmpeg -yRequires Chocolatey. Run PowerShell as administrator.
scoop install ffmpegRequires Scoop. No admin rights needed.
Or download it from the website
Download the build
Get
ffmpeg-release-essentials.zipfrom gyan.dev. The BtbN builds on GitHub also work.Extract it to C:\ffmpeg
Right-click the zip, choose Extract All, then rename the extracted folder so that
C:\ffmpeg\bin\ffmpeg.exeexists.Add it to your PATH
Run this in PowerShell to add
C:\ffmpeg\binto your user PATH, then restart Noteo:PowerShell[Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable('Path', [Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable('Path', 'User') + ';C:\ffmpeg\bin', 'User')Prefer not to touch the PATH? Skip this step and use Locate ffmpeg… in the app instead. See Use a specific ffmpeg.
Install from the command line
brew install ffmpegDon’t have Homebrew yet? Install it first:
/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"sudo port install ffmpegRequires MacPorts.
Or download it from the website
Download a static build
On the ffmpeg.org download page, pick a macOS static build (for example from evermeet.cx) and download
ffmpeg. Use an Apple silicon (arm64) build on M-series Macs if one is offered.Move it to /usr/local/bin and allow it to run
Unzip the download, then run:
Terminalsudo mkdir -p /usr/local/binsudo mv ~/Downloads/ffmpeg /usr/local/bin/sudo xattr -d com.apple.quarantine /usr/local/bin/ffmpeg
Apps opened from the Dock don’t see your shell PATH. Noteo also looks in /opt/homebrew/bin, /usr/local/bin and /opt/local/bin, so Homebrew, MacPorts and manual installs are found automatically.
Install from the command line
sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y ffmpegsudo dnf install -y ffmpeg-freeffmpeg-free covers the common audio formats. For every codec (for example AAC in some MP4 files), enable RPM Fusion and swap in the full package:
sudo dnf install -y https://mirrors.rpmfusion.org/free/fedora/rpmfusion-free-release-$(rpm -E %fedora).noarch.rpmsudo dnf swap -y ffmpeg-free ffmpeg --allowerasingsudo pacman -S --needed ffmpegOr download it from the website
No package manager, or need a newer version? Download a static build from johnvansickle.com:
curl -LO https://johnvansickle.com/ffmpeg/releases/ffmpeg-release-amd64-static.tar.xztar -xf ffmpeg-release-amd64-static.tar.xzsudo mv ffmpeg-*-amd64-static/ffmpeg /usr/local/bin/Verify the installation
Open a new terminal window and run:
ffmpeg -versionYou should see the version on the first line, for example:
ffmpeg version 9.0.2-essentials_build-www.gyan.dev Copyright (c) 2000-2026 the FFmpeg developersThen, in Noteo, click Check again in the banner. When ffmpeg is found, the banner disappears and you can transcribe.
Use a specific ffmpeg
If ffmpeg is installed somewhere Noteo does not look, point the app to it directly:
In the yellow banner, click Locate ffmpeg…
Select the ffmpeg executable
For example
C:\ffmpeg\bin\ffmpeg.exeon Windows or/usr/local/bin/ffmpegon macOS and Linux.Noteo remembers this choice for future transcriptions
Troubleshooting
“ffmpeg not found” after installing it
Programs keep the PATH they started with, so an app that was open during the install does not see ffmpeg yet. Restart Noteo first. If it is still not found, check where ffmpeg was installed:
where.exe ffmpegwhich ffmpegIf the command prints a path, use Locate ffmpeg… in the app and select that file. If it prints nothing, ffmpeg is not installed, or not on your PATH: repeat the installation.
macOS: “ffmpeg can’t be opened because Apple cannot check it”
macOS blocks downloaded binaries that are not notarized. Remove the quarantine flag (or open System Settings › Privacy & Security and click Open Anyway):
sudo xattr -d com.apple.quarantine /usr/local/bin/ffmpegWindows: “winget is not recognized”
winget comes with the App Installer package. Update it from the Microsoft Store, or use the one-click install in the app, Scoop, or the manual download instead.
No admin rights on a work computer
Use the one-click install in the app on Windows, or Scoop, which installs into your user folder. You can also extract the zip anywhere you can write to and use Locate ffmpeg….
About ffmpeg
ffmpeg is free software maintained by the FFmpeg project and distributed under the GPL/LGPL. The build installed by the Noteo app on Windows is the unmodified gyan.dev essentials build, shipped with its license.
Still stuck? Contact [email protected]
