Free MP4 to text converter
An MP4 is a video file, but the part you usually need is the talking. Hilite reads the audio track out of the file and transcribes it, so a recorded call, a lecture capture, or a webinar becomes text you can search, quote, and caption.
Upload a file and download the transcript.
How to convert an MP4 to text
- 1
Upload the MP4
Drop the video file in. Hilite takes the audio track from it, so you do not need to extract the audio yourself.
- 2
Pick the language
Choose the spoken language, or let Hilite detect it.
- 3
Read and correct
Click any line to hear it. Recorded calls tend to have crosstalk and uneven levels, so this is where overlapping speakers and names get tidied up.
- 4
Export text or subtitles
Download as text or Word, or export SRT and drop the captions straight onto the video.
Keep working inside the Hilite editor
Your uploaded files open directly in a focused editor view. Arrange your clips, preview the timeline, adjust transitions, and export when the track sounds perfectly right.
- Review the transcript in context
- Keep timestamps with the words
- Copy, export, or keep editing
Input formats
Output formats
Built for every kind of audio
Whatever you are making, this tool helps you get to a cleaner, more useful result, then hand off to Hilite to enhance and polish.
- No extraction stepYou do not need ffmpeg or a separate converter to pull the audio out first. Upload the MP4 as it is.
- Built for recorded calls and lecturesZoom, Teams, and Meet all export MP4, and so do most lecture capture systems and screen recorders.
- Captions come out of the same passThe transcript exports as a timed SRT file, which is what platforms want for subtitles and what silent autoplay needs.
Made for podcasters and their teams
Trim the dead air off the top and tail, and every recording is ready to edit, enhance, and publish.
FAQ
Common questions
If you do not see your question here, the support team replies within one business day.
- Yes, it is free to start. Longer files, saved projects, and some export formats may need a free Hilite account.
- No. Upload the MP4 and Hilite reads the audio track out of it.
- Yes. Those export MP4 by default, and recorded calls are one of the most common things people transcribe this way.
- Yes. Export SRT and you get timed caption lines you can load into a player or a video editor.
- Hilite works with audio. For an MP4 it transcribes the audio track and gives you the text and subtitle files back; editing the picture is not part of it.
Turn a video file into text
Upload the MP4, read the transcript, and export the captions or carry on in Hilite with the audio.