How to convert or turn speech to text on my computer?

Whisper is an open-source tool that you can use to convert speech to text, but it does require some initial setup and downloading of model files.

It allows you to transcribe audio files offline with high accuracy, but using larger models will consume more resources and take longer to process.

First, download the software from the official website, locate the file, extract the ZIP archive to a folder on your computer, and then run the software.

Select your audio file in the program, then choose a model size. As a general rule, smaller models process faster, while larger models are more accurate. For English, selecting Basic or Small is sufficient. Then click Transcribe.

Depending on the length of the audio, you'll need to wait approximately 1 to 5 minutes per hour of recording. Once complete, you can save the transcribed text in TXT, SRT, or VTT format.

Once the transcription is complete, you can open and edit the text file in any text editor.

After completing the initial setup, it can convert speech to text without an internet connection, so it’s only suitable for users who are willing to download the software once and can wait for the processing to finish.

If you don’t want to use an online service, you can try this method. It’s a reliable offline solution, so you should allow plenty of time for processing, especially for longer recordings.

ps

• You only need to connect to the internet once to download the program and model files; after that, the software can run offline.
• If you don’t have an NVIDIA graphics card, the transcription feature can run on the CPU, but it will take significantly longer.
• Save the transcribed text in TXT format for editing, or save it in SRT/VTT format if you want to add subtitles to a video.