How to turn a WhatsApp .opus file into text

An .opus file is a WhatsApp voice message, saved as audio. You don't need to convert it to get the words out. For a single message that is still on your phone, WhatsApp's built-in transcripts are quickest. For a folder full of .opus files, transcribe the whole chat export at once, so each voice note becomes text under the date and time it was sent.

What an .opus file is

Opus is an audio format built for speech and music sent over the internet. It is open and royalty-free, and the IETF standardized it as RFC 6716. It handles speech well at low bitrates, so voice notes stay small.

A WhatsApp voice note is Opus audio inside an Ogg file. The standard for that pairing, RFC 7845, recommends the .opus extension. An .ogg file is also an Ogg file. The .opus name tells you the audio inside is Opus.

You get these files in a chat export made with media. On iPhone, the .zip holds _chat.txt and voice notes named like 00000012-AUDIO-2025-03-03-11-20-15.opus. On Android, the chat file is called WhatsApp Chat with Sam.txt, and voice notes look like PTT-20250303-WA0007.opus.

The chat file points to each voice note by its file name. On iPhone the line looks like this:

[03.03.25, 11:20:15] Sam: <attached: 00000012-AUDIO-2025-03-03-11-20-15.opus>

On Android, like this:

3/3/25, 11:20 AM - Sam: PTT-20250303-WA0007.opus (file attached)

The file name carries a date, but not who sent the voice note. That comes from the chat file. Keep the two together.

Match a file to its message

Say you have one voice note on your laptop and want to know who sent it, and what they were answering.

1. Look at the date in the file name. On iPhone it includes the time too, like 2025-03-03-11-20-15. On Android it is the date only, like 20250303.
2. Open the chat file in any text editor. See how to open the chat .txt file if your computer won't.
3. Search the chat file for the voice note's full file name. The line it finds shows the sender, and the lines above it show what came before.

Why your computer won't play it

On your phone, WhatsApp plays its own voice notes. On a computer, double-clicking an .opus file may show an error or do nothing. If that happens, the default player most likely doesn't support Opus. The file itself is fine.

The fix is a player that does support it. VLC, the free player from VideoLAN, has played Opus since version 2.0.4 and runs on Windows, Mac and Linux. Install it, then open the .opus file with VLC.

You can skip these:

• Renaming the file to .mp3. The name changes, not the audio inside. A player that can't read Opus still can't.
• Converting just to transcribe. Turning one compressed format into another can lose a little quality and never adds any. It also takes time, and the converted copies no longer match the file names in the chat file.

Get the .opus files out of WhatsApp

The files come from WhatsApp's Export chat on your phone. WhatsApp Web can export a chat too, but without media, so its exports have no voice notes.

• iPhone: open the chat, tap the contact or group name, tap Export chat and choose With all media (older versions say Attach Media). Then tap Save to Files and pick a folder.
• Android: open the chat, tap the three dots, then More > Export chat > Include media. Pick Drive, Files or another app. The file only exists where you send it.

If you choose Without Media, there are no .opus files. Voice notes appear only as "audio omitted" on iPhone or <Media omitted> on Android.

Not every voice note makes it into an export. On Android, WhatsApp's help page says only “the most recent media” is attached, so the oldest voice notes of a long chat may not come along. And in a chat with disappearing messages, voice notes that already disappeared are not in any export. The export guide covers the rest, and what's inside an export goes through every file.

Turn many .opus files into text, in chat order

By hand, you would open the chat file, find each voice note line, play the matching file, and type what you hear under it. That's fine for five. A chat with 150 voice notes of about a minute each is two and a half hours of listening before you type a word.

LogMyChat does it from the whole export:

1. Upload the .zip as it is. Open the upload page and choose the export. Don't unzip it or pick out the .opus files. The chat file is what puts each voice note in order, with its sender, date and time.
2. Check the free overview. It counts the voice messages and their minutes, transcribes one of them free, and shows the exact price. A chat with 6,000 messages and 130 minutes of voice is a Medium chat: $12, paid once.
3. Unlock and read. Every .opus file is transcribed in the language spoken and placed under the date and time it was sent, with a message number like M000412. Download the result as PDF, TXT, CSV or HTML with the transcripts in it.

Other audio files people send in a chat are transcribed too: .ogg, .m4a, .mp3, .aac and .wav. Photos, videos and documents never leave your device. The audio is sent over HTTPS and deleted after transcription, so keep your export if you want to listen again.

Transcripts are usually very good, but background noise, accents and people talking over each other cause mistakes. Check any transcript that matters against the recording, especially names, amounts and dates.

Here is a made-up example. Tomás has 212 voice notes from his grandfather, recorded over four years. Played one by one on a laptop, they are just a list of file names with numbers in them. As one record, they read like a diary: each voice note sits between the texts around it, with the date it was sent and his grandfather's words underneath, ready to print. Voice messages to text shows what that record looks like.

Common questions

Can I upload a single .opus file?

No. LogMyChat reads WhatsApp's chat export, the .zip you get from Export chat, not loose audio files. For one message that is still on your phone, WhatsApp's own transcripts are quicker: here is how to turn them on.

Is an .opus file the same as an .ogg file?

Both are Ogg files. The .opus name is the one the standard recommends when the audio inside is Opus. VLC opens both.

Why are some voice notes missing from my export?

The chat may have been exported without media. In a long chat, WhatsApp may attach only the most recent media. Or the messages disappeared before you exported.

Can I search the transcripts afterward?

Yes. One search covers typed messages and transcripts together, with filters by person, message type and month. Searching voice messages has tips that work well on spoken words.