Learn about meeting transcription processing in Fireflies

Last updated: June 2, 2025

Once your meeting ends, Fireflies kicks off the transcription process automatically. This guide walks you through what happens behind the scenes, what to expect, and where to monitor progress—so you're never left wondering.

⏳ 1. How Long Does Transcription Take?

Transcriptions typically complete within 5 to 10 minutes after your meeting ends.

  • Shorter meetings = faster processing

  • Longer meetings = may take a bit more time

  • You can continue working in the app while it processes in the background

💡 Tip: Fireflies won’t save or transcribe meetings shorter than 3 minutes. This is by design to skip false starts and quick check-ins.

📊 2. Check the Transcription Status from the Meeting Status Page

You can monitor all your meetings—live and completed—via the Meeting Status page on your Fireflies dashboard.

Here’s what the different statuses mean:

StatusWhat It Means

Active

Fireflies is currently in the meeting and capturing audio

Processing

Meeting ended, and Fireflies is generating the transcript

Completed

The meeting transcript + recap is ready

No Audio

The Audio was under 3 minutes

📬 3. When Will I Get the Recap Email?

Once transcription is complete, a recap email is sent based on your configured Recap Email Settings. This may include the summary, action items, based on your settings, and a link to the full Fireflies Notepad

📎 Related: Control Who Receives Recap Emails

🛠 Troubleshooting Tips if Transcription Seems Stuck

  • Check Meeting Status—is it still Processing or did it fail?

  • Verify that the meeting lasted longer than 3 minutes

  • Make sure Fireflies wasn’t removed or denied entry during the call

  • Confirm you’re the meeting host (or that Fireflies was properly invited)

📎 For deeper issues, head to the Troubleshooting Transcription Guide or Why Fred did not join the meeting: Troubleshooting Guide