How do I find the part of a recording where something was said?

You need a transcript with timestamps. Trawl transcribes your recordings, voice memos and videos on your Mac and lets you search what was said by meaning. The result opens a player that starts at that exact moment.

The built-in way (free)

1. Recent versions of Voice Memos can show a transcript for a recording.
2. Scrub through the recording and listen.

With Trawl

1. Describe what was said: "the meeting where I said AI will take over".
2. Press Tab: the player starts at the right second.

Questions

How long can recordings be?

Trawl transcribes recordings up to two hours.

Related

• How do I find photos on my Mac by what's in them?
• How do I search for text inside screenshots on a Mac?
• How do I find a song on my computer by its lyrics?
• Can I search all my Voice Memos by what I said?
• How do I find a video on my Mac by what's on screen or what's said in it?

Updated 2026-10-11.