Download the original audio

You can download the audio behind any recording as a standard file. This is the recording as it was uploaded to your library — the same audio the transcript was made from — so nothing is lost by keeping your notes in Canto.

On iOS

1. Open the recording and tap the ⋯ menu.
2. Choose Export…, then Audio file.
3. The share sheet opens with an .m4a file named after the recording — save it to Files, AirDrop it, or send it to another app.

On Android

1. Open the recording and tap the menu.
2. Choose Export…, then Audio file.
3. Share or save the file through the Android share sheet.

On the web

1. Open the recording and click the ⋯ menu.
2. Choose Download audio.

The file downloads named after the recording, with the extension matching its format (typically .m4a).

What format is the audio in?

Recordings made with Canto are stored as AAC audio in an .m4a container — mono, tuned for speech, at roughly 14 MB per hour. That's the file you get: it plays in every mainstream player and imports into editing tools. Audio you imported into Canto is kept in its uploaded form, so what you download matches what you put in — see Import audio files.

Canto does not convert between formats on export; if you need WAV or MP3, run the downloaded file through a converter.

Can I download audio the transcript couldn't be made from?

Yes. The audio download doesn't depend on transcription:

• A recording whose transcription Failed still plays and downloads normally — useful if you want the audio somewhere else while you retry the transcription.
• A Locked or Not transcribed recording on the free plan keeps its audio available too; it's the transcript that's gated, not the audio. See Why is my recording locked or not transcribed?

The one thing you can't download is audio that never finished uploading — until a recording leaves the Uploading state, the file only exists on the device that recorded it.

Who can download the audio?

Anyone who can play the recording: you, and members of a Space it's shared in. Viewers of a public share link can listen to the audio in the browser as part of the shared page — see Share a recording with a link. If you'd rather not share the raw audio at all, export the transcript instead — see Export a recording as PDF or Markdown.