# Record your first meeting

> The end-to-end happy path: record a conversation, wait for the transcript and summary, then ask the AI chat questions about what was said.

Updated: 2026-08-16 · Canonical: https://usecanto.com/help/getting-started/record-your-first-meeting/

To record your first meeting, tap the microphone button on the home screen, let the conversation run, and stop when it ends. Canto uploads the audio, transcribes it with speakers separated, and writes structured notes — usually within a few minutes of stopping.

## Step 1: Start recording

1. Open Canto and tap the large microphone button. On iOS and Android it sits at the bottom of the home screen; on the web it's the **Record** button.
2. Grant microphone access if this is your first recording.
3. Place the phone or laptop on the table, close to the people speaking. Placement matters more than anything else — see [How do I get the best audio quality?](https://usecanto.com/help/recording/microphone-tips/)

While recording you can type a title and notes, and drop bookmarks at moments you want to find later — see [Add bookmarks and notes while recording](https://usecanto.com/help/recording/bookmarks-and-notes/). There is no live transcript during the recording; transcription starts after you stop.

## Step 2: Stop when the meeting ends

Tap **End** on iOS or **Stop** on Android and the web. The recording appears at the top of your library and moves through **Uploading**, **Processing**, and **Transcribing** before it shows **Ready**. A typical hour-long meeting is ready in a few minutes; you can close the mobile app while it works, but a web recording needs its tab open until the upload finishes.

If you started recording by mistake, choose **Discard** instead — the audio is deleted and nothing is transcribed.

## Step 3: Read the transcript and notes

Open the recording once it's **Ready**:

- The **Summary** view has an overview, key points, and decisions; **Action items** lists every commitment with owner and deadline. See [What's in a Canto summary?](https://usecanto.com/help/ai/summaries/)
- The **Transcript** tab shows who said what, split by speaker. Tap any line to play the audio from that moment. Speakers get generic labels at first — see [Rename speakers in a transcript](https://usecanto.com/help/transcription/rename-speakers/)
- Canto also names the recording automatically if you didn't type a title.

Transcription detects the spoken language on its own — you don't set one, and mixed-language meetings work.

## Step 4: Ask questions

Use the **Chat** tab to ask about the recording — "what did we decide about pricing?", "draft a follow-up to the client". Answers are grounded in this transcript, so the AI cites what was actually said rather than inventing detail. Once you have a few recordings, you can also ask questions across all of them from the home screen — see [Ask questions across all recordings](https://usecanto.com/help/ai/ask-across-recordings/)

## What counts against my free minutes?

Every transcribed minute of audio. The free plan includes 100 min / mo per month; recording itself has no such cap. See [How long can a recording be?](https://usecanto.com/help/recording/recording-limits/)

Related articles:

- [How does Canto process recordings?](https://usecanto.com/help/getting-started/how-canto-works/)
- [Start, pause, and resume a recording](https://usecanto.com/help/recording/start-pause-stop/)
- [Chat with a recording](https://usecanto.com/help/ai/chat-with-a-recording/)
- [How does transcription work in Canto?](https://usecanto.com/help/transcription/how-transcription-works/)