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Record a coaching session in Chrome and send the client a transcript

Record a coaching session in Chrome, mark the moments that matter, and send your client a transcript, with what stays on your computer said plainly.

By Cheap Recorder · 24 October 2026 · 8 min read

You can record a coaching session in Chrome and keep it on your own computer: your voice, your client's voice and a transcript, from one Start recording press. This post covers asking first, the setup, how to mark the moments worth sending back, and what leaves your computer while you do it.

Why record a coaching session

A good session is full of small things that vanish by the next morning: the goal your client finally put into words, the promise they made, the exercise you set. Notes taken mid-conversation pull your eyes off the person in front of you.

• You can listen instead of writing. The recording holds the details, so your attention stays on the client.
• The client gets their own words back. A line they said in minute 27 is more convincing than your summary of it.
• You can hear your own coaching. Listening back shows where you talked too long or jumped in too early.

A call like this is close to the one in the client check-in call post. A coaching session differs in that the client is sharing something personal, so asking and privacy come first.

Ask your client before you press record

Ask before the session, in the booking message or at the start of the call, not after. The law on recording calls differs from place to place, and some places need everyone to agree. Tell your client what you will record, why, who will see it and what will happen to the files.

If they say no, or hesitate, respect it. You can still use the recorder alone after the session to record your own spoken notes, and the same transcript steps work on your voice.

What stays on your computer and what does not

Say this to your client in plain words, because they will ask.

• The recording stays on your disk. It is written to the folder you pick. It is not uploaded, except when you use Convert or Download MP3, which send the file to the Cheap Recorder server to be converted and delete it there when done.
• The transcript goes through Google. While Live transcript is on, Chrome sends your microphone audio to Google to turn it into text. If a session must not go through Google in any form, untick Live transcript before you start. A transcript cannot be added to a recording afterwards.
• The AI button sends the transcript to Anthropic. The privacy page says the transcript, with the speaker names, is sent only when you press an AI button. If you do not press it, nothing is sent.
• The activity log holds names you chose. The folder and file names and your microphones' names are in it. Do not put your client's full name in the recording's name if you would rather it stayed out.

Cheap Recorder does not make a session confidential in any legal sense. That depends on your contract with the client and the rules where you both live.

Set up the recorder before the client joins

You need Google Chrome on macOS, Windows or Linux, with the session open in a Chrome tab. The Free plan has recording, live transcript and captions, and 12 hours of recording a month on one device. No card is needed.

1. Choose a folder. Under Where to save, press Choose folder... and pick one. You choose it again on every visit. If Start recording is greyed out, the words beside it say why.
2. Name the recording. Use something like Coaching - Sam 04. The name is used for the file and its folder, and the numbers keep sessions in order.
3. Add the client's sound. In the Call audio tile press Pick the call tab..., choose the session's tab, tick Share tab audio (some versions say Also share tab audio) and press Share. It keeps only that tab's sound and mixes it with your microphone.
4. Check Options. Live transcript is ticked by default and has 25 languages. The menu goes back to its default every time the page opens, so check it. Leave Record the microphone untouched unticked for calls.
5. Pick audio or video. For sound only, switch Record my webcam off and pick no screen. You get an M4A file, which is often enough for coaching.
6. Run a 30-second test. Start, say a sentence, ask the client to say one, press Stop and finish and play it back. This catches a wrong microphone or a muted tab.

Wear headphones, so the client's voice does not come out of your speakers and back into your microphone. On a Mac, do not use a Bluetooth headset as the microphone, since it drops to a low-quality mode and your voice sounds thin. The Google Meet recording guide has the call steps, and the Teams guide covers Teams.

Two things go wrong on calls. If the tab share ends, you see Meeting audio sharing stopped. and the other side is silent from then on, and picking the tab again does not add it to a recording already running. And if you also film the tab through A browser tab with its tab audio ticked, the client's voice goes in twice, so tick tab audio in one place only.

Mark the moments while you record

Press M or Add marker when the client names a goal, makes a promise or gets set an exercise. A short note confirms the time. Markers are not added while you are typing in a text box.

Markers are saved to files only when Also save every source separately is ticked under Options before you start. With the default single MP4 the notes show while you record but are not saved, so jot the times on paper. The separate option also gives each voice its own file, with your client's side as audio_meeting_far_end.webm in a Separate sources folder, which means more recordings of your client's voice on your disk. Tick it only if you need it.

Use Stop and finish at the end, not Chrome's Stop sharing bar, which finishes the recording.

Worked example: a 50-minute session, three marks, one note

Say Dana coaches Sam, and the session is Coaching - Sam 04. Dana presses M three times. The times here are made up.

• 12:40: Sam says the goal in one sentence.
• 27:15: Sam promises to ask for feedback from one colleague.
• 41:05: Dana sets a ten-minute exercise.

After Stop and finish, Dana opens the recording's folder. Beside the MP4 is Coaching - Sam 04 - transcript.txt, plain text with a time on each line. Above the transcript the recorder shows one Speaker box for each sound source: Dana's microphone, and Meeting for the call. Dana types Dana and Sam into those boxes and presses Save captions, so each line starts with a name.

Then Dana reads the lines around each mark and writes the note below. It takes about fifteen minutes.

Send the client a transcript

The transcript file opens in any text editor and is easy to paste into an email. Before you send it, read it. Chrome's speech recognition gets words wrong, and it makes the transcript from what Chrome hears on your microphone, so your own speech is the part to trust. Your 30-second test shows how much of your client's side it catches.

Three choices:

• Send the whole file when your client wants everything and you have read it.
• Send a short note with the marked lines quoted when the session ran long. Copy the lines from the transcript text and keep their times.
• Send the .srt or the audio only if your client asks. Captions .srt is made in the page, not saved in the folder, so download it from the recording card while the recorder page is open.

Send files the way you already send private things to this client. The transcript is just text, but it holds what they told you. The live transcript guide and the where recordings are saved guide list what each file is. For a research-style call where you want to quote the other person, the user research interview post uses the same transcript steps.

Frequently asked questions

Can I record a coaching session in Chrome for free?

Yes. The Free plan includes recording, live transcript and captions, and 12 hours of recording a month on one device. No card is needed.

Do I have to tell my client I am recording?

Yes. Some places need everyone to agree to a recording, so ask before the session and say what happens to the files.

Is the recording uploaded anywhere?

No. It is saved to the folder you pick. Convert and Download MP3 send the file to the server to be converted, and the live transcript sends your microphone audio to Google through Chrome.

Why is my client's side missing from the recording?

The call's tab was not picked or its sound was not ticked. Press Pick the call tab..., choose the session's tab and tick Share tab audio, then run a 30-second test.

Can I add a transcript after the session?

No. The transcript is made live, so tick Live transcript before you press Start recording.

Get started

Pick the folder, add the call tab, run a 30-second test, and your next session is ready to record. Start on the free plan. It needs no card, and your recordings stay on your own disk.