Granola Chat: Dictation vs. Transcription
Granola Chat lets you ask questions about your meetings and get instant insights from your notes and transcripts. This article explains one specific part of Granola Chat that can be confusing: the difference between dictation in Granola Chat and transcribing a meeting.
Quick summary
Dictation in Granola Chat
Use this when you want to ask a question about meetings Granola has already captured.
You click the microphone icon on the Granola Chat bar at the bottom of your screen on the desktop app.
You speak your question instead of typing it, then send it to chat.
This does not start a new meeting transcription.
Transcription (new meeting)
Use this when you want Granola to capture and transcribe a brand new meeting or conversation.
For meetings not tied to a calendar event, click “Quick Note” at the top right of the Granola desktop app.
You will see three vertical green dancing bars at the bottom of your screen when transcription is active.
Dictation in Granola Chat (microphone icon)
The microphone icon on the Granola Chat bar at the bottom of the desktop app is for dictation, not transcription.
Use dictation when:
You want to ask Granola Chat a question about your existing meetings.
You prefer to speak to enter your question instead of typing.
What you will see when you start dictation:
After you click the microphone icon, Granola starts listening to your voice input.
Two icons appear:
X icon: cancels the dictation and does not send anything to Granola Chat.
Tick / checkmark icon: ends the dictation and sends your spoken question to Granola Chat, the same way as if you had typed it.
Transcription: starting a new meeting with Quick Note
If you want Granola to transcribe & summarise a new meeting that is not on your calendar, use Quick Note.
To start a new ad‑hoc transcription:
Open the Granola desktop app.
Go to the top right of your screen.
Click “Quick Note”.
After you click Quick Note, look at the bottom of your screen:
You should see three vertical green dancing bars.
These indicate that Granola is actively listening and transcribing.
You can click on the green bars to confirm that transcription has started.
If you do not see the three vertical green dancing bars after pressing Quick Note, Granola has likely not started transcribing yet.