Troubleshooting your transcription

Something didn't go to plan with your transcript? Here's what to do for the most common issues. Most problems can be fixed in a couple of steps — and if not, we're always here to help.

My transcript is incomplete or cuts off early

If your transcript ends before the recording does, this is usually caused by one of the following: a very long file, long stretches of silence, a heavily compressed file format, or the upload being interrupted before it finished.

What to try

1. For recordings longer than 60 minutes, split the file into chunks of 45–60 minutes before uploading and transcribe each part separately.
2. Trim any long silences at the start or end of the recording before uploading — these can sometimes confuse the transcription process.
3. Check your internet connection was stable during the upload. If it dropped, re-upload the file.

My transcript page is blank

A blank transcript page usually means the upload didn't complete successfully — the file may not have fully transferred before processing began.

What to try

1. Refresh the page and wait a minute. Sometimes the transcript is still processing.
2. If the page is still blank after a few minutes, the upload likely failed. Failed uploads are automatically deleted within a week and no transcription time is deducted.
3. Re-upload the file. Make sure your connection is stable and the file is under 2GB.

My transcript is stuck / jammed

Occasionally a transcript can get stuck in a processing state and not complete. This can happen with certain file types or under heavy server load.

What to try

1. Clear your cookies using this link: goodtape.io/auth/hoover-cookies — then re-upload your recording.
2. Try a different browser or open Good Tape in a private/incognito window.
3. If the transcript has been stuck for more than 30 minutes, it's safe to assume it won't complete. Contact us with the transcript link and we'll take a look — jammed transcripts don't use up your transcription time.

My transcript contains random or repeated words

You may occasionally notice words, phrases, or even short sentences in your transcript that don't match what was said — or that appear multiple times in a row. This is an AI behaviour sometimes called hallucination.

It most often happens with: long silences, background noise, low-quality audio, or heavily compressed files. Our AI can misinterpret these sections and fill them with plausible-sounding but incorrect text.

What to try

1. Always listen back to sections that look unusual. The synced audio player makes it easy to jump to any part of the recording.
2. For future recordings, try to minimise background noise and avoid very compressed formats like low-bitrate MP3s where possible.

My audio isn't playing in the transcript

The synced audio player only works if you enabled "Keep audio available for playback" when you uploaded the file. This setting is not on by default.

Unfortunately, if this wasn't toggled on at upload time, the audio can't be added retroactively — you would need to re-upload the file with the toggle enabled.

For future uploads

1. When uploading a file, look for the Keep audio available for playback toggle before hitting Transcribe.
2. Enable it if you want to be able to listen back to the recording alongside your transcript.