How to Translate a Voice Message on WhatsApp (2026)

WhatsApp does not translate a voice message into another language. On some phones it can show a transcript: the words in a language WhatsApp supports for transcripts. That text is not a translation. To translate a voice message, forward it to Shmooz and name the language. Shmooz is a separate AI assistant you chat with on WhatsApp. It is not WhatsApp, and it is not a WhatsApp feature.

How to turn on a voice message transcript

WhatsApp Help calls these voice message transcripts. They are off until you turn them on. They are generated on your phone. The sender cannot see the transcript. Help says they can be inaccurate, and that transcripts are only on certain devices and may not be available yet.

Android

1. Open WhatsApp Settings.
2. Tap Chats.
3. Turn Voice Message Transcripts on.
4. Tap Choose language, then select the language most of the voice messages you receive are in. Help lists only English, Portuguese, Spanish, and Russian on Android.
5. Tap Set up now or Wait for Wi-Fi.

To read one note: turn transcripts on, tap and hold the voice message, then tap the three-dot menu and Transcribe. Open the control on the voice message to show more of the text. It can take a moment. You can change the language later under Settings, Chats, Transcript language. Turning transcripts off resets that language.

iPhone

1. Tap WhatsApp Settings, or your profile picture.
2. Tap Chats.
3. Turn Voice Message Transcripts on.
4. Tap Choose language, then select the language most of the voice messages you receive are in.
5. Tap Change to that language.

Help says the iPhone needs iOS 16 or newer, and Siri has to be on. If Siri was off, you download the language when you turn transcripts on. Languages depend on the iOS version. On iOS 16 and newer, Help lists English, Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Turkish. On iOS 17 and newer, Help also lists Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Hebrew, Malay, Norwegian, Swedish, and Thai. To read one note, tap and hold it, tap Transcribe, then expand the text.

Not available yet

If Chats has no Voice Message Transcripts row, the feature is not on this phone yet. Update WhatsApp from the Play Store or the App Store. An update does not guarantee the row, and there is no download that adds it. A transcript is still not a translation. Choosing English transcribes English speech. It does not turn a voice message in another language into English.

How to translate the voice message

There is no WhatsApp voice message translator to install. Forward the note and ask for the translation in a separate chat.

1. Open Shmooz on WhatsApp and save that chat.
2. In the chat that has the voice message, tap and hold it, tap Forward, choose the Shmooz chat, and send. WhatsApp Help uses that forward path on Android and on iPhone.
3. Ask in the Shmooz chat, for example: “Translate this voice message to English.”
4. Copy the translation yourself. Shmooz does not send it into the original chat, and it does not change WhatsApp’s Transcribe button.

A typed message is a different job. The steps for text are how to translate language in WhatsApp.