Share tab audio: What to do in Chrome and Edge

Author: Mert S. Kaplan · Last updated: November 4, 2026

To share tab audio with LiveType is to let its page use the sound of a browser tab: This is how it transcribes YouTube and similar platforms, downloading nothing and writing down the audio while it plays. For sound to arrive, you only have to pick the right tab in the sharing window and keep Also share tab audio turned on.

What tab audio is

Chromium browsers on a computer can hand over a tab’s sound during screen sharing. If you have shared a screen with sound in a meeting app, it is the same mechanism. You give permission each time, and LiveType neither hears nor sees any other tab. You can stop sharing whenever you like from the bar under the address bar.

Try it on your own recording

No card needed. 30 minutes of transcription on the free plan.

Try transcribing a tabGo to the app

Step by step in Chrome and Edge

Under New transcript, paste the link and press Continue.
On the transcript page, press Start transcription.
The browser’s sharing window opens. Choose the Chrome tab or Tab section at the top. Window and Entire screen are not meant for this.
Choose the tab the sound comes from. If the video plays on the transcript page, that is this tab.
Check that Also share tab audio is on.
Press Share. Text starts to flow as the video plays.

Opera, Brave and other Chromium-based browsers work much the same, though menu names can differ.

If the option is missing

What you see	Why	What to do
A message that the shared tab has no audio	The audio switch was off	Press Start transcription again and turn it on
No tab section	The browser has no such feature (Firefox, Safari)	Use a Chromium-based browser on a computer
No sharing option at all	A phone or tablet	This source needs a computer; microphone and files work on a phone
No permission prompt, a secure connection warning	The page was not opened over https	Open the address with https
The video plays but no text comes	It is silent, paused or has no speech yet	Check the sound has started and the tab is not muted

Streaming platforms are not available in Firefox and Safari. There, stream links (if the stream allows it), the microphone and audio files all work. The full table is in browsers and devices.

If the video cannot be embedded

Some video owners do not allow playback on other sites, and X live broadcasts do not play on other pages. The video then does not show on the transcript page, and a link appears in its place:

Open the video in its own tab with Open on YouTube or a similar link, and play it.
Go back to the LiveType tab and press Start transcription.
In the sharing window, choose the video’s tab and turn on Also share tab audio.

Both tabs have to stay open. Clicking a paragraph’s time will not move the video, since it plays in another tab.

While it runs

If you close the shared tab or stop sharing, the sound stops. The text so far stays saved.
Everything from that tab is processed, so an ad or a notification sound can end up in the text.
The shared tab can sit in the background while you work. To edit while it transcribes, just switch to the LiveType tab.

Live stream transcription covers what you can transcribe this way, and your first transcript the whole flow. If you are still stuck, write to us from the contact page: your browser’s name and what the Status page in the top menu shows will speed things up. Plans and minutes are on the pricing page.

The same method works for meetings held in a browser: Meeting transcription with no bot.

Mert S. Kaplan

Works in news, software and design; founder of LiveType. Worked as a reporter for many years. Has done SEO consulting, content editing and reporting for several online news sites, and has developed many pieces of software. Currently works in the press office of the Turkish Medical Association and provides SEO support to Elips Haber.