How to record Signal calls (Mac, Windows, Linux)

Short answer: Signal's support pages describe no way to record calls; they cover calling, screen sharing and call links, but no recording option. To record a Signal call, take it on Signal Desktop and run a recorder that captures your microphone and system audio, such as Reline (audio and transcript only). Tell everyone first: Signal shows no recording notice.

Not as far as Signal documents it. Signal's help center explains how to start one-to-one and group calls (up to 75 people), how to share your screen from Signal Desktop and how to create call links, and none of those articles describes a record button. Signal's permission notes say the microphone is used so you can be heard on calls and to record voice messages. Calls are end-to-end encrypted, and Signal says it cannot access them. So any recording of a Signal call is made on a participant's own device, outside the app.

Because the recording happens outside Signal, the app has nothing to announce: the people on the call see no recording notice. That makes consent your job, which we cover below.

• Signal Desktop on Windows 10 or 11, macOS 13 or later, or a 64-bit (amd64) Linux distribution, per Signal's install guide.
• Signal on an Android phone or iPhone: Signal Desktop only works once it is linked to your phone.
• A recorder that captures system audio (the other side of the call) as well as your microphone. Reline's desktop app does this on macOS, Windows and Linux (beta).
• Headphones, ideally. With speakers, your microphone also picks up the other side and the recording sounds doubled.

1. Install Signal Desktop from signal.org/download. On Linux, Signal recommends its Debian package for Ubuntu and Debian, and the AppImage for other 64-bit distributions.
2. Open Signal Desktop and link it: on your phone, go to Signal Settings > Linked devices > Link a new device and scan the QR code on your computer.
3. Install the Reline desktop app and sign in (the Free plan works). The first time, grant the microphone and system audio permissions your operating system asks for.
4. Tell the other person, or the group, that you would like to record for notes, and wait for a clear yes.
5. Start or answer the call in Signal Desktop, then press record in Reline. Reline does not join or touch Signal: it records what your computer plays and what your microphone hears, and the live transcript starts as people talk.
6. When the call ends, stop the recording. You get the full transcript, an AI summary and the kept audio, with a play button on every transcript line.

A Signal call on your phone is out of reach: Reline has no mobile app and cannot record audio on a separate handset, so move the call to Signal Desktop. On Linux, the Reline app is labelled Linux (beta) and records your microphone and system audio through PulseAudio or PipeWire. The full Reline app also runs in the browser, but use the desktop app for Signal Desktop calls: it captures system audio directly, while the browser version can only get call audio through the browser's own share picker.

Signal shows no recording notice, so nobody on the call learns that you are recording unless you say so. The law still applies. In the US, several states require every party to agree to a recording. In the EU, recording identifiable people also brings data protection rules into play, and in Germany secretly recording a private conversation can be a criminal offence (§ 201 StGB). Rules differ by country and state, so check the rules where everyone on the call is. Ask at the start, keep the yes in the transcript, and stop if anyone objects. People pick Signal because they care about privacy, so recording them without asking breaks their trust as well as the law.

• Fits: one-to-one and group Signal calls you take on Signal Desktop, when everyone agrees and you want a searchable transcript in 60+ languages plus a summary.
• Audio and transcript only: Reline does not record the video or a shared screen.
• Speaker labels are Me vs Other (your microphone vs the call audio). In a group call everyone else is "Other"; Reline cannot name Signal participants.
• Not for calls on your phone: there is no Reline mobile app.
• Not local-only: audio goes to a cloud transcription provider, audio and notes are stored in cloud storage (Cloudflare R2), and summaries and chat use cloud AI models. Notes are private by default.
• If everything must stay on your machine, an offline recorder with a local transcription model is the better match.