Make a recording in Voice Memos on iPad
You can use iPad as a portable recording device to record personal notes, classroom lectures, musical ideas, and more. You can fine-tune your recordings with editing tools like trim, replace, and resume.
Record voice memos using the built-in microphone, a supported headset, or an external microphone.
When Voice Memos is turned on in iCloud settings or iCloud preferences, your recordings appear and update automatically on your iPhone, iPad, and Mac where you’re signed in to the same Apple Account.
![A Voice Memo recording, showing a waveform of the recording that’s in progress, along with a time indicator, a button to pause the recording, and a button to view the transcription.](https://help.apple.com/assets/6758C0F05C38883A170CE6F4/6758C0F55C38883A170CE700/en_US/99e34353f33c222aaeb5dc9d79f7fb55.png)
Make a basic recording
Go to the Voice Memos app
on your iPad.
Tap
to begin recording.
To adjust the recording level, move the microphone closer to or farther from what you’re recording.
Tap Done to finish recording.
Your recording is saved with the name New Recording or the name of your location, if Location Services is turned on in Settings > Privacy & Security. To change the name, tap the recording, then tap the name and type a new one.
To fine-tune your recording, see Edit a recording.
Note: For your privacy, when you use Voice Memos to make recordings, an orange dot appears at the top of your screen to indicate your microphone is in use.
Record in stereo
You can record in stereo in Voice Memos.
Go to Settings
> Apps > Voice Memos.
Turn on Stereo Recording.
When Stereo Recording is on, Voice Memos records using multiple microphones on your iPad and with right and left audio channels. If you listen to the recording through headphones, you hear different sounds from different microphones; however, the waveform display still looks the same.
Note: Stereo recording isn’t available on all devices.
Use the advanced recording features
You can make a recording in parts, pausing and resuming as you record.
Go to the Voice Memos app
on your iPad.
Tap
to begin a recording.
To adjust the recording level, move the microphone closer to or farther away from what you’re recording.
To see more details while you’re recording, swipe up from the top of the waveform.
Tap
to stop recording; tap Resume to continue.
To review your recording, tap
.
To change where playback begins, drag the playhead right or left across the small waveform at the bottom of the screen before you tap
.
To save the recording, tap Done.
Your recording is saved with the name New Recording or the name of your location, if Location Services is turned on in Settings > Privacy & Security. To change the name, tap the recording, then tap the name and type a new one.
To fine-tune your recording, see Edit or delete a recording.
Mute the start and stop tones
While recording, use the iPad volume down button to turn the volume all the way down.
Use another app while recording
While you’re recording, you can use another app, as long as it doesn’t play audio on your iPad.
Go to the Voice Memos app
on your iPad.
Tap
to begin recording.
While recording, you can go to the Home Screen and open another app.
If the other app starts playing audio, Voice Memos stops recording.
To return to Voice Memos, tap the orange icon at the top of the screen.
If Voice Memos is turned on in iCloud settings or preferences, your recording is saved in iCloud and appears automatically on your iPhone, iPad, and Mac where you’re signed in to the same Apple Account.
Recordings using the built-in microphone are mono, but you can record stereo using an external stereo microphone that works with iPad. Look for accessories marked with the Apple “Made for iPad” or “Works with iPad” logo.