Live Captions and Translation for Zoom Calls in Your Browser

Zoom does have a built-in live transcription feature, but it comes with a catch: the meeting host has to enable it. In practice, that means captions are off by default in most meetings, and asking the host to turn them on mid-call is awkward — especially in large webinars or client calls where you don't control the agenda.

Even when Zoom's captions are available, they are English-only. If you're a non-native English speaker following a fast-paced meeting, or if participants are speaking in mixed languages, Zoom gives you nothing. There's no translation built in.

Overline works at the browser level, completely independently of Zoom's internal features. When you join a Zoom meeting in your browser, Overline captures the tab's audio output — the same audio your speakers play — and converts it to live captions.

• No host action required — Overline doesn't interact with Zoom's servers or API. It simply reads the audio your browser is already playing.
• No IT setup — No admin permissions, no Zoom account settings to change, no plugins to install server-side.
• Invisible to others — Your captions appear only on your screen. Other participants see nothing different.
• Translation included — Switch to any of the 10 supported languages instantly. Follow an English meeting in Persian, or a Spanish call in German.

Overline on Zoom is particularly valuable for:

• Multilingual teams where not everyone is fluent in the meeting language. Follow along in your native language without disrupting the flow.
• International client calls where you need to catch every word without asking the speaker to slow down or repeat themselves.
• Accessibility — Hard-of-hearing participants get reliable captions without depending on the host to enable them.
• Webinar attendees who can't caption themselves in large public events where host features are disabled.
• Recorded meeting review — Play back a Zoom recording and run Overline to generate a full transcript with export to TXT or SRT.

• 1. Install Overline from the Chrome Web Store and sign in with your Google account.
• 2. Join your Zoom meeting in the browser (zoom.us/j/…). Overline works in the browser-based Zoom client.
• 3. Click the Overline icon in the Chrome toolbar.
• 4. Select your language and click Start Captions.
• 5. Follow the meeting with live captions appearing as an overlay. When the call ends, your transcript is saved automatically.

Overline captures only the audio output of your browser tab — what you hear through your speakers or headphones. It does not capture your microphone. The audio is streamed to Deepgram for real-time transcription and is not stored as raw audio on any server. Only the resulting text (your transcript) is saved to your account, and only if you choose to keep it. See the Privacy Policy for full details.