When a recording gets stuck on “uploading,” it can feel like a bug—but it's usually the result of something that can be avoided with one small habit.
In this guide, we’ll explain why this happens, how to avoid it, and what to do if you're unsure whether your recording uploaded properly.
Why recordings get stuck in uploading
When you stop a recording, Voicenotes needs a moment to upload the file to the cloud. This usually takes under a minute—even for longer recordings.
If the app is closed too quickly or backgrounded by the device before the upload finishes, the process gets interrupted and the file can be lost.
This typically happens in one of two ways:
You manually close the app or switch away right after stopping the recording.
Your device puts the app to sleep or into background mode too soon, pausing the upload mid-way.
Once the upload is interrupted, the file can get corrupted—and unfortunately, not even we can recover it.
Why this doesn’t mean the app is broken
We totally get why it feels like a bug. You record something, hit stop, and then it’s just... gone. But what actually happened is, the file never finished uploading.
We’ve now added this to the Tips section inside the app so more people know how to avoid it.
What you should do after every recording
To make sure your audio is uploaded safely:
Stay on the app for about 30–60 seconds after recording ends till the file completes 'Uploading' and starts 'Processing'.
Don’t force close or swipe away the app right after recording.
Keep the screen on for a few moments if you’re on mobile or watch.
For longer recordings, give it a little extra time.
You don’t need to wait for transcription—just the upload.
If you do this, the risk of losing a note drops to almost zero.
What to do if you need more reliability
If you're recording something critical or quickly and want a little backup protection, try using the WhatsApp integration. It stores a copy of the note on WhatsApp itself, so it’s much less likely to get lost—even if your app is backgrounded.
What to do if your recording is stuck
If your recording still shows as "uploading" after an extended period, it's likely that the file never finished uploading and is lost. See if you can play the audio file. If yes, the file is not corrupted and you can download it to your device safely or Retry uploading.
However, if you think it may have uploaded but not transcribed fully, you can:
Go to the app
Retry transcription or regenerate the note title manually
Can the audio be recovered if it didn't upload fully to the app?
The background tasks of devices are inconsistent, so we can only confirm the status by what you see when you reopen the app.
If the upload was interrupted before finishing, sadly, the answer is no. We don’t store partial or unsynced audio. However, if the file uploaded but failed to transcribe, you can Retry.
We’re improving this
We’re actively working on improving the app experience. We also added a new Tips section in the latest UI update so more users can know and benefit from this best practice.
Audio loss is super rare from our end (1 in 1000) but we admit it sucks if it happens and we are continuously bringing down such occurrences.
Summary
You can avoid this entirely by staying on the app briefly after each recording. We know it feels like a small thing—but it makes a huge difference.
If you’ve already lost a note this way, we’re really sorry. We're learning from that too, and building in better guardrails moving forward.
And if you ever need help checking the status of a note, just reach out at [email protected]. We're here.