To share a voice recording from Audio Recorder – Voice Recorder, press Share on the take in the Recordings list. Chrome opens your system share sheet where one is available; where it is not, the file is downloaded instead, and you attach it to a message or email yourself.
That second path is more common than people expect, especially on desktop. Both routes end with an ordinary audio file, so the person on the other side does not need the extension to listen.
Record a voice message first
A voice message works best short and clean. Before you press the big round Record button:
- Choose Microphone as the source. Tab audio records the page, not you.
- Leave the 3-second countdown on. It gives you time to take a breath instead of starting mid-click.
- Keep noise suppression and echo cancellation on (they are on by default).
Speak, press Stop, and the take appears at the top of the list. If you said "um, okay" at the start, trim it off before sending. Nobody needs that part. Trimming takes about ten seconds.
Pick a format before you share
The Share and Download buttons both build the file in the format set under Save as:
| Format | When it fits a shared message |
|---|---|
| MP3 | The safest choice when you do not know what the other person uses. |
| WebM (default) | Small files; plays in modern browsers. |
| OGG | Small Opus files for people and tools that accept OGG. |
| WAV | Uncompressed 16-bit audio for someone who will edit it. Large. |
For a quick spoken message, I would pick MP3. The bitrate of MP3, WebM, and OGG follows the Quality setting: Standard 64 kbps, High 128 kbps, Best 192 kbps. Voice sounds fine at Standard, and the file stays small enough for most chat apps. The full comparison is in MP3, WAV, OGG, or WebM, and sizes per hour are in How big is an hour of audio.
Name it before it leaves
The shared file is named after the take. A file called 2026-10-15 21.05.mp3 arrives looking like an accident. Click the name in the list, type something like Answer to your question about Friday, press Enter, then share. More on naming in Rename and organize a long list of takes.
What happens when you press Share
The share sheet opens
On systems where Chrome supports sharing files, the system share sheet appears with the apps and contacts your computer offers. Pick one, and the file is handed over. Close the sheet without choosing, and nothing happens — no error, no download.
"File is ready — press Share again"
Building the file, especially MP3 or a long take, can take a moment. By the time it is ready, the browser may no longer treat the action as a direct click and refuses to open the share sheet. In that case the extension shows:
File is ready — press Share again
Press Share once more. The file is already prepared, so the sheet opens straight away.
"Sharing isn't available here…"
If the system cannot share files from Chrome, the extension downloads the file and tells you:
Sharing isn't available here, so the file was downloaded instead.
Open your Downloads folder and attach the file to an email, a chat, or a cloud folder the usual way. Dragging it from Chrome's download list into a message window works in most apps.
If the file cannot be created
Two export messages can appear instead of a share sheet:
- "Your browser can't create this format. Try WAV or WebM." Switch Save as to WAV or WebM and press Share again.
- "Couldn't create the file." Try again once. If it repeats, try a different format, or check that the take still plays in the list. Playback problems covers takes that will not play.
Trimmed takes share only the kept part
If the take has a trimmed tag, the shared file contains only the part between the trim handles. The original stays intact in the list, so you can reset the trim later and share the full version.
Before you send someone else's voice
Recording your own message is simple. If the take includes other people — a meeting, a call, an interview — make sure they agreed to being recorded and to the recording being passed on, and check the rules where you live. Recording people: consent and etiquette goes through the basics.
Sharing never uploads anything through the extension itself. The audio lives in your browser until you choose an app or attach the downloaded file.