Quick Start
This guide covers every Fireflies AI feature:
- Getting Started — Create your account and connect your calendar
- How to Use AI Notetaker — send Fred to automatically join meetings on your calendar
- How to Use Transcription — get accurate transcripts with speaker labels in over 100 languages
- How to Use AI Summaries — turn a 60-minute call into key takeaways you can skim
- How to Use Action Items — pull every task and owner out of the conversation automatically
- How to Use Meeting Prep — walk into calls with context from past meeting notes
- How to Use Team collaboration — share notes, leave comments, and create soundbites with your team
- How to Use Advanced Analytics — analyze conversations for key metrics like talk time and sentiment
- How to Use Fireflies Agents — automatically push notes to Slack, your CRM, and other apps
- How to Use AskFred — ask questions about any call and get answers in seconds
Time needed: 5 minutes per feature
Also in this guide: Pro Tips | Common Mistakes | Troubleshooting | Pricing | Alternatives
Why Trust This Guide
I have run Fireflies AI on my own calls for eight months across Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams.
Every screenshot and setting below comes from that account, not a vendor demo.
Fireflies AI is one of the most widely used AI meeting assistants available today.
But most people stop at raw transcripts and never touch the AI features underneath.
This guide shows you how to use every major tool, step by step.
Fireflies AI Tutorial
This How to Use Fireflies AI tutorial walks through setup, meeting transcription, AI summaries, and the automations that save the most time each week.
Fireflies AI
Stop typing meeting notes. Fireflies AI joins your calls, writes accurate transcripts, and hands you summaries and action items minutes after everyone hangs up. Start free — no credit card required.
Getting Started with Fireflies AI
Before you touch any AI features, finish this one-time setup.
It takes about three minutes.
Here is the account I set up and still use for client calls:
Now let’s walk through each step.
Step 1: Create Your Account
Visit the Fireflies website and click Sign Up.
Use your work email so calendar sync works on the first try.
✓ Checkpoint: Check your inbox for the confirmation email.
Step 2: Connect Your Calendar
Link Google Calendar or Outlook from the onboarding screen.
Fireflies reads the meeting URL on each event and sends the bot in for you.
Here’s what this looks like:
✓ Checkpoint: Your next seven days of calls appear inside the Fireflies dashboard.
Step 3: Configure Fireflies Settings
Open Settings and decide which meetings Fred should attend.
Choose all events, external calls only, or manual invites for future meetings.
Add the Chrome extension if you want one-click recording for calls that never hit your calendar.
✅ Done: Your account is live and ready for every feature below.
How to Use Fireflies AI Notetaker
AI Notetaker lets you let the AI notetaker automatically join meetings and record them without you lifting a finger.
Here’s how to use it step by step.
Step 1: Turn On Auto-Join
Open Settings, then Meeting Settings inside the Fireflies dashboard.
Toggle auto-join so Fred will automatically record every call on your calendar.
Step 2: Check Your Next Call
Open any upcoming event and confirm the bot icon is showing.
Fred will accept the invite and appear as a participant one minute early.
Here’s what this looks like:
✓ Checkpoint: Fred appears as a participant and the recording indicator turns on.
Step 3: Admit The Bot
In a Zoom meeting or Google Meet room, admit Fred from the waiting room once.
Guests see the notetaker in the participant list, so nobody records anyone in secret.
✅ Result: Every call on your calendar is captured without manual note taking.
💡 Pro Tip: Toggle auto-join off for one-to-one HR or salary calls, then invite Fred manually when you want a record.
How to Use Fireflies AI Transcription
Transcription lets you get accurate transcripts of every conversation, with speaker labels and timestamps.
Here’s how to use it step by step.
Step 1: Open The Transcript
Click any meeting in Notebook to open the full transcript.
Fireflies generates transcripts within minutes of the call ending.
Step 2: Fix Speaker Labels
Rename any misidentified speaker once and Fireflies applies it across the file.
Add industry jargon or product names to your custom vocabulary to sharpen AI transcription.
Here’s what this looks like:
✓ Checkpoint: Each paragraph shows the right name, a timestamp, and clean text.
Step 3: Upload Audio Files
Drag old audio files or recorded video into the uploader to transcribe meetings you captured elsewhere.
The same engine handles live transcription and uploads, in over 100 languages for global teams.
✅ Result: You have a searchable record of the conversation instead of half-remembered notes.
💡 Pro Tip: Add acronyms your team says constantly before an important call — accuracy on those words jumps immediately.
How to Use Fireflies AI Summaries
AI Summaries lets you turn a long call into a short brief with key takeaways and key moments.
Here’s how to use it step by step.
Step 1: Open The Meeting Overview
Every AI meeting gets a summary generated within minutes of hangup.
The overview includes keywords, an outline, and bullet notes for each topic.
Step 2: Skim The Outline
Click any outline entry to jump straight to that point in the audio.
This is the fastest way to review a call you skipped entirely.
Here’s what this looks like:
✓ Checkpoint: A short overview, keyword list, and outline sit above the transcript.
Step 3: Change The Summary Style
Pick a different template, such as sales discovery or interview notes.
Fireflies rewrites the meeting notes in that format without re-processing the recording.
✅ Result: A 60-minute call becomes a 60-second read for anyone who missed it.
💡 Pro Tip: Set the summary template per meeting type, not per account — sales calls and standups need very different notes.
How to Use Fireflies AI Action Items
Action Items lets you capture every commitment made on a call as a task with an owner.
Here’s how to use it step by step.
Step 1: Review Extracted Tasks
Open the Action Items tab under any meeting.
Fireflies pulls out phrases like “I’ll send” and “can you review” as tasks.
Step 2: Assign An Owner
Edit any item and attach the right teammate.
Unclear ownership is the main reason follow ups quietly die after a call.
Here’s what this looks like:
✓ Checkpoint: A clean checklist of tasks appears beside the meeting summary.
Step 3: Send Them Out
Push the list to Asana, ClickUp, or email in one click.
Fireflies can automate follow ups and task reminders so nobody chases the notes.
✅ Result: Commitments leave the call as assigned work instead of good intentions.
💡 Pro Tip: Say task owners out loud during the call — “Priya will send the deck Friday” — and extraction gets far more precise.
How to Use Fireflies AI Meeting Prep
Meeting Prep lets you walk into a call already knowing what was agreed last time.
Here’s how to use it step by step.
Step 1: Open The Upcoming Call
Select any scheduled event from the Fireflies dashboard.
The prep panel surfaces past meetings with the same attendees.
Step 2: Read The Recap
Scan open action items and unresolved questions from the previous conversation.
You get the details in about a minute, with no writing required.
Here’s what this looks like:
✓ Checkpoint: Previous notes and open tasks appear before the meeting starts.
Step 3: Set Your Focus
Note two topics you want to close out this session.
Prep like this is what stops recurring meetings from repeating themselves.
✅ Result: You open the call with context instead of asking where we left off.
💡 Pro Tip: Skim prep on your phone in the two minutes before a call — the mobile app shows the same recap.
How to Use Fireflies AI Team collaborator
Team collaboration lets you share notes, leave comments, and create soundbites your team can actually use.
Here’s how to use it step by step.
Step 1: Share The Notes
Click Share and pick teammates, a channel, or a public link.
Team members read the meeting notes without needing access to your calendar.
Step 2: Comment On The Transcript
Highlight any line and leave comments or reactions for your team.
Threads sit next to the exact sentence, so context never gets lost in chat.
Here’s what this looks like:
✓ Checkpoint: Shared members can open the transcript and reply inline.
Step 3: Create Soundbites
Select 30 seconds of audio and save it as a clip.
Export soundbites to Slack, a doc, or YouTube when you need proof of what was said.
✅ Result: Your call becomes a shared document rather than one person’s private recording.
💡 Pro Tip: Clip the customer’s exact wording of a problem — one soundbite moves a roadmap debate faster than a paragraph of summary.
How to Use Fireflies AI Advanced Analytics
Advanced Analytics lets you analyze conversations for key metrics you would never track by hand.
Here’s how to use it step by step.
Step 1: Open The Analytics Tab
Head to Conversation Intelligence from the left sidebar.
Fireflies scores talk time, monologue length, sentiment, and filler words.
Step 2: Compare Across The Team
Filter by rep, date range, or meeting type.
Patterns show up fast when you see one week of calls side by side.
Here’s what this looks like:
✓ Checkpoint: Charts show talk ratio, sentiment, and question count per participant.
Step 3: Act On The Insights
Coach on one metric at a time, such as cutting talk ratio below 50%.
Trend data also tells you which recurring future meetings can be shortened or dropped.
✅ Result: You coach with evidence from real calls instead of gut feeling.
💡 Pro Tip: Check monologue length before talk ratio — a single four-minute monologue loses more deals than an unbalanced average.
How to Use Fireflies AI Agents
Fireflies Agents lets you automatically push notes into the productivity tools your team already opens.
Here’s how to use it step by step.
Step 1: Connect Your Apps
Open the Integrations page and connect Slack, HubSpot, Salesforce, or Notion.
Fireflies works with 50+ other apps, including Asana, Zapier, and the ai apps your team already pays for.
Step 2: Build The Rule
Create an agent that fires when a meeting matches your filter.
Example: post every external call summary to your #sales channel automatically.
Here’s what this looks like:
✓ Checkpoint: The test meeting summary lands in your chosen app within a minute.
Step 3: Test It Once
Run the rule against a past meeting before trusting it live.
Fix the filter now, or your favorite apps fill up with internal standup notes.
✅ Result: Notes reach your CRM and chat tools without anyone copying and pasting.
💡 Pro Tip: Route internal and external meetings to different destinations — mixing them is the fastest way to annoy your whole team.
How to Use Fireflies AI AskFred
AskFred lets you ask questions about any call and get an answer in plain language.
Here’s how to use it step by step.
Step 1: Open AskFred
Click the AskFred icon inside any meeting or from the search bar.
It reads the transcript and answers using only what was said.
Step 2: Ask A Real Question
Try “what objections came up?” or “what did we promise on pricing?”
AI powered search also works across your whole account, not just one call.
Here’s what this looks like:
✓ Checkpoint: An answer appears with links to the exact transcript moments.
Step 3: Turn It Into Output
Ask AskFred to draft the follow-up email or a status update.
Editing that draft beats writing from a blank page every time.
✅ Result: You can find what was said in a call from three months ago in seconds.
💡 Pro Tip: Ask AskFred to list what changed since the last meeting with that client — it is the single best prep question.
Fireflies AI Pro Tips and Shortcuts
After eight months of daily use, these are the habits that saved me the most time.
Keyboard Shortcuts
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Play or pause playback | Space |
| Skip forward or back | → / ← |
| Search inside a transcript | Ctrl / Cmd + F |
| Open the shortcut list | ? |
Hidden Features Most People Miss
- Smart Search filters: Filter a transcript by questions, dates, metrics, or tasks to find key moments without scrubbing audio.
- Custom vocabulary: Load product names and client names once so AI transcription stops mangling them.
- Mobile recording: The app records in-person conversations, so coffee meetings get the same notes as video calls.
Fireflies AI Common Mistakes to Avoid
Mistake #1: Letting the bot join every single meeting
❌ Wrong: Auto-join stays on for therapy-style one-to-ones, reviews, and personal appointments.
✅ Right: Enable Fireflies for external and team calls only, then invite it manually elsewhere.
Mistake #2: Never telling people they are being recorded
❌ Wrong: A bot appears in the zoom meeting and guests learn about it from the participant list.
✅ Right: Say it in the first ten seconds and let anyone opt out before you continue.
Mistake #3: Reading transcripts instead of summaries
❌ Wrong: Scrolling 9,000 words of raw text to find one number.
✅ Right: Read the summary, then use search or AskFred to jump to the exact line.
Fireflies AI Troubleshooting
Problem: The bot never joined the call
Cause: The event had no meeting link, or the calendar connection dropped.
Fix: Reconnect Google Calendar, then paste the link into the event body and refresh.
Problem: Fireflies is stuck in the waiting room
Cause: Host settings block guests from joining Microsoft Teams or Google Meet unattended.
Fix: Ask the host to admit the bot, or add it as an event guest so it enters automatically.
Problem: Transcript quality is poor
Cause: Overlapping speakers, laptop mics, or heavy jargon confuse the model.
Fix: Add custom vocabulary, ask people to use headsets, and correct speaker labels once.
📌 Note: If none of these fix your issue, contact Fireflies AI support.
What is Fireflies AI?
Fireflies AI is an AI notetaker that records, transcribes, and summarizes your meetings automatically.
Think of it as a colleague who attends every call and writes everything down.
It can record, transcribe, summarize, and share any conversation without being asked twice.
Watch this quick overview:
It includes these key features:
- AI Notetaker: Fred joins Zoom, Google Meet, and MS Teams calls straight from your calendar.
- Transcription: The engine generates transcripts with speaker labels in 100+ languages.
- AI Summaries: Overviews, keywords, and outlines land minutes after the call ends.
- Action Items: Tasks mentioned out loud are extracted, assigned, and tracked.
- Meeting Prep: Past notes and open tasks surface before the next session.
- Team collaboration: Shared notes, comments, and soundbites keep everyone accountable.
- Advanced Analytics: Conversation intelligence tracks talk time, sentiment, and questions.
- Fireflies Agents: Automations push notes into Slack, Salesforce, Asana, and 50+ apps.
- AskFred: An AI assistant that answers questions about any past meeting.
For a full review, see our Fireflies AI review.
Fireflies AI Pricing
Here’s what Fireflies AI costs in 2026:
| Plan | Price | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Testing meeting transcription on a few calls |
| Pro | $10 | Solo users who want unlimited AI summaries |
| Business | $19 | Teams needing analytics and admin controls |
| Enterprise | $39 | Global teams with security and compliance reviews |
Free trial: Yes — the free plan runs indefinitely, and paid tiers offer a trial.
Money-back guarantee: No standard refund window, so start monthly before committing annually.
💰 Best Value: Pro — unlimited AI transcription and summaries at the price of one lunch.
Fireflies AI vs Alternatives
How does Fireflies AI compare? Here’s the competitive landscape:
| Tool | Best For | Price | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fireflies AI | Automated meeting notes | $10/mo | ⭐ 4.4 |
| Sembly | AI meeting insights | $10/mo | ⭐ 4.3 |
| MeetGeek | Client-facing recaps | $19/mo | ⭐ 4.3 |
| Notta | Multilingual transcripts | $9/mo | ⭐ 4.2 |
| Notion | Docs plus notes | $10/mo | ⭐ 4.6 |
| ClickUp | Tasks and projects | $7/mo | ⭐ 4.5 |
| Taskade | AI team workflows | $8/mo | ⭐ 4.4 |
| Evernote | Personal note taking | $11/mo | ⭐ 4.1 |
Quick picks:
- Best overall: Fireflies AI — the widest platform coverage plus AskFred.
- Best budget: ClickUp — task management included at a lower seat price.
- Best for beginners: MeetGeek — the simplest recap email out of the box.
- Best for global teams: Notta — strong multilingual accuracy across regions.
🎯 Fireflies AI Alternatives
Looking for Fireflies AI alternatives? Here are the top options:
- 🚀 Sembly: Closest rival for ai meeting notes, with strong summaries and task detection across Zoom and Teams.
- 💰 Notion: Best if you want notes, docs, and databases living in one workspace instead of a separate tool.
- ⚡ ClickUp: Turns meeting notes into tracked tasks immediately, ideal for teams already running projects there.
- 🧠 Capacities: Object-based note taking for people who think in connected ideas rather than folders.
- 🎯 Taskade: Combines AI writing, outlines, and task boards for small teams on a tight budget.
- 💼 Notejoy: Lightweight shared notes with fast search, built for teams that hate heavy tools.
- 🌟 Notta: Excellent ai transcription in many languages, with solid mobile recording for in-person calls.
- 🎨 Craft: Beautiful documents and meeting notes, strongest on Apple devices and client-ready output.
- ⭐ MeetGeek: Automatic recap emails after every call, useful when clients expect a written follow-up.
- 🔧 Mem AI: Self-organizing notes with ai features that resurface related context as you write.
- 📊 Evernote: Mature capture and search for personal notes, though it lacks a meeting bot.
- 🏢 Microsoft OneNote: Free with Microsoft 365 and natural for teams already inside ms teams.
For the full list, see our Fireflies AI alternatives guide.
⚔️ Fireflies AI Compared
Here’s how Fireflies AI stacks up against each competitor:
- Fireflies AI vs Sembly: Fireflies wins on integrations and AskFred; Sembly edges ahead on structured meeting insights.
- Fireflies AI vs Notion: Fireflies records and transcribes calls; Notion only stores what someone typed manually.
- Fireflies AI vs ClickUp: ClickUp runs the work; Fireflies feeds it the action items automatically.
- Fireflies AI vs Capacities: Capacities organizes personal knowledge; Fireflies captures conversations you would otherwise forget.
- Fireflies AI vs Taskade: Taskade is cheaper for planning; Fireflies is the only one attending your calls.
- Fireflies AI vs Notejoy: Notejoy is faster for quick team notes; Fireflies handles meeting transcription end to end.
- Fireflies AI vs Notta: Notta is strong on languages and price; Fireflies offers deeper analytics and automations.
- Fireflies AI vs Craft: Craft produces prettier documents; Fireflies produces the raw record those documents need.
- Fireflies AI vs MeetGeek: MeetGeek is simpler to start; Fireflies scales better across large global teams.
- Fireflies AI vs Mem AI: Mem AI connects your writing; Fireflies connects your calls to your other apps.
- Fireflies AI vs Evernote: Evernote is a filing cabinet; Fireflies is a notetaker that shows up to work.
- Fireflies AI vs Microsoft OneNote: OneNote is free; Fireflies actually records, transcribes, and summarizes the conversation for you.
Start Using Fireflies AI Now
You learned how to use every major Fireflies AI feature:
- ✅ AI Notetaker
- ✅ Transcription
- ✅ AI Summaries
- ✅ Action Items
- ✅ Meeting Prep
- ✅ Team collaboration
- ✅ Advanced Analytics
- ✅ Fireflies Agents
- ✅ AskFred
Next step: Pick one feature and try it now.
Most people start with the AI Notetaker on tomorrow’s first call.
It takes less than 5 minutes.
Frequently Asked Questions
How to use Fireflies AI with Google Meet?
Connect Google Calendar, then enable Fireflies auto-join. Fred detects the Google Meet link on each event and joins as a guest. Admit it once from the waiting room.
How to use Fireflies AI in Microsoft Teams?
Link your Outlook or Google calendar and turn on auto-join. Fireflies reads the MS Teams link and attends. You can also paste a link to invite it manually.
How do I turn off Fireflies AI?
Open Settings, switch auto-join off, or remove the bot from a single event. Removing calendar access in your account stops Fireflies from joining any future meetings.
Is Fireflies AI free to use?
Yes. The free plan includes unlimited transcription with limited AI summaries and storage. Paid plans start at $10 per seat monthly for unlimited summaries and integrations.
Can Fireflies AI record in-person meetings?
Yes. Use the Fireflies mobile app to record in-person conversations, or upload audio files afterwards. Both routes produce the same transcripts, summaries, and action items.
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