How to Record Online Meetings & Share Them With Colleagues
Corey McCraw is a staff writer covering VoIP and Unified Communications. Corey has over a decade of experience in marketing, tech writing, and corporate communications and has even penned content for the former First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move initiative.
With more than five years of content writing experience, Sam covers office technology topics at Fit Small Business, including business phone systems and unified communications as a service (UCaaS).
This article is part of a larger series on Unified Communications.
Recording online meetings captures essential project and task details. It keeps team members updated even if they missed the actual meeting and serves as official documentation of business transactions. The steps on how to record online meetings and share them with colleagues are simple: use a conferencing platform that allows recording, hit the record option, and look for the recording on your storage device. Lastly, share the link or multimedia file.
Step 1: Use a Conferencing Tool With a Recording Feature
The first step in how to record an online meeting is to choose a platform. Most conferencing software today allow online meeting recordings. However, as you might expect, each varies in ease of use, storage options, cloud storage capacity, retention period, access rights, and device requirements.
Some providers offer recording capabilities even in their free versions. For example, Zoom enables participants to record audio and video meetings and stores the file automatically on the user’s computer.
Conferencing Solutions With Recording Features
Below are some conferencing providers that record online meetings with audio and video. Most of these solutions made it to our list of best video conferencing software.
Conferencing Solutions | Storage for Free Plan | Cloud Storage Capacity | Retention Period |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Local only | 5GB per license for Pro and Business plans, 10GB per license for Business+ plan, and unlimited for Enterprise plan | Indefinite (as long as you’re a paid user) |
 | Local only | 10GB for the Meet plan and unlimited for the Enterprise plan | Indefinite |
 | 30GB cloud storage | 2TB for Business Standard plan, 5TB for Business Plus plan, and unlimited for Enterprise plan | Indefinite |
 | No recording capabilities on free plan | 1GB per user in the Premium plan and unlimited in the Ultimate plan | 7 days to one year |
 | No recording capabilities on the free plan | 1TB per organization plus 10GB per license for Microsoft 365 Business Basic and Standard plans | 20 days |
 | No free plan | Unlimited for Business and Enterprise plans | 365 days |
Want to use other conferencing providers at no cost? Check out our list of the best free conference call services.
Step 2: Choose Your Recording Storage
Conferencing platforms store meeting recordings locally or on the cloud, depending on the type of subscription. The benefit of choosing local storage is that it’s readily accessible and secure, having complete control over who has access. Meanwhile, cloud recordings are easily shareable with colleagues since they’re already available online.
In the case of Zoom’s free plan, users are limited to local recordings. If you’re asking “how to record a meeting on my computer,” the process is simple: before starting the meeting, determine the storage folder for your recordings in the “Recordings” settings. After the session, the recording will be available at the location you set.
When recording Zoom meetings locally, specify where the files will be stored on your computer.
For paid subscribers, there’s the option to record locally or to the cloud. Cloud storage varies in capacity, depending on your plan. In Zoom, Enterprise subscribers have unlimited storage.
Step 3: Click the Record Button
The next step in how to record online meetings is to start the actual recording by clicking the Record icon on the main toolbar. In some platforms, the button isn’t readily displayed, and you need to click the three-dotted button to find the record option.
Zoom lets you choose between local and cloud storage when recording meetings. (Source: The University of Alabama at Birmingham)
For Zoom, once you hit Record, the system alerts meeting participants with a recorded audio message saying, “Recording in progress.” A pop-up will also appear, stating that the meeting is being recorded and securing consent from the participants. The conferencing platform gives attendees the option to leave the meeting or stay.
When a meeting recording starts, Zoom solicits consent from meeting participants that the session is being recorded. (Source: Zoom)
To stop the recording, click the same record button, and the system will notify participants with an audio message, “Recording stopped.” Note that it’s possible to record a separate audio file of each meeting participant and the video feeds during screen sharing.
The steps mentioned above are relatively the same for other conferencing platforms. Local and cloud storage options are available, and you’ll choose as you hit the record option.
The recording option or icon is on the main toolbar of the platform or under the advanced settings represented by the three-dotted icon. When you start recording, there will be an audio message or a pop-up notification informing everyone in the meeting that the session is being recorded.
Why Should You Record Online Meetings?
Recording online meetings improves communication in the organization. It is an accessible reference that provides context and rationale for critical business decisions. It also removes confusion on specific matters. In case you forget or overlook some details during the meeting, it’s easy to go back to the recording and confirm. Here are other ways online meeting recordings help businesses:
Sometimes, colleagues are not able to attend meetings for various reasons, from needing to work on urgent tasks or having another important meeting elsewhere. In these cases, meeting recordings allow those unable to attend to remain in the loop about matters discussed in the session.
If you use a conferencing platform that generates transcripts of calls, it’s much easier for absent team members to get all the updates. Zoom has an audio transcription feature, which appears as a separate VTT file in the list of cloud recordings. The platform, however, supports English transcription only.
Zoom allows audio transcription on cloud recordings, making meeting minutes more accessible to users. (Source: Take Note)
For some businesses, keeping detailed documentation of what transpires in meetings is a legal requirement. There are instances where recording is essential to protect all stakeholders involved in a session, for example, when negotiating the terms of a contract or announcing a change in company policy.
Meeting recordings serve as official documentation of agreements in these situations. They also promote transparency, building trust among clients, partners, and internal stakeholders, which is another reason it’s critical to know how to record a virtual meeting.
Some online meetings are designed to equip professionals with new knowledge and skills to improve competence or increase the team’s productivity. Recording the webinar or workshop will make the training session accessible for other colleagues and future team members.
What’s more, the collection of recordings builds an excellent resource library that stakeholders in your organization could refer to in case they need guidance on certain matters. By mastering how to record a video conference and make it available on the cloud, sharing knowledge with colleagues will be as simple as sharing a link or a multimedia file.
Meeting recordings are excellent resources for improving your next sessions. By revisiting previous sessions, you’ll be able to evaluate if you met the initial goals you set at the start of the meeting or if you covered all items on your agenda.
You’ll identify distractions and time-wasters you can minimize in your next session. On top of that, video conferencing recording is a good reference for coaching speakers on how to improve presentations in the future. Make your meetings more productive and efficient by learning thoroughly how to record a virtual meeting.
How to Share Online Meeting Recordings
As for sharing online meeting recordings, the steps will largely depend on where you stored the files. In the case of Zoom local recordings, follow these steps:
- Sign in to Zoom on your desktop and go to the Meetings tab. Click the “Recorded” tab to find all the local recordings arranged chronologically.
- Choose the file you want to share from the list of recordings and select “Open.” You’ll see the dialog box containing the folder containing the audio and video recordings in MP4 formats.
- Upload the recording file to your chosen communication channel, like Slack, WhatsApp, your preferred file hosting service, Dropbox, or Google Drive.
Access all of your Zoom local recordings under the Meetings – Recorded tabs.
(Source: Stony Brook University)
To share Zoom cloud recordings, follow these steps:
- Sign in to the Zoom web portal and go to the “Recordings” option under the “Personal” category. Here, you’ll see the list of all the cloud recordings.
- Locate the file you want to share and click the “Share” option.
- Copy the link and password provided and share them with colleagues. Configure the sharing settings according to your preference. The settings include who can view the recording (everyone with the link, signed-in users, specified people), when the link expires, and whether or not the recording is downloadable.
Find all your Zoom cloud recordings on your online account under the Recordings tab. (Source: Stony Brook University)
For other conferencing platforms, the steps to sharing recordings are relatively the same as the ones mentioned above. If you want to share local recordings, find the file on your computer and upload it to a communication channel or a file storage platform.
For cloud recordings, locate it on the conferencing platform’s portal or attached storage tool (OneDrive for Microsoft Teams, Google Drive for Google Meet) and share the link with colleagues. If you’re using a unified communications tool like RingCentral, sharing is just a matter of jumping from the conference call tab to chat messaging.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Is it legal to record virtual meetings?
Yes, it’s legal to record online meetings as long as the parties involved consent. Federal law requires one-party consent, which means you’re free to record as long as you are part of the conversation. Some locations, however, are two-party consent states, which means all meeting participants must express consent.
Fortunately, most conferencing platforms have built-in features that allow meeting organizers to solicit consent from participants. A dialog box confirming consent automatically pops up when you hit record.
Can I record a meeting if I am not the host?
It’s possible to record a session even if you’re not the host. The host, however, has to give you that permission. In Zoom local recordings, the host should join the meeting to authorize you or make you an alternative host and give you that recording privilege.
For Zoom cloud recordings, it’s possible to set it on automatic mode. When a participant joins the meeting, the recording will begin automatically. To learn more about the platform’s features, refer to our comprehensive Zoom review.
Why are my Zoom recordings not saving?
Sometimes, the issue is with your computer running low on storage. Free up some space to allow local recordings. Another possible reason is an invalid storage folder. To address this, change the recording location in your settings.
Bottom Line
Recording online meetings improves collaboration and communication within your organization. Team members are able to keep abreast of the latest developments in projects, get the training they need, and secure a reliable source of truth for business deals and decisions. Use Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, and other conferencing platforms with recording capabilities to facilitate better business communications.
