Our memories of meetings aren’t NEARLY as good as we think they are. Despite paying attention, taking notes, and reviewing action items, as soon as we leave a meeting, our memory of it begins to fade. Luckily, you don’t have to remember every moment and detail when you're using Microsoft Teams. A recording can capture audio, video, and screen-sharing activity. Let’s learn how to record a Teams meeting so you can look back on important (and not so important?) details with certainty.Don’t worry — you don’t need to be any sort of tech wizard to figure this out. Recording a Teams meeting is simple and only takes a few clicks. Read our step-by-step guide to learn more, including answers to a number of frequently asked questions about recording.Not a Microsoft user? We also have guides on How to Record a Google Meet and How to Find and Share Zoom Recordings.
Reasons for Recording a Teams Meeting
A big reason to record a meeting is that our memories aren’t so great the further away from a meeting we get. But our less-than-perfect memories aren't the only reason you may want to record your Microsoft Teams meetings.Recording your meeting creates a record you can look back on should there be an (unfortunate!) complaint, misunderstanding, or conflicting point of view about the meetings' occurrences. For some meetings, you may choose to record it so that you can share the details with people outside of your organization or new hires that weren’t on board when the meeting occurred.A meeting recording can also serve as a recap for anyone who couldn’t attend, arrived late, or had to leave early.You might choose to record a Teams meeting if:
- Not all of the required team members could come to the meeting.
- Someone had to arrive late or leave early due to unavoidable circumstances.
- You want to record team/all-hands meetings for people who couldn’t attend.
- A team member couldn’t come to an online meeting due to a time zone restriction.
- You want to share a file or link of the recording with guest attendees.
- You want to share a live event or conference session later.
- You want your team members to pay more attention to the meeting than taking notes.
- You want or need to have a clear record of all meetings for future reference.
- You want to save important meetings, such as tutorials, to share with new hires or clients during the onboarding process.
Step-by-Step: How to Record a Teams Meeting
So let’s get to it. Follow our step-by-step guidelines below to learn how to record a Teams meeting, how to stop recording, and how to find and share recorded meeting files.
Step 1: Start or Join a Teams Meeting
Before anyone can hit the record button, you need to either start a meeting or join a scheduled meeting. You can join a Teams meeting from the Microsoft Teams app (iOS or Android) or from a web browser.
Step 2: Hit Record
Starting a recording is simple so long as you have the right meeting permissions. Whether the meeting organizer is present or not, you can record or stop a recording if:
- You have the necessary license (Office 365 Enterprise E1, E3, E5, F3, A1, A3, A5, M365 Business, Business Premium, or Business Essentials).
- You have recording enabled by an IT admin.
- You are not a guest attendee (meaning you are part of the organization hosting the meeting).
To start recording, go to the meeting controls and select More Actions, which will be an icon of three dots. Near the bottom of the menu options, choose “Start recording.”You can’t make multiple recordings. Once one recording starts, only that recording will be saved after the meeting concludes.
Step 3: Stop Recording
To stop a recording, return to the More Actions icon (three dots) and choose “Stop recording.”You also have the option to only stop the live transcription feature and not the recording by choosing “Stop transcription.”After everyone leaves the meeting, recording stops automatically.
Step 4: Find and Share Recordings
If the meeting was a channel meeting, it will be saved in SharePoint. If it was any other type of meeting, you will find the recording in OneDrive.A few tips: Teams meeting recordings are not saved to Microsoft Stream. Guests can’t see the meeting unless it is shared directly with them proceeding the meeting.Once you locate the meeting file you’re looking for, you can download and share it as you would share any other file. You can also get links to recordings that can be easily shared online or through messaging applications.Note that a recording may expire after a set amount of time depending on the amount of time that was set by your admin. You can change the expiry date of a recording in advance, including a “No expiration” option. To adjust the recording expiry date, view the recording’s Details, then choose “Expiration date.”
Teams Recording FAQs
Don’t be shy — it’s time for some questions! Below we’ll cover some of the most common questions surrounding how to record a Teams meeting.
1. Who Can Control a Teams Recording?
Certain people in a meeting have control over starting and stopping a recording. People can create recordings even if the meeting organizer isn’t present, so long as certain criteria are met.For a recording option, a meeting participant must have one of the following licenses: Office 365 Enterprise E1, E3, E5, F3, A1, A3, A5, M365 Business, Business Premium, or Business Essentials, and they must have recording enabled by an IT admin. The person must also be part of the organization and not a guest attendee.
2. Will People Know They Are Being Recorded?
Don’t worry — Teams isn’t trying to be sneaky. As soon as someone chooses to record the meeting, all attendees are notified that the meeting is being recorded and transcribed.
3. How Long Is a Recording Saved?
This depends on the admin settings. After the set expiration date, the recording will no longer be available.You can adjust the recording expiry date by viewing the recording Details, then choosing “Expiration date.” Here, you will see how long before the recording is deleted. You can adjust the expiry by a certain number of days, choose a specific date, or choose “No expiration.”
4. Can Guests View Teams Recordings?
Guest meeting attendees are only able to view Teams recordings if the recording is directly shared with them. You can share the recording just like you would any other generic file. You can also go to OneDrive or SharePoint to get a link to the recording that can be copied and shared via email, Messenger, Slack, etc.
5. Who Can Delete a Recording?
Only certain people mayo delete a recording. This is to prevent mistakes from happening. You wouldn’t want to have all of your recordings deleted by mistake — yikes! ?You can delete a Microsoft Teams recording if you started the recording or you are an additional owner chosen by the person who started the recording.
Keep a Record! ? ?
Recording your Microsoft Teams meetings only takes a few clicks once a meeting begins. Just watch out for those expiry dates! It’s better to have the recording to look back on, even if you’re not sure you’ll need it. Once the meeting is over, you can’t go back and record it.If you want even more from your records, Anchor AI is an AI tool built just for YOU.You can record full transcripts and let the AI separate action items, keywords, speakers, and important meeting decisions using Anchor AI software. Learn more about our versatile product so it can help you and all of your teammates get the most out of your meetings.