How to Record a Meeting in Microsoft Teams

Recording a Teams meeting gives absent colleagues something to watch and gives everyone a reference afterwards. It only works when the right license, policy and permissions line up, though. This guide covers who can record, how to start and stop, where the file lands, and how to control how long it sticks around.

Who can record

• The meeting organizer must have cloud recording turned on in their policy. The organizer doesn’t need to be present.
• The person recording needs an eligible Microsoft 365 or Office 365 license (E1, E3, E5, F3, A1, A3, A5, Business, Business Premium or Business Essentials), and an IT admin must enable recording for them.
• Guests, people from other organizations and anonymous users can’t start or stop a recording.
• Federated users can record calls, but not meetings.

Step 1: Start the recording

1. In your meeting controls, select More actions, then Record.
2. Choose your spoken language and what to record, then confirm.
3. For audio only, pick Audio only from the Choose what to record menu.

All participants are notified automatically when recording starts.

Step 2: Know what a recording captures

Recordings don’t capture more than four video streams at once, whiteboards, annotations, shared notes, app-shared content, or embedded videos in PowerPoint Live. If those matter, share the material separately.

Step 3: Stop the recording

Select More actions, then Recording, and choose:

• Recording to stop both the recording and live transcription, or
• Transcribing to stop only the transcription.

The recording keeps running if the person who started it leaves, and stops when everyone leaves. If someone stays connected, it ends and restarts every four hours until the last participant leaves.

Step 4: Find the recording

• Recordings are stored in OneDrive for work or school and SharePoint.
• The file is saved to the meeting organizer’s OneDrive for Business and appears in the meeting chat or channel conversation.
• Guests and external attendees can view a recording only if it is explicitly shared with them.

Step 5: Control access

The organizer owns the recording. By default, only organizers and co-organizers can download or delete it. Viewing access depends on the meeting type:

With Teams Premium or a Copilot license, organizers can limit recording to organizers and co-organizers, add presenters, or turn off recording and transcription for a meeting.

Step 6: Manage expiration

1. Admin settings determine when a recording expires.
2. To change it, open the recording’s player page and select the expiration countdown. Pick a new timeframe or choose Remove expiration. You need edit permission, which organizers and co-organizers usually have.
3. The owner receives an email when a recording expires and has up to 90 days to recover it from the recycle bin.

Watching a recording doesn’t change its expiration date.

If recording isn’t available

• Both the organizer and the person recording need eligible licenses, and an IT admin must provide a recording license to both.
• Guests can’t record meetings.
• For persistent problems, an IT admin usually has to adjust the policy.

Sources

• Start, stop, and find meeting recordings in Microsoft Teams – Microsoft Support