Recording a call is routine, yet the rules differ a lot from one platform to the next. The three big ones share one thing: they do not let just anyone record. You must be the host, or have the host’s permission, and your organisation’s plan must provide for it.
We re-read Google’s, Microsoft’s and Zoom’s help pages on 15 October 2026. Plans change: check yours before an important call.
How do you record a call on Google Meet?
According to Google Meet’s help, the host can record, or someone the host has allowed to, and only if the Google Workspace administrator has turned recording on for the account.
The plans concerned. Google lists Business Standard, Business Plus, Essentials, Enterprise Starter, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Plus, Teaching and Learning Upgrade, Google One from 2 TB and Workspace Individual. Business Starter and free Google accounts are not on the list.
Where the file goes. To the organizer’s Google Drive, in a “Google Meet” folder. The organizer and the person who started the recording get an email with the link, which is also added to the calendar event. The page does not say how long the file is kept: it stays in the Drive until you delete it, within the space available.
What it contains. Per Google, the video shows the active speaker and anything presented. Other windows and notifications are not saved. A recording lasts eight hours at most.
How do you record a call on Microsoft Teams?
According to Microsoft’s help, both the organizer and the person recording need a qualifying Office 365 or Microsoft 365 licence (Enterprise E1, E3, E5, F3, A1, A3, A5, Business, Business Premium or Business Essentials), and an administrator must have enabled recording. Guests and people from another organisation cannot start or stop a recording.
Where the file goes. To OneDrive or SharePoint. For a channel meeting it appears in the channel conversation; otherwise it appears in the meeting chat and is saved to the organizer’s OneDrive.
How long it is kept. The administrator sets the expiry, which the organizer can usually change or remove. When a recording expires, its owner gets an email and can recover it from the recycle bin for 90 days.
What it contains. Audio, video and screen sharing, but no more than four video streams at once, and no whiteboards or shared notes.
How do you record a call on Zoom?
Zoom offers two modes, which do not need the same plan.
Recording to your computer (local). According to Zoom, it needs a Basic (free) account or above and the desktop app for Windows, macOS or Linux. The host can record or give a participant permission. The file goes to your computer’s Zoom folder, as MP4 for video and M4A for audio only. It follows the layout you see, such as speaker view, and stays on your disk until you delete it.
Cloud recording. Zoom reserves it for licensed users on a Pro, Business or Enterprise account, and only hosts and co-hosts can start it. Video, audio and chat text are saved to Zoom’s servers, with a choice of layouts (active speaker, gallery, shared screen). Storage is 10 GB per licensed user on Pro and Business and 15 GB on Business Plus. Retention is yours to set: an administrator or user can schedule deletion after a chosen number of days, and a deleted recording can be recovered from the trash for 30 days.
What does a platform’s recording really give you?
| Platform | Plan needed | Where the file goes | Retention |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google Meet | Certain Workspace editions, enabled by the administrator | Organizer’s Drive | Not stated: until deleted |
| Microsoft Teams | A Microsoft 365 licence that allows it | OneDrive or SharePoint | Expiry set by the administrator |
| Zoom, local | Free account or above, desktop app | Your computer | Until deleted |
| Zoom, cloud | Pro, Business or Enterprise | Zoom’s servers | Deletion can be scheduled |
In all three cases you get one horizontal video of the call’s layout, as the platform composes it: the active speaker, a gallery or a shared screen. Participants do not each get their own file, and that wide frame suits a vertical video badly: pulling passages from it means reframing them by hand. We cover the format in The 9:16 vertical video format.
How do you tell the people you record?
The three platforms notify participants when their own recorder starts: Meet and Teams with a notification, Zoom with a message each person accepts, or declines by leaving the call. That does not excuse you from speaking.
Say that you are recording, why, who will have access to the file and that anyone may refuse. Do it in the invitation, then aloud before you start. The sentences to use, with a client, a prospect or a group, are in Recording a video call: how to tell your guests. If you plan to publish an extract in which the person appears or speaks, you also need their agreement: recording is not publishing, and that article explains it.
A browser extension, a screen-capture tool or any recorder outside the platform triggers no notification. Nobody tells people on your behalf.
How does Dailies Studio record a call held in Chrome?
Dailies Studio does not use the platform’s recorder. Its Chrome extension records, from the browser, calls held on Google Meet, Microsoft Teams or Zoom’s web client, in French or in English: your microphone, your webcam and the call’s sound. Inform the participants before you start, as with any recording.
The service turns the call into up to eight vertical shorts of 30 to 90 seconds, which you plan and publish on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Threads, LinkedIn and TikTok. The details for each platform are in LinkedIn videos from your Google Meet calls, Teams and Zoom. For what the product does, see the overview page.
One last thing for looking good: the file is only as good as your webcam and your light. We give a few simple settings in Looking good on video calls.
Key takeaways
- You must be the host, or allowed by the host, and your plan must permit it.
- Meet: paid Workspace editions. Teams: a Microsoft 365 licence. Zoom: local is free, cloud is paid.
- The file is one horizontal video of the call’s layout.
- Retention: your job on Meet and locally, set by the administrator on Teams and Zoom’s cloud.
- Always say you are recording, before you start.
Sources
Pages read on 15 October 2026.
- Google, record a Meet meeting.
- Microsoft, record a meeting in Teams.
- Zoom: computer recording, cloud recording, storage, deletion and participant notification.