How to Record a Zoom Meeting: Easy Guide for Beginners


AuthorBarış Direncan Elmas
Date2025-02-04
Reading TimeNone Minutes

This guide will help you learn how to record a Zoom meeting. Then, explore how to enable permissions and access recordings. Additionally, we will explore useful transcription tools to streamline the process. This will help you ensure that no critical detail is missed while transcribing.

What to Know Before Recording a Zoom Meeting?

If you wish to record a Zoom meeting, you must have a basic Zoom account and desktop app. Recording Zoom meetings is only available on Windows, macOS, or Linux with a global minimum version or higher .

Permissions Required for Recording

If you are the Zoom meeting host, you can use the built-in Zoom recorder. The feature is available for both free and paid Zoom users. The following sections explain how to enable recording as a host and participants.

As a host:

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Step 1:

Sign in to the Zoom Account using a desktop application or browser. You can either enter your sign-in details or complete the process via Google Sign-in. Zoom Workplace will open.

Zoom user interface displaying options for new meeting, join, schedule, and share screen to assist beginners.
Explore Zoom's essential features to start, join, and manage online meetings effortlessly.

Step 2:

On the Home tab, click on the Settings icon. It is at the top right, under your profile picture.

Detailed view of Zoom's recording settings page with options to optimize recordings and storage details visible.
Explore the versatile settings offered by Zoom for optimizing your meeting recordings effectively.

Step 3:

Go to the ‘

Recording’

tab in the Settings menu on your left-hand side. If the recording is off, you can enable it. You also have to choose the location to save your Zoom meetings locally on your computer or to the cloud.

As a participant:

Participants cannot record a Zoom meeting like the host. Before recording the ongoing meeting, the participant has to get permission from the host. The host can permit the participant by following these steps:

Zoom user interface displayed on a monitor during an active meeting session.
A view of the Zoom interface, enhancing virtual meetings for beginners.

Step 1:

While in the meeting, navigate to click on

‘Participants’

to open the participants panel. It will display all the attendees' names.

An interface view of a Zoom meeting showing video, audio, chat, and record options, with participant interaction.
A beginner's view of Zoom's interface featuring essential tools for effective virtual meetings.

Step 2:

You will find three dots on the right side of each participant's name. Click on the dots to open a small menu with additional options.

Step 3:

Select ‘

Allow Record’

from the menu. The participant will receive a notification for recording permission granted.

After getting permission from the host, participants can start and stop the recording on their own devices like the host.

Key Features of Zoom Meeting Recordings

Here is an overview of the key features of Zoom meeting recordings:

  1. Video recording:

    Zoom enables hots to record either all participants or focus on the active speaker. It provides flexibility in capturing meetings.
  2. Audio recording:

    The platform records audio from all participants, and transcription tools can convert audio into text for accessibility purposes.
  3. Screen sharing and presentations:

    Participants can share their screens during the meetings, which will also be recorded. This will help attendees and non-attendees review content later.
  4. Chat messages:

    Zoom captures both public and private chat messages. It allows users to revisit key points without interrupting the main discussion.
  5. Storage options:

    Zoom meetings are stored in two places. Paid users’ recordings are saved in both local and cloud storage. Free users’ recordings are saved only in the local recordings.

Video Recording

Zoom captures the video of all the participants present in the meeting. The host can decide whether to record only the speaker’s video or the entire gallery view. This feature makes recording Zoom meetings easy. It allows the host to choose different recording styles according to the meetings.

Audio Recording

Zoom records the audio from the host's and participants' meetings. This ensures that all spoken content is captured clearly. Zoom audio transcription tools must be used here to transcribe Zoom meetings with audio-to-text. This ensures that the meeting recording is made available even for people with hearing aids.

Screen Sharing and Presentations

Zoom allows participants and hosts to share their screens for a presentation. These shared screens will also be recorded for visual use. This feature makes it easier for attendees and non-attendees to catch up with the material post-meeting and prepare the action plan.

Chat Messages

Zoom captures both public and private messages exchanged during the meeting. The chats are considered the best part of Zoom meeting recordings for revisiting key points. This feature allows users to converse discreetly without interpreting the speaker during the main discussion.

Storage Options

While recording a Zoom meeting, you will have the option to choose between local and cloud recording. Each storage option has its benefits and limitations. Let us understand these options better to pick the best storage method based on needs and resources.

Local Recording:

The recorded Zoom files are saved directly to the computer of the host. This option is available for all free and paid Zoom users and gives access to the recordings offline as well. The local recordings are in the Documents folder in a file named Zoom.

Cloud recording:

This option is available only to paid users. Cloud storage removes the hurdle of local storage space. It offers the flexibility of accessing recordings from any device, anywhere. Recordings can be shared via links. However, it depends on the internet to access or download the recordings.

How To Record A Zoom Meeting?

The user must follow the steps mentioned below to record a Zoom meeting. Here is how to record Zoom calls that is even ideal for beginners:

Zoom meeting interface showing options for audio, video, participants, chat, and the record button highlighted.
Optimize your meeting management by learning to record in Zoom, capturing every detail.

Step 1: Start the Zoom meeting

If you are the meeting host, launch the meeting or start a new one. After starting the meeting, you will get the

‘Record’

button on the meeting toolbar at the bottom of the screen. Click on it to start the recording.

Step 2: Local or Cloud Recording Storage

Your recording will automatically be saved to the local folder if you have a free account. However, if you are a paid user, you will get two options while clicking on the

‘Record’

button. You can either select between ‘local recording’ or ‘cloud recording.’

Zoom video conferencing interface displaying buttons for audio, video, participants, and recording features.
Explore the essential Zoom interface elements to effectively record your meetings.

Step 4: Stop the recording

If you want to pause the recording, click the

‘Pause’

icon. When the meeting ends, click on the

‘Stop Recording’

icon near the ‘Record’ button of the meeting toolbar. After ending the meeting, the recording will take 2-3 seconds to save at the desired location.

Step 5: Access the Recording

You can find the local recording of the meeting at the location you have specified in your Zoom settings. In contrast, you can find cloud recordings in a folder in the cloud.

To access the cloud recording, you have to log in to your Zoom account and go to the

‘Recordings’

section in the dashboard. You can either watch it online or download the file from there.

Why Transcribe Your Zoom Meeting Recordings?

Transcribing Zoom meeting recordings has become a practice for businesses. While Zoom recording ensures that everything is captured, transcription ensures that every recorded audio is converted into searchable text. With the help of transcripts, you can make the content accessible to a wider audience.

With an estimated market value of US $15.87 billion by 2030, it is evident that users are finding comfort in speech recognition. This is because audio-to-text tools make information accessible to people who may have missed the meeting. Whether you want to transcribe the audio-to-text for future reference or as a note, transcription adds a level to general recording.

Webpage screenshot displaying transcription software interface with clear navigation and a playback screen.
Explore an intuitive transcription software's interface ideal for managing online meetings effectively.

Benefits Of Transcription For Meeting Documentation

One of the profound reasons for transcribing the Zoom meeting is to make content accessible and actionable. The user can review the text rather than just listen to the meeting.

Transkriptor is the AI transcription tool that transcribes Zoom recordings. It provides searchable text that helps team members quickly pinpoint specific points and action items. Such transcription tools allow one to easily find relevant segments of the meeting, thus saving a lot of time.

Transcription ensures that the audio in the text is very clear and accurate. It works as a reliable record for team members who could not attend the meeting. Also, AI transcription for virtual meetings, like Transkriptor, automatically generates meeting notes. This ensures no important detail is missed.

Saving Time With Organized And Shareable Notes

Transcription saves team members time by providing organized notes that are very easy to follow. Rather than rewatching the video, the team can read the text to find the needed information. The transcription tool, Transkriptor, also has a formatting feature that highlights the key points and action items.

The team working on collaborative and team projects remotely can use transcription to share insights about the subject. Instead of forwarding the long recording, the attendees can share the transcription document quickly.

Transcription Tools To Enhance Your Zoom Workflow

Transcription tools streamline the recorded meeting output by turning the recorded meetings into searchable text. While Zoom has its own AI transcription feature, the functionality falls short in terms of accuracy. Advanced tools like Transkriptor close this gap and make the information far more valuable for professional use.

Comparing Zoom's Built-in Feature With Advanced Tools

Zoom transcription tool is a convenient choice but comes with certain limitations. The built-in transcription feature does not generate accurate conversions. It also has limited language support compared to other third-party Zoom transcription tools.

Zoom also has limited editing capabilities, which require manual support to correct mistakes. It is primarily video conferencing software and not a transcriptor. Moreover, transcription can only be produced if the user records their meeting on Zoom Cloud Recording (not local recording).

On the other hand, Transkriptor is the best way to record Zoom for transcription. It is an audio-to-text tool with an accuracy of 99%. It supports over 100 transcription languages, including English, French, Spanish, and Italian. Even if your team members speak different languages, you can share the transcripts in their preferred language.

Benefits Of AI-Powered Transcription Tools

AI-powered transcription tools like Transkriptor have made recording Zoom meetings easier and more efficient. They automatically generate highly accurate transcripts that need little or no manual edits. Transkriptor offers features like automatic transcription and the ability to add speaker identification.

This AI transcription tool for virtual meetings handles multiple speakers and mentions the names in the text file. With the help of AI Chat, you can ask questions from the chatbot and generate answers based on the transcript. Moreover, transcription can be exported to various formats like PDF, TXT, SRT, Word, or Plain Text.

Why Is Transkriptor The Better Option For Zoom Meeting Transcription?

Transkriptor offers a solution that every non-attendee of the meeting seeks. Let us look into why Transkriptor is a better option for Zoom meeting transcription.

  1. Seamless audio-to-text conversion:

    Transkriptor converts Zoom meeting audio into text using advanced speech recognition. It is ideal for businesses relying on virtual meetings.
  2. Editable and customizable transcripts:

    Users can edit transcripts to add details, clarify jargon, and remove irrelevant content for actionable follow-ups.
  3. Flexible export options for collaboration:

    Transkripor offers multiple export formats including SRT, TXT, and PDF. It also offers one-click sharing for easy collaboration.

Seamless Audio-To-Text Conversion

Transkriptor's standout feature is its ability to effortlessly convert audio from Zoom meetings into text. The platform has user-advanced speech recognition technology that converts audio and video into text with high accuracy. This makes it an ideal choice for a business that depends solely on virtual meetings. It makes collaboration easy and transcription precise without any manual effort.

Editable And Customizable Transcripts

Unlike Zoom’s built-in transcription, Transkriptor allows users to edit the generated transcripts. This ensures clarity and precision in the notes. With editable transcript features, users can add specific details and clarify spoken jargon. You can also remove irrelevant information, resulting in a more useful document for actionable follow-ups.

Flexible Export Options For Collaboration

Transkriptor supports multiple formats for exporting the final transcription files. Users can transfer the files using rich export options like TXT, PDF, SRT, Word, or Plain Text. It also has the flexibility to share the transcription URLs with anyone with one click.

Conclusion

Recording Zoom meetings captures the key discussions and helps guide the teammates who could not join the meeting. Adding transcription takes it to the next step by making the recording more accessible and actionable.

While users get basic features to record a Zoom meeting, AI tools like Transkriptor improve the transcript quality. It offers automated transcription and rich export options. You will also find a rich text editor to correct mistakes in the transcript. Start transcribing your Zoom calls with Transkriptor!

Frequently Asked Questions

Yes, you can record the meeting with the host's permission. You can request to record during the meeting by clicking the ‘Record’ button or Chat with the host. Alternatively, you can choose tools like Transkriptor to get AI transcription for Zoom calls.

You likely can't record a Zoom meeting because you are not the host and haven't been granted permission by the meeting host to record. By default, only the host can record the Zoom meeting. Participants can only record after they get permission from the host.

You can record a Zoom meeting without showing participants by changing the Zoom screen layout. To do this, you can change your recording settings to ‘Active Speaker View’ before starting the recording.