In the Zoom desktop app, click Record, then Record on this computer, and Zoom saves an MP4 when the meeting ends. Not the host? Ask them for permission first.
Free, no sign-up, no watermark. Pick what to record to begin.
Pick one to start. You can add or switch sources any time.
Your browser will ask for permission. Recordings stay on this device, nothing is uploaded.
Zoom has its own recorder, and it’s the method to try first. Computer recording (Zoom also calls it local recording) is included on the free Basic plan and saves the meeting to your computer. Cloud recording saves it to your Zoom account instead and needs a paid licence. Either way, Zoom shows everyone a recording indicator, so nobody is recorded without being told.
Sometimes Zoom’s button isn’t an option: an administrator has switched recording off, you joined from a browser, or you’re on a phone. If everyone in the meeting has agreed to be recorded, you can capture the call yourself with the browser tab recorder on this page, which records the meeting window or tab with its sound and your microphone. This guide covers both, plus where the files end up and what to do when sound or permission goes missing.
Start or join the meeting in the Zoom Workplace app on Windows, macOS or Linux. Computer recording isn’t available in the Zoom web app or the iPhone, iPad and Android apps.
Click Record in the meeting controls. If you can’t see it, it may be under More. Choose Record on this computer; Record to the cloud appears as well on paid accounts.
Participants can only record once the host allows it. Ask the host in the meeting or in chat. The host opens Participants, points to your name, clicks More and chooses Allow Record, and the Record button then works for you.
Use the pause and stop controls at the top of the meeting window, or click Record again. Everyone sees a Recording label while it runs.
When the meeting ends, Zoom converts the recording. Leave the app open until it finishes. The files land in a dated folder inside Documents > Zoom: an MP4 video and an M4A of the sound alone.
| Computer recording | Cloud recording | |
|---|---|---|
| Plan | Free Basic and paid plans | Paid licences (Pro and above) |
| Devices | Desktop app on Windows, macOS, Linux | Desktop, web, iPhone, iPad and Android |
| Saved to | Your computer (Documents > Zoom) | Your Zoom account, online |
| Who can start it | The host, or a participant the host allows | The host and co-hosts |
On a free account, computer recording is the only built-in choice and it works on a laptop or desktop. On a paid account, cloud recording is handier for sharing because Zoom gives you a link, and it’s the only way to record from the mobile apps. An account administrator can switch either kind off, in which case the Record button disappears or does nothing.
Zoom doesn’t let participants record on their own. The host decides, which keeps the meeting in their hands. Click Record and, if you don’t have permission yet, Zoom offers to send the host a request. The host can also grant it at any time from the Participants panel (More > Allow Record), or make you a co-host.
If the host says no, respect that. Recording a meeting by other means after the host has refused breaks the trust of the people in it, and often the organisation’s rules too.
Use this when Zoom’s own recording isn’t available to you but everyone in the meeting has agreed to be recorded, for example a call with a friend on a free account who joined from a browser. Zoom won’t show its usual recording notice for a capture made outside the app, so say clearly at the start that you’re recording.
Everyone’s voices come through the tab’s sound, your voice comes through the mic, and recorder.video mixes them into one video. Nothing is uploaded: the recording is saved in your browser as you go, so a crash doesn’t lose it.
Share the Zoom window or your whole screen instead. On Windows, choose Entire screen and tick Share system audio to include the other voices. Browsers on a Mac can’t record another app’s sound, so on a Mac join from the browser and share the tab as above.
A meeting can run long, so set Stop recording after in More > Settings if you might not be at your desk when it ends. Open the recorder with Screen selected to start.
The mobile apps can’t save a recording to the phone. With a paid licence, the host can start a cloud recording from the meeting controls (look under More), and the file appears in the Zoom web portal afterwards. On a free account there is no built-in way to record from a phone or tablet.
The phone’s own screen recorder captures the picture, but whether it picks up the other people’s voices depends on the phone and the app, so test it before an important call. Guides for the iPhone screen recorder and iPad screen recorder cover the steps. The same consent rules apply: tell everyone first.
Computer recordings go into the Zoom folder inside Documents on Windows and macOS, with one folder per meeting named after its date, time and topic. You can choose another location in the Zoom app’s settings, under Recording. Avoid a cloud-synced or network folder, which can interrupt the conversion at the end.
Cloud recordings appear on the recordings page of the Zoom web portal once Zoom has processed them, and the host gets an email with the link. Browser recordings made with recorder.video stay in your browser, listed under Your recordings, until you download them.
Always tell people before you record them, and ideally get a clear yes. Zoom announces its own recordings with an on-screen indicator, and participants may be asked to agree before they continue. A recording made with any other tool carries no such notice, so the announcement is up to you.
Laws differ by place. Some places, including several US states such as California, require everyone on a call to consent. In the UK and EU, a recording that contains people’s voices and faces is personal data, so sharing it or using it for work brings data protection duties. Your employer, school or the meeting organiser may also have rules, and Zoom’s terms apply to how you use its service. If in doubt, ask, and don’t record.
You don’t have permission from the host, you’re in the web or mobile app, or an administrator has turned recording off for your account. Ask the host first; administrators can change the setting in the Zoom web portal.
Zoom converts computer recordings after the meeting ends, and quitting or shutting down during that step stops it. Reopen the Zoom app and let it finish before moving or renaming the meeting folder.
The tab audio box was unticked, or you shared a window instead of a tab. Share the meeting tab again with Also share tab audio on. recorder.video shows a notice when the share arrives without sound.
Your microphone heard the call through your speakers. Use headphones, or lower Screen audio under Volume in Adjust sound and framing before the next take.
Yes, once the host allows it. Click Record to send a request, or ask the host to choose Allow Record next to your name in the Participants panel. If the host says no, don’t record the meeting another way.
Zoom’s own recordings show a Recording indicator to everyone, and participants may be asked to consent. Recordings made with other tools don’t trigger that notice, so tell people yourself.
Computer recordings are saved in Documents > Zoom on your computer, one folder per meeting, as an MP4 plus an M4A audio file. Cloud recordings are kept in your Zoom account and listed in the web portal.
Yes. Computer recording works on the free Basic plan in the desktop app for Windows, macOS and Linux. Cloud recording needs a paid licence.
With a paid licence, start a cloud recording from the meeting controls in the Zoom app. Free accounts can’t record from a phone with Zoom itself; the phone’s screen recorder is the alternative, as long as everyone agrees.
Join from your browser, then record that tab with recorder.video and keep tab audio on. It records the call and your mic into one MP4 with no install. Tell everyone you’re recording first.
Zoom’s computer recording already saves an M4A of the sound next to the MP4. With recorder.video, open the arrow beside Download MP4 and choose Audio only or Audio as WAV.