How to save a Google Meet recording

The short answer

You don't need to save a Google Meet recording yourself. Once a recording stops, Google Meet processes it and saves it to Google Drive, in a folder called Meet Recordings in the meeting organizer's My Drive. To keep a copy on your computer, open the recording in Google Drive and download it as a video file.

There are two cases. If you're the organizer, the file is in your own Drive. If someone else organized the meeting, the recording belongs to them. You can only open or download it if it has been shared with you.

Before you start: can the meeting be recorded at all?

Recording isn't available on every Google account. It depends on the account's Google Workspace edition or subscription and on whether an administrator has turned recording on for the organization. A meeting's host settings can also limit who may start a recording. Which plans include recording changes over time, so check the current plan details for your account rather than assuming the feature is available.

If you don't see a recording option in the meeting's activities or tools menu, recording is most likely not enabled for your account or for that meeting.

Step by step: find and save the recording

• 1. Record the meeting. During the call, start recording from the meeting's activities or recording control. Participants are notified that recording has begun.
• 2. Stop the recording. Stop it from the same control, or let it end when the meeting ends. Saving starts after the recording stops, not while it is running.
• 3. Wait for processing. The file can take some time to appear, and longer meetings generally take longer. The organizer, and the person who started the recording if that was someone else, usually get an email with a link once the recording is ready.
• 4. Open Google Drive with the organizer's account and go to My Drive, then the Meet Recordings folder. The file is usually named after the meeting and includes the date and time.
• 5. Download a local copy. Right-click the recording, or open it and use the more-options menu, and choose Download. The file downloads as a standard video file you can play outside Google Drive.
• 6. Share it if needed. Use Drive's sharing options to give others access instead of sending them the large file.

How to tell it worked

• The recording appears in the Meet Recordings folder in the organizer's Google Drive.
• It plays in Drive's preview from start to finish, with both picture and sound.
• After you download it, the file opens and plays in a media player on your computer.
• Anyone you shared it with can open it from their own account.

A file that appears in Drive but has no picture or no sound points to a capture problem during the meeting, such as a muted microphone or a camera that was off. Saving the file can't fix that afterward.

If you can't find the recording

• Wait a little longer. Processing may not be finished, especially for long meetings.
• Check the right account. The file goes to the organizer's Drive, not to every participant's Drive.
• Search Drive for the meeting name or for the Meet Recordings folder.
• Check your email for the message Google sends when the recording is ready.
• Check the calendar event. For scheduled meetings, a link to the recording may be added to the event, depending on how the meeting was set up and who was invited.
• Ask the organizer to share it with you if you weren't the organizer.

If recording isn't available to you

If your account can't use Meet's built-in recording, you can't use the Drive-based saving process described above. Some people use a separate screen-recording tool instead. Recording other people may require their consent, and rules differ by location and organization, so tell participants and get permission before you capture a call by any method.

What this guide can't confirm

No specific figures were available for this guide. It doesn't state how long processing takes, how much storage a recording uses, which subscription tiers include recording, or exactly how long a recording stays in Drive. Recordings count toward the organizer's Google storage, so check your available space and your organization's retention policies if you need to keep recordings long term.