How to Stop Recording in Google Meet
How to stop a Google Meet recording from the meeting controls, who is allowed to stop it, how to confirm it has ended, and what happens to the file afterward.
To stop a Google Meet recording, open the meeting's Activities panel, choose Recording, select Stop recording, and confirm. Only certain people can do this, usually the person who started the recording or the meeting's host. If everyone leaves the meeting, the recording also stops on its own. The sections below cover the steps, how to check that the recording has ended, and what to do if the option isn't available to you.
First, check which kind of recording is running
"Recording" can mean two different things in a video call, and they stop in different ways:
- Google Meet's built-in recording: Started from inside the meeting. Meet shows a recording indicator to everyone in the call and saves the file to Google Drive. This guide covers stopping this type.
- A separate screen recorder: A tool in your operating system, a browser extension or another app capturing your screen. Meet can't see or control these recordings. You stop them in the tool that started them.
Stopping one type has no effect on the other. If you're not sure what's running, look for Meet's recording indicator near the top of the meeting window. If you don't see it, Meet itself is probably not recording.
Steps to stop a Google Meet recording on a computer
- 1. In the meeting window, click the Activities icon in the bottom-right controls. It is usually a small icon made of shapes.
- 2. Choose Recording from the Activities panel.
- 3. Click Stop recording.
- 4. When a confirmation window appears, click Stop recording again.
Google updates the Meet interface from time to time, so labels and icon positions may not match these steps exactly. In some versions you can also click the recording indicator at the top of the meeting to open the stop option. If the Activities panel isn't visible, widen the browser window or look under the More options menu (three dots), because controls can collapse into that menu on smaller screens.
On a phone or tablet
Recording controls in the Meet mobile app depend on your account type and app version. If your app offers recording, look for the recording control in the in-call menu, usually under More options or Activities. Then tap Stop recording and confirm. If you can't find the option, join the meeting from a computer browser and stop the recording there, or ask the host to stop it.
How to confirm the recording has stopped
- The recording indicator at the top of the meeting disappears.
- Meet typically shows a short notice to participants that recording has stopped.
- In the Activities panel, the Recording section shows an option to start recording again rather than to stop it.
These checks only confirm that Meet's built-in recording has ended. They don't show whether anyone is capturing the call with a separate tool. If captions transcription, note-taking or similar features were turned on with the recording, check their sections in the Activities panel. They may be separate features and might need to be stopped on their own.
Who can stop a recording
Usually the person who started the recording or the meeting organizer can stop it. Co-hosts may also be able to, depending on the meeting and organization settings. If you're a regular participant and don't see a stop option, you probably don't have permission. Ask the host or the person recording to stop it. If you don't want to be recorded and the recording continues, you can turn off your camera and microphone, or leave the meeting.
If you never see any recording option
Meet's built-in recording is available only with certain Google accounts and plans, and an organization's administrator can turn it off. If your account doesn't offer recording at all, any recording in your meeting was started by someone else. That could be another participant with recording access, or someone using a separate screen recorder. That person has to stop it.
What happens to the file after you stop
After you stop, Meet processes the recording and saves it to the meeting organizer's Google Drive, normally in a folder for Meet recordings. Google usually emails a link to the organizer and to the person who started the recording. Processing isn't instant, so the file may take a while to appear. Stopping a recording doesn't delete it. To remove it, find the file in Google Drive and delete it there, if you have permission to.
Limits of this guide
No confirmed source material was available for this guide, so it relies on Google Meet's general behavior. It doesn't give exact processing times, which account plans include recording, or the current label of every menu item. These details can change. If what you see in Meet doesn't match these steps, Google's own Meet help pages for your account type will be the most current reference.