Microsoft Teams Meeting Recording Retention Policy

Before you start

Teams meeting recording retention depends on how the recording is stored. A recording can be saved to OneDrive for the person who started the recording, or to SharePoint when the meeting is in a channel. Retention is then controlled by Microsoft 365 retention policies, not by a single setting inside the Teams meeting window. You may need Microsoft 365 admin access to view or change the policy, depending on how your organization is managed.

Step-by-step instructions

First, confirm where the recording is stored. Open the meeting chat or channel where the recording was shared, select the recording link, and note whether it opens in OneDrive or SharePoint. This determines which retention location applies.

Next, check the current retention policy in the Microsoft 365 compliance center. Go to Policies, then Retention policies, and look for policies that include Teams recordings, OneDrive, or SharePoint. A policy may retain items for a set period, delete them after a set period, or both.

If an admin needs to adjust retention, open the relevant policy or create a new one, choose the locations that match the recording storage, and set the retention period and action. Changes can take time to apply, so a newly adjusted policy may not immediately affect existing recordings.

Check the output

After the policy is applied, open the recording location and confirm that the recording remains available for the expected period. Check the policy's retention action to see whether the item will be kept, deleted, or kept and then deleted. The recording duration, resolution, and stored file format do not change the retention period themselves; retention follows the policy assigned to its storage location.

Common problems and next steps

A common issue is looking for retention inside Teams instead of in the compliance center. Teams itself may show limited information about a recording's life cycle, while the controlling policy is elsewhere.

Another issue is checking only one storage location. A meeting recording in a channel follows SharePoint retention, while a non-channel recording follows OneDrive retention. If the policy covers one location but not the other, retention behavior can appear inconsistent.

If a recording is missing, first verify the storage location and the retention policy that applies to that exact location. Check whether the policy includes a deletion action and whether the retention period has already passed. If you do not have admin access, ask an admin to confirm the policy rather than assuming the recording was manually deleted.