With more people working from home, video conferencing services like Google Meet are gaining popularity.
You can easily set up a call with your colleagues in seconds. Not only that, Google has added several features that can make your video calling experience even more seamless. One of these quality-of-life features includes the recording functionality in Meet. You can use this feature to record video meetings.
This article discusses what’s recorded in a call, how to record Google Meet calls, and how you can access them later. Read on to learn more.
This Article Covers:
What Is and Isn’t Recorded in a Google Meet Recording?
When recording Google Meet calls, the speaker who is currently talking is recorded. The recording is then saved in the Google Meet Recordings section of the organizer in their My Drive. The link for the recording is then sent to the organizer via email and the person who initiated the recording.
- Other notifications or windows are not added to the recording; only the screen shared  on Google Meet will be in the recording.
- Pinning participants or a screen does not affect who is recorded in the Google Meet meeting.
- Participants are notified when the meeting starts. However, they have no control over the recording. These people include the people outside the organization, mobile users, and people dialing using a phone.
- When a participant enables live captions in a meeting, there won’t be an effect on the meeting as these are an accessibility feature, hence, not recorded.
The chat conversations are saved for the duration of the video, and these are saved as.SBV files in the organizer’s My Drive. These are displayed as subtitles depending on the video player you’re using.
How to Record Google Meet Video Calls
Here are the steps you need to follow to learn how to record Google Meet on a laptop or other computer:
- Go to Google Meet.
- Write the code to join one or start a new meeting.
3. Click on the Activities icon.
4. In the pop-up menu, click on Recording.
5. There, click on Start recording.
6. This will show a new window. Click on Start. All the participants will be notified when the recording starts or ends.
7. When you wish to stop recording, click on Activities >Â Recording >Â Stop recording.
- The recording will stop if the length reaches 8 hours.
- The recording can be found in the My drive of the person who initiated the recording. There you can find your recording in the Meet Recordings section.
- Note that you won’t instantly be able to see the video file there as soon as you stop the recording. The processing can take some time, depending on the size of the video.
Where to Find The Google Meets Recording
There are three ways to access the video file of your screen record on Google Meet. These include:
Google Drive
All recorded Google Meet calls are saved in the organizer’s Meet Recordings folder section in the My Drive. However, if changes are made by the organizer of the meeting outside the scheduled Google Calendar time, the recording link is then sent to the event creator.
If you wish to share these recordings, click on File and the Share or click on Link and paste the link into your messages or emails. To have the best quality video:
- Select the file and click on the three dots symbol.
- Click on Download.
You can now play this file on your local video player.
Email Links
An email with the link to the recording is sent to the person who organized the Google Meet meeting and the person who started recording the meeting.
Click on the link and wait for the recording to load when you get this email.
Here, you can either Play the video file or Download it.
You can also add the recording to a folder in your Google Drive this will upload the video after a short period. You can do this by clicking Add to My Drive.
Google Calendar Events
If the recording has started at the scheduled meeting time, the links are attached to the Calendar event. Individual participants in the same organization are granted access to the recording automatically. However, groups can get access automatically.
Recording Limitations.
Recording on Google Meet is a straightforward process. Unfortunately, the Google Meet recording feature has some limitations.
- Unlike Zoom, only specific types of accounts can use record on Google Meets, and they are not free. You can’t use record on Google Meet if you are on a free personal Google account.
- The meeting organizer has to enable recording for participants to be able to record.
- You can’t use a mobile device to record Google Meetings or on the Google Meet app. You’ll have to use your device’s screen recorder.
- The quality of the recording using Google sheets recorder is not the best.
- If you have reached the storage limit of your drive or your organization’s drive, then you can’t record the Google Meet session.
Save a Transcription with a Google Meet Recording
In Google Meet, you can also add transcriptions or captions for your sessions by clicking on the button that says caption. You can also save these transcriptions by using an addon like the Meet Transcript extension on Google Chrome.
The meet transcript extension can do several things, such as record chats and captions
Here’s how to use the Meet Transcript extension to save transcripts on Google Meet:
- First, you’ll need to add the extension to your Chrome browser. Go to Google and search Meet Transcript
- Click Add to Chrome. You can also use it on most other browsers..
- A prompt will appear like below, just click Add extension.
- Once you’ve added the extension, it will ask for permission to access your Google Drive and create a folder labeled Meet Transcript.
- If you go to your Google Meet window, you will see the meet transcript option at the bottom.
It may be labeled as disabled, meaning you have not given the extension access to your Google Drive. Once you give it access, the transcript button will say ready instead, which means you have successfully given the extension access to your Google Drive.
- The extension will redirect you to a page where you can change some settings, and once you’re done you are ready to transcribe your Google Meets sessions. The extension automatically records and saves the captions of the meeting as long as they are on.
- You can access the transcript file at the end of the session by clicking on the transcript button at the bottom left, which will redirect you to the Google docs of the transcript.
If you wish to stop recording the captions, then all you need to do is turn off captions. To resume transcribing, turn the captions back on. You can access your transcript immediately by selecting the transcript button or later through your Google Drive.
Why Is Google Meets Recording Not Working?
Google Meeting recording functionality is only available for meetings that have been organized by specific Google Workspace edition accounts. These include:
- Essentials
- Business (Standard & Plus)
- Enterprise (Starter, Essentials, Standard & Plus)
- Education Plus (Users with “student” & “staff” licenses)
- Teaching and Learning Upgrades
- Workspace Individual Subscribers
If you can’t find the recording button in your Google Meet interface, follow these steps:
- Check whether the admin has turned recording on for Meet in Google Admin console.
- Make sure that you’re using Google Meet on a computer, as the recording functionality only works with the desktop version.
- Ensure you haven’t joined the meeting as a presenter only. If you join the same room from a different device to present, you won’t have the functionality to record the meeting.
- Check whether the meeting was created on a conference device or was created using a Chrome plug-in. Make sure the meetings have been created manually as Google Calendar meetings, or the ones generated automatically don’t have the functionality to record.
- Lastly, ensure that the meeting organizer’s account isn’t disabled as these accounts don’t have the functionality to record. To fix this, delete the meeting from your schedule in Google Calendar and create a new meeting to generate a code as the new owner.
If you’re able to record but do not find that recording later, check for these:
- The recording isn’t ready yet. Generating a recording takes time and isn’t done instantly. When the recording is ready, an email is sent to the organizer and the people who started the recording.
- The link for the recording is added to the Calendar or is saved in the organizer’s Google Meet Recordings section in My Drive.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can You Record Google Meet Using a Screen Recorder?
Yes, you can use your phone’s in-built feature like a screen recording option, to record a Google Meet session. However, this is more limited than using Google’s recording feature since you can’t record things like chats and captions simultaneously unless they appear on the screen. The screen recorder works for both mobile and desktop devices.
How Do I Know if My Google Meet is Being Recorded?
If your Google Meet session is being recorded, you will usually see a sign at the top left corner of the screen that says REC.
Can You Record a Google Meet if You Are Not the Host?
Yes, all Google Meet meeting members can record a Google Meet video call as long as they have the proper Google Workspace edition accounts. These include the Essentials, Business, Enterprise, Education Plus, and Workspace Individual Subscribers accounts.
Do I Need the Host’s Permission to Record the Google Meeting?
You will need to have the permission of everyone in the meeting to be able to record a Google Meet call. However, if you’re using third-party recording software, Google won’t notify the members of an active recording.
How to Download a Google Meet Recording?
Go to the Meet Recordings section in the My Drive section of your Google Drive. Select the file you wish to download and click on More. Click on Download to start downloading the video to your device.
How Do You Record a Google Meet?
Follow these 3 steps to learn How to record a Google Meets session:
- Click on the Activities icon
- Click Recording
- Click Start Recording
The above method is both how to record a Google Meet call or record Google Meet video.
Wrapping Up the Google Meet Recording Function
Recording Google Meet sessions can be a great way to save the meetings for later use. Starting a recording can be done in seconds and easily accessed through Google Drive. Make sure to ask for permission before you start recording a Google Meeting. You can easily remove the recording from your Google Drive when you’re done.
Now that you know how to record Google Meet, you may find these other Google Suite guides useful:
