guide · meetings
How to record a Google Meet call
The recording control is straightforward when you have it. The obstacle is that a personal Google account does not, and knowing which side of that line you are on saves a lot of clicking.
Everyone in the call is notified when recording starts. Recording people without telling them is unlawful in many jurisdictions, and the notification does not substitute for saying so.
The requirement people trip over
Recording is not available on a free personal Google account. It requires an eligible Google Workspace edition — the paid business and education tiers — and even then an administrator can switch it off for the organisation.
That is the explanation behind almost every search for a missing record button. Nothing is broken and no setting will surface it; the feature simply is not part of a free account.
If you are on a free account and need a recording, the options are a screen recorder on your own machine or asking someone in the call who does have an eligible plan.
Starting the recording
In the call, open the activities or controls panel and choose recording. Confirm when prompted, and everyone present receives a notification.
The host can record. Co-hosts can. Participants within the same organisation can if the host permits it. Someone joining from outside the organisation generally cannot, regardless of what plan they personally hold.
Stop the recording before leaving. It also stops automatically when everyone has left, but a recording left running through an empty call produces a long tail of nothing that you then have to trim.
Where the file goes
Recordings save to the Google Drive of whoever started them, in a folder created specifically for meeting recordings. An email with a link usually arrives once processing finishes, and a link is added to the calendar event when the meeting had one.
Processing is not instant. A long call can take a while to appear, and the delay scales with length — if a recording has not shown up immediately, waiting is usually the correct response.
Because the file lives in the host's Drive, sharing it means sharing a Drive file with its permissions. That trips people up when a recording is meant for someone outside the organisation, since the default sharing settings often block them.
Getting it to somebody else
A Drive link works when everyone involved has a Google account and the permissions cooperate. When they do not — a client, a contractor, a ticket attachment — you need the file itself, and that file is usually too large to send.
Meetings compress unusually well because most of the frame stays still. Use the video compressor.
If only part of the call matters, trimming beats compressing every time — use the video trimmer.
For a call you will reference rather than rewatch, keep only the sound with the audio extractor.
All of these run in the browser rather than on a server, which is worth something when the recording contains an internal discussion.
Common questions
Can I record Google Meet on a free account?
No. Recording requires an eligible paid Workspace edition, and administrators can disable it even then.
Why is the record button missing?
Either your account type does not include recording, an administrator has switched it off, or you are not the host and have not been granted permission.
Where do Google Meet recordings save?
To the Drive of whoever started the recording, in a dedicated meeting recordings folder, with a link sent by email once processing completes.
Can a participant from another organisation record?
Generally no, regardless of what plan they hold personally.
How do I share a recording with someone outside my company?
Drive permissions often block external users. Downloading the file, trimming it and compressing it is usually simpler than fighting the sharing settings.