Google Meet is a popular video conferencing platform that allows users to easily conduct online meetings and webinars. An important feature of Google Meet is the ability to record your sessions so you can review and share them later. Here is a comprehensive guide on how to record and download Google Meet conference calls.
Table of Contents
Requirements for Recording Google Meet Calls
To use the built-in recording feature in Google Meet, you need:
- A Google Workspace account (Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise, Education, Nonprofits, or Legacy G Suite Basic/Business)
- Permission from your Google Workspace admin to enable call recording
- Host or co-host privileges in the meeting you want to record
If you don’t meet these requirements, don’t worry! Later in this article I’ll cover some alternative recording methods you can use with a free Google account.
How to Record a Google Meet Call
Recording a meeting with Google Meet built-in recording is easy. Just follow these steps:
1. Start or join your meeting
Go to meet.google.com or open the Google Meet app and start or join your meeting. Make sure you have host or co-host privileges.
2. Click on “Activities” in the bottom right corner
This opens up the Activities menu.
3. Select “Recording”
This brings up the recording controls.
4. Click on “Start recording”
A popup will ask you to confirm. Click “Start” and your meeting will begin recording!
All participants will be notified that the meeting is now being recorded. A red recording indicator will appear at the top left corner of the meeting screen.
5. Click “Stop recording” when you are done
Go back to the Activities > Recording menu and select “Stop recording”. Confirm that you want to end the recording.
The video will now process and save to Google Drive automatically.
Where Google Meet Recordings are Saved
By default, Google Meet recordings are saved to the meeting organizer’s Google Drive account.
Specifically, they are saved in My Drive > Meet Recordings.
An email with the recording link is also sent to the meeting organizer. If someone else started the recording, they will receive the email with link as well.
How to Download Google Meet Recordings
There are a couple easy ways to download your Google Meet recordings to your computer:
From Google Drive
- Open Google Drive and go to
My Drive > Meet Recordings - Right click on the video file and choose
Download - The video will download as an MP4 file that you can save locally and share
From the email link
- Open the email you received with the recording link
- Click on the link to open the video
- Click on the 3-dot menu in the top right and choose
Download - The MP4 video will download to your computer
Once downloaded, you can edit the videos or share them with others as needed!
Alternative Ways to Record Google Meet for Free
If you don’t have a Google Workspace account, you can use the following methods to record Google Meet calls for free:
Use screen recording software
Screen recording apps like OBS Studio, Screencast-o-Matic, and Screen Recorder allow you to capture your full desktop or just individual windows. So you can use them to record your Google Meet calls.
Just start your recording, launch the Google Meet app, then stop recording when your meeting ends. Then you’ll have a video you can share or edit.
Use a third-party Google Meet recorder
Some apps are specifically designed to integrate with and record your Google Meet sessions. Examples include:
- MeetRecord – Records, transcribes, and analyzes your meetings automatically. Has a free plan.
- Grain – Records calls, generates transcripts, summaries, and highlights. Free for individuals.
- Descript – Offers automated recording, transcription, editing tools, and more. Free trial available.
These tools often come with more features beyond just recording, like live transcription, meeting insights, and content sharing.
Tips for Recording Your Meetings
Here are some tips to help you get the most out of recording your Google Meet conference calls:
- Inform participants – Let everyone know you are recording the meeting and get their consent first.
- Mute notifications – Mute chat/email notifications to keep them from displaying in the recording.
- Pin presenters – Pin the video tile of anyone doing an important presentation.
- Check audio & video – Make sure everyone’s mic and camera are working properly.
- Use ethernet – For the meeting host, use a wired internet connection for best quality.
- Test first – Do a test recording to ensure everything works as expected.
Editing & Sharing Your Recorded Meetings
Once you have downloaded the MP4 videos of your meeting recordings, consider editing them before sharing:
- Trim – Cut out any unnecessary beginning/end content with video editing software.
- Blur background – Blur your background to hide any mess or distractions.
- Add captions – Make the content more accessible by adding closed captions.
- Highlight speaker – Zoom in on the active speaker for more engaging playback.
- Share – Upload edited video to YouTube or Vimeo, or simply email the MP4 file.
Conclusion
Recording Google Meet calls is easy whether you want to use the built-in tool or a third-party recorder. Just make sure to get meeting participants’ consent, inform them that you are recording, and take steps to optimize quality.
With the recordings downloaded and optionally edited in post-production, you can replay important sessions or distribute the videos to anyone that could benefit from the information.
This provides a great way to keep stakeholders engaged, align remote teams, deliver training material, or simply share what was discussed with those who couldn’t attend the live session.
So start recording those Google Meet conferences today! Let me know in the comments if you have any other questions.
