How to Record a Meeting on a Laptop (Windows 11 and Mac)

To record a meeting on a laptop, press the meeting app's own Record button if you are allowed. If not, use your laptop's screen recorder: Xbox Game Bar or Snipping Tool on Windows 11, Shift-Command-5 on a Mac (system audio needs macOS 27). For a transcript with no bot, or a meeting in a room, use a recorder like Reline.

A meeting on a laptop has two audio sources. Your microphone hears you. Everyone else on the call comes out of the speakers or headset as system audio. A tool that records only the microphone gets your voice clearly and the others as a faint echo from the speakers, or not at all with a headset on. So before a long meeting, check that the tool captures system audio, and run a 30-second test.

Start here: it is the simplest route, and everyone can see that it is running. The catch is that the app decides who may press it.

All four show a notice or an indicator while recording. If the button is missing or greyed out, ask the host, or use one of the options below.

If the Record button is not yours to press and you need the picture, record the window yourself. These tools give you a video file, not a transcript, and none of them tells the other people in the meeting. Video also fills a laptop's disk far faster than audio, so check your free space before a long meeting.

1. Press Windows key + G to open Game Bar, open Settings, go to Capturing and set the audio to All, so all computer sounds are recorded, not only the game.
2. Click into the meeting window so it is the app in front.
3. Press Windows key + Alt + R to start recording, and Windows key + Alt + M to switch your microphone on or off during the recording.
4. Press Windows key + Alt + R again to stop. Microsoft saves the MP4 in the Captures folder inside your Videos folder.

Open Snipping Tool, select Record, then New (or press Windows key + Shift + R), drag over the meeting window and select Start; select Stop when you are done. Microsoft added optional PC audio and microphone recording to Snipping Tool in version 11.2307.44.0, so update the app from the Microsoft Store and check that both audio options are on before you start. Microsoft documents video snips for Windows 11 only, so on Windows 10 use Game Bar.

1. Press Shift-Command-5 to open the Screenshot toolbar.
2. Choose to record the entire screen, a portion you drag out or, on macOS 26 or later, a single window, and pick the meeting window.
3. Open Options. On macOS 27 or later, choose Include System Audio so the others are in the recording, and a microphone for your own voice. On earlier versions, a microphone is the only sound you can choose.
4. Click Record. To stop, click the Stop button in the menu bar or press Command-Control-Esc. The video is saved to your desktop by default.

A notetaker bot joins the meeting as an extra participant. A bot-free recorder runs on your laptop instead. Reline is the one we make, so weigh our view accordingly; Granola and Jamie also work without a bot. Reline's desktop app for Windows and Mac records your microphone and the system audio locally, then gives you a live transcript, an AI summary and the kept audio. Nothing joins the meeting, and you do not need the host's recording rights.

1. Download the Reline app for Windows or Mac and sign in. You can start on the Free plan.
2. Allow the microphone. On Windows 11, open Settings, Privacy & security, Microphone, and turn on "Let desktop apps access your microphone". On a Mac, allow it when macOS asks, then allow system audio (on macOS 14.2 and later this is an audio-only permission).
3. Join your meeting as usual, in its app or in your browser.
4. Press Record in Reline. The live transcript starts as people talk, in 60+ languages with automatic language detection.
5. Stop when the meeting ends. You get the transcript, an AI summary next to it, and the kept audio, with a play button on every transcript line.

Speaker names: the transcript is labeled Me vs Other (your microphone vs the meeting audio), and Reline does not read names from the meeting app. In a group meeting, open Who is on the other side beside the record button and choose Separate speakers (beta): Reline numbers each voice on the meeting side (an estimate), and you click a voice to name it yourself.

Cannot install anything on a work laptop? Reline also runs in Chrome. It hears your microphone at once, and if the meeting plays in a browser tab, you share that tab with its audio to capture the other side.

With everyone in one room, there is no call audio to capture, only the microphone. For a small table, these all do the job:

• Windows 11: Sound Recorder asks for your microphone and records up to three hours per file. Microsoft says recordings are stored within the app and are deleted if you uninstall it.
• Mac: Voice Memos records from the built-in microphone, a supported headset or an external mic, and can show a live transcript where Apple offers it (not in every country or region).
• Reline, in the browser or the desktop app: a live transcript in 60+ languages, an AI summary and the kept audio. Everyone in the room is on one microphone, so open Who is on this microphone and choose Shared mic (beta): Reline numbers each voice (an estimate), and you click a voice to name it yourself.

The setup matters more than the app:

• Put the laptop in the middle of the table, screen open, and plug it in. Closing the lid usually puts a laptop to sleep, which can stop the recording.
• A built-in microphone favours whoever sits closest. For a bigger table, connect a USB conference microphone; in Reline, choose it in Settings, Transcription, Microphone.
• Silence notifications, and keep your typing down: a laptop's microphone sits close to its keyboard.
• Run a ten-second test: everyone says their name in turn. It checks the audio and puts every name into the transcript.

Part of the meeting on a call? Then you need both sources. Reline keeps them apart: the room on the microphone side, the remote people on the call audio side.

Each guide has the exact steps, the limits and where the file goes for one app on one system.

• No video: Reline keeps audio and a transcript, not a screen recording. For video, use the meeting app's Record button or your laptop's screen recorder.
• On Windows it records the whole default output, not one window, so other sounds on your laptop are captured too.
• The Mac app runs on macOS 12 or later. System audio needs macOS 13 or later, so on macOS 12 only your microphone is recorded.
• No speaker names from the meeting app: the beta Separate speakers and Shared mic options only number voices for you to name.
• No on-device AI: transcription, summaries and storage run in the cloud. Only the capture is local.
• Unless you turn on Auto-record meetings (desktop app, paid plans), you press Record yourself. There is no mobile app.

A meeting app's notice only covers its own Record button. Game Bar, Snipping Tool, the Mac Screenshot toolbar and Reline put no notice in the meeting, so the notice is on you. Several US states, California among them, require every party to agree before a call is recorded, and in the EU you need a lawful basis under the GDPR and should say why you record. Rules differ by country and state, so check the rules where everyone on the call is. The simple habit: say at the start of the meeting that you are recording for notes, and stop if someone objects. In a room, nothing announces the recording at all, so say it out loud and keep the laptop in view.

• Microsoft Support, "Record a meeting in Microsoft Teams": support.microsoft.com
• Microsoft Support, "Manage meeting and call recordings in Microsoft Teams Free": support.microsoft.com
• Microsoft Support, "Use a screen reader to record your screen with Xbox Game Bar": support.microsoft.com
• Microsoft Support, "Use Snipping Tool to capture screenshots": support.microsoft.com
• Windows Insider Blog, Snipping Tool 11.2307.44.0 (31 August 2023): blogs.windows.com
• Microsoft Support, "Sound Recorder app for Windows: FAQ": support.microsoft.com
• Microsoft Support, "Turn on app permissions for your microphone in Windows": support.microsoft.com
• Apple Support, "How to record the screen on Mac" (102618): support.apple.com
• Apple Support, Voice Memos User Guide for Mac, "Create a recording" and "View a transcription": support.apple.com
• Zoom Support, "Starting a computer recording" (KB0076922): support.zoom.com
• Zoom Support, "Starting a cloud recording" (KB0062627): support.zoom.com
• Google Meet Help, "Record a video meeting" (9308681): support.google.com
• Webex Help, "Record a meeting or webinar" and "Record a meeting on your computer": help.webex.com
• Granola home page: granola.ai
• Jamie home page: meetjamie.ai