How to Record a Zoom Meeting on Mac With Audio (2026)

To record a Zoom meeting on a Mac, open it in the Zoom desktop app and click Record. Hosts can record to the computer on a free account; cloud recording needs a licensed host. Both keep everyone’s audio. If Zoom’s recorder is not available to you, Reline (reline.so) records the call’s audio and your mic, with a transcript.

The steps are the same on a MacBook Air, a MacBook Pro, an iMac or a Mac mini. Three things usually go wrong: the Record button is missing because you are not the host; Zoom documents computer recording only for its desktop app, not for the browser; and a recording made with the Mac’s own screen recorder has no sound from the other people.

Zoom calls local recording “computer recording”. It works on a Basic (free) account and needs the Zoom desktop app for macOS. Zoom says the host must record the meeting or give a participant the ability to record.

1. Open the meeting in the Zoom desktop app for Mac, not in a browser tab.
2. If you are the host, click Record in the meeting controls. If a menu appears, choose Record on this Computer.
3. If you are a participant, ask the host to click More next to your name in the participant list and choose Allow Record. Then you can click Record yourself.
4. Pause or stop the recording from the meeting controls. When the meeting ends, Zoom converts the recording and saves it on your Mac.

On a Mac, Zoom’s default folder is /Users/[Username]/Documents/Zoom, with a folder for each meeting. Inside you find a video file (video[number].mp4) and an audio-only file (audio[number].m4a). Both carry the meeting audio, so everyone who spoke is on them, not only your microphone.

• You are not the host and the host has not allowed you to record. Ask the host first.
• An admin turned off or locked the Record to computer files setting for your account or group. Only the admin can change it.
• You joined from a browser. Zoom lists its desktop app as the requirement for computer recording.

Cloud recording needs a licensed user on a Pro, Business or Enterprise account, and only the host or a co-host can start it, from the same Record button. Recordings started by a co-host appear only in the host’s list. After Zoom processes the recording, it shows up in Zoom Hub in the desktop app and on the Recordings & Transcripts page of the Zoom web portal, where you can download it to your Mac.

Apple’s guide to recording the screen on a Mac says that in the Screenshot toolbar (Shift-Command-5) you choose a microphone to record your voice or other audio, and that an Include System Audio option exists only in macOS 27 or later. So on macOS 26 and earlier, a screen recording of a Zoom call has the video and your voice, and the other people only as far as your microphone heard them from the speakers: with headphones, not at all. QuickTime Player’s screen recording also takes a microphone. On macOS 27, Include System Audio fixes the sound, but you still get a video file with no transcript.

When Zoom’s recorder is not available to you, or you want a transcript and notes rather than a video file, Reline for Mac records your microphone and the sound your Mac plays. No bot joins, the participant list does not change, and it works with the Zoom desktop app and with Zoom in a browser.

1. Install the Reline desktop app for Mac and sign in. The Free plan is enough to start.
2. Allow the microphone when macOS asks, then allow system audio (see the table below).
3. Join the Zoom meeting. When the Zoom app starts using your microphone, Reline can show a prompt offering to record; you can also start recording yourself.
4. Tell people you are recording audio for notes, and record only if they agree.
5. Stop when the meeting ends: you get the transcript, an AI summary next to it and the kept audio.

To check your version, open the Apple menu and choose About This Mac.

• A live transcript in 60+ languages with automatic language detection.
• Me vs Other speaker labels: your microphone is Me, everything your Mac plays is Other. Speaker names are an opt-in setting that is still rolling out: on a Mac they can come from the Zoom desktop app (with Accessibility permission) or from the Reline browser extension for Zoom, Google Meet and Teams on the web.
• An AI summary next to the transcript, plus the kept audio with a play button on every transcript line.
• No video and no shared screen: for a video file, use Zoom’s own recording. No recording on an iPhone or iPad either: Reline has desktop apps for Mac, Windows and Linux (beta) and a web app, no mobile app.
• Capture is local and no bot joins, but transcription, AI and storage run in the cloud.

Not on a Mac? The same capture works in the Reline apps for Windows and Linux (beta).

When the host records with Zoom, Zoom shows a recording indicator, can ask participants to consent (OK to stay, or Leave), and people who dialled in by phone hear a message unless the host turned it off. A recorder on your own Mac shows nothing in Zoom, so telling people is on you. Say at the start that you are recording for notes, and stop if anyone objects.

• United States: federal law (18 U.S.C. 2511(2)(d)) allows recording when one party consents, but several states, such as California (Penal Code 632), require every party to agree to record a confidential communication.
• Germany: recording someone's non-public spoken words without permission can be a criminal offence (Section 201 of the Criminal Code), and data protection law (GDPR) can apply to recordings of identifiable people.
• Elsewhere: rules differ by country, and a Zoom call often spans several. Check the rules where everyone on the call is. This is not legal advice.

Start on the Free plan to record your first Zoom meetings. Professional is $15 per month ($140 per year) and Enterprise is $32 per month ($26 per month on annual).

• Zoom Support, "Starting a computer recording" (KB0076922): support.zoom.com
• Zoom Support, "Enabling or disabling computer recording" (KB0063640): support.zoom.com
• Zoom Support, "Starting a cloud recording" (KB0062627): support.zoom.com
• Zoom Support, "Finding your computer and cloud recordings" (KB0058006): support.zoom.com
• Zoom Support, "Providing consent to be recorded" (KB0059819): support.zoom.com
• Apple Support, "How to record the screen on Mac" (102618): support.apple.com
• US Code, 18 U.S.C. 2511(2)(d): law.cornell.edu
• California Penal Code, section 632: leginfo.legislature.ca.gov
• German Criminal Code (StGB), section 201: gesetze-im-internet.de/stgb/__201.html