How to Record a Zoom Meeting on Windows 10 and 11 (2026)

To record a Zoom meeting on Windows 10 or 11, open it in the Zoom desktop app, click Record (Alt + R) and, if asked, choose Record on this Computer; hosts can do this on a free account. Without permission, Windows’ Game Bar or Snipping Tool captures the window, or Reline records the audio with a transcript and no bot.

The steps are the same on a Windows laptop or a desktop PC. 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 screen recording made with Windows’ own tools misses the sound when its audio settings are not switched on first.

Zoom calls local recording “computer recording”. It works on a Basic (free) account and needs the Zoom desktop app for Windows. 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 Windows, not in a browser tab.
2. If you are the host, click Record in the meeting controls, or press Alt + R. If a menu appears, choose Record on this Computer.
3. If you are a participant, ask the host to open Participants, click More next to your name and choose Allow Record. Then you can record yourself.
4. Press Alt + P to pause or resume, and Alt + R again to stop. When the meeting ends, Zoom converts the recording and saves it on your PC.

On Windows, Zoom’s default folder is C:\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. Zoom recommends keeping recordings on a local drive rather than a synced or external one. If a file is not where you expect, the Computer recordings tab of the Zoom web portal shows where each recording was saved.

• You are not the host and the host has not allowed you to record. Ask the host first.
• An admin turned off or locked computer recording 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 or with Alt + C. 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 PC.

Windows can also capture the Zoom window itself, whether you are the host or not. Both tools below give you a video file, not a transcript, and neither shows anything in Zoom. Check their audio settings before you start, so the recording has the other people’s voices and yours.

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 Zoom 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.

On Windows 11, open Snipping Tool, select Record, then New, drag over the Zoom 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.

When Zoom’s recorder is not available to you, or you want notes rather than a video file, record your PC instead of the meeting. Reline’s Windows desktop app records your microphone and the system audio (everyone else in the meeting) locally, then gives you a live transcript, an AI summary and the kept audio. Nothing joins the meeting, the participant list does not change, and you do not need to be the host or a licensed user. It works with the Zoom desktop app and with Zoom in a browser.

1. Download the Reline Windows app and sign in. You can start on the Free plan.
2. Allow the microphone: in Windows 11, open Settings, Privacy & security, Microphone, and turn on "Let desktop apps access your microphone".
3. Join the Zoom meeting as usual. When the Zoom app starts using your microphone, Reline can show a prompt to start recording; you can also start it yourself.
4. Tell people you are recording audio for notes, then 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: with the Zoom desktop app for Windows, the transcript is labeled Me vs Other (your microphone vs the meeting audio). Speaker Tags, which is rolling out and not on for every account yet, names who is speaking when it is switched on in Reline, the Reline browser extension is installed in Chrome or Edge, and you join Zoom on the web in that browser.

• No video and no shared screen: Reline keeps audio and a transcript. For video, use Zoom’s own recording, Game Bar or Snipping Tool.
• It records the whole default output, not one window, so other sounds on your PC are captured too.
• No speaker names from the Zoom desktop app on Windows: names need Speaker Tags (rolling out) and Zoom on the web in Chrome or Edge with the browser extension.
• No on-device AI: transcription, summaries and storage run in the cloud. Only the capture is local.
• You press Record yourself, and there is no mobile app.

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

Zoom’s notice only covers its own recording: 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. Game Bar, Snipping Tool 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.

• Zoom Support, "Starting a computer recording" (KB0076922): support.zoom.com
• Zoom Support, "Finding your computer and cloud recordings" (KB0058006): support.zoom.com
• Zoom Support, "Starting a cloud recording" (KB0062627): support.zoom.com
• Zoom Support, "Hot keys and keyboard shortcuts" (KB0067050): support.zoom.com
• Zoom Support, "Enabling or disabling computer recording" (KB0063640): support.zoom.com
• Zoom Support, "Providing consent to be recorded" (KB0059819): support.zoom.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