How to Record Zoom Audio Only: Free and Paid (2026)

Yes, you can record Zoom audio only. A computer recording, free on any account, saves an audio-only M4A file (audio[number].m4a) next to the MP4: keep the M4A. On a paid plan, cloud recording has a Record audio-only files setting. Both need the host’s permission. Without it, Reline (reline.so) records the call’s audio and your mic, with a live transcript.

Most guides say audio-only recording is a paid cloud feature. Zoom’s own help pages say otherwise: the audio file is part of every computer recording. What you cannot get from Zoom is a recording without the host’s say, which is where a recorder on your own computer comes in.

Zoom calls local recording “computer recording”. It works on a Basic (free) account in the Zoom desktop app for Windows, macOS or Linux, and Zoom says the host must record the meeting or give a participant the ability to record. There is no separate audio-only button: the M4A comes with every computer recording.

1. Join the meeting in the Zoom desktop app, 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 open the participant list, click More next to your name and choose Allow Record. Then you can click Record yourself.
4. Stop the recording or end the meeting. Zoom converts the recording and opens the folder.
5. Keep audio[number].m4a. The video[number].mp4 next to it is the same meeting with picture; delete it if you only want sound.

By default the folder is Documents/Zoom in your user folder, on both Mac and Windows, with one folder per meeting. The M4A carries the meeting audio, so everyone who spoke is on it, not only your microphone. Zoom documents computer recording only for its desktop apps and says it is not supported on iPhone, iPad or Android.

For editing a podcast or an interview, separate tracks help. In the Zoom desktop app, open Settings, go to the Recording tab, click Advanced and turn on Record separate participant audio files. Zoom records separate files for up to 80 participants, named audio, then the participant’s name, then a number, as M4A. People who joined by phone are merged into one file.

Cloud recording needs a licensed user on a Pro, Business or Enterprise account, and only the host or a co-host can start it. It works from the desktop app, the iPhone and Android apps and the Zoom Web App. Set the audio file up before the meeting:

1. Sign in to the Zoom web portal and open Settings, then Recording & Transcript. Admins find the same setting for the whole account or a group in the Admin Center.
2. Under Cloud recording, tick Record audio-only files.
3. Choose one audio file for all participants, a separate file for each participant (up to 200 speakers), or both.
4. Start a cloud recording in the meeting. After Zoom processes it, download the M4A from Recordings & Transcripts in the web portal, or open it from Zoom Hub in the desktop app.

Not with Zoom’s recorder. Both computer and cloud recording start with the host: the host records, allows you to record, or makes you a co-host. If asking is not an option, the remaining way is a recorder on your own computer that captures what your speakers play, after you tell the others.

Reline is the tool we make, so weigh our view accordingly. Its desktop app records your microphone and the sound your computer plays, and transcribes the call live as people talk, in 60+ languages. It records audio, never video, and no bot joins, so it works whether or not Zoom’s recording is open to you, in the Zoom desktop app or in a browser tab.

1. Download the Reline app for Mac or Windows and sign in. The Free plan includes 10 hours of transcription, with up to 1 hour per note.
2. Allow the microphone, then system audio (see the Mac table below; on Windows, see the sound tip).
3. Join the Zoom meeting. Tell everyone you are recording audio for notes, and record only if they agree.
4. Press Record in Reline. The transcript appears as people talk.
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.

Know the limits. Reline transcribes live while it records: it cannot transcribe an M4A you already made with Zoom, and there is no file upload. If you need an audio file to edit or archive, Zoom’s M4A is the better fit; Reline is for the words. Your voice and the call are labeled Me and Other; the beta Separate speakers option numbers the voices on the call side, and you name them yourself. Capture happens on your computer, but transcription, AI and storage run in the cloud. Reline also runs on Linux (beta), and has no mobile app.

When someone records with Zoom, Zoom shows a recording indicator, can ask participants to consent (OK to stay, or Leave), and people who dialled in hear a message unless the host turned it off. An audio-only file changes none of that. A recorder on your own computer 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, with 10 hours of transcription. 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, "Changing settings in the Zoom Workplace desktop and mobile app" (KB0060612): support.zoom.com
• Zoom Support, "Understanding recording file formats" (KB0064394): support.zoom.com
• Zoom Support, "Changing basic and advanced cloud recording settings" (KB0064676): 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
• 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