Where Do Teams Recordings Go? Steps to Locate and Use Them

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Have you ever recorded a Microsoft Teams meeting and wondered exactly “Where do Teams recordings go?”

If finding your recorded meetings seems difficult, you’re not the only one. The Microsoft Teams meetings software is so versatile that depending on the sort of meeting and your organization’s parameters, the storage environment can change. Understanding this can help optimize your workflow while minimizing the stress you put on file management.

In this article, we explain the Teams recording location, where do Teams recordings go, and demonstrate how to access, share, and manage the recordings so they are not difficult to find.

How Microsoft Teams Handles Recordings

Microsoft Teams makes recording meetings straightforward, but the storage process isn’t always clear. To answer the question: “Where are Teams recordings stored?”, the location of the saved recording depends on factors such as:

Whether the meeting was held in a channel or outside a channel

The default storage settings set by your organization’s IT administrator

Whether the recording is a new or old Teams recording

Understanding where Teams save recordings helps you access and manage them efficiently, ensuring you don’t lose any important discussions.

Where are Microsoft Teams Recordings Stored?

Teams recordings are stored in different locations based on the type of meeting:

Channel Teams Meetings

When you record a Teams channel meeting, the recording is automatically saved in the respective channel’s files tab under the recordings folder. This is part of SharePoint, meaning all channel members can access it.

If you’re working in a team that frequently records meetings, this Teams recording location ensures that all relevant channel conversations remain easily accessible in a centralized place or document library.

Benefits of channel meetings storage in sharePoint:

Easy access for all channel members. No need to request links or access. All members of the channel can locate and watch the recording with people without additional permissions.
Organized storage. Recordings are stored in a dedicated recordings folder, preventing clutter and making recording transcript and file retrieval straightforward.
SharePoint security. Permissions are controlled based on Teams’ settings, ensuring only authorized users can access the files.
Seamless collaboration. Since the files are within the SharePoint environment, team members can comment, tag, and collaborate on the recorded content effortlessly.
Integration with other Microsoft 365 tools. Users can link recordings with OneNote for meeting notes, embed them into SharePoint pages, or even use Power Automate to create automated workflows.
Long-term accessibility. As long as the SharePoint site remains active and policies or security updates do not auto-delete content, recordings are accessible for future reference, training, or compliance purposes.

Non-Channel Teams Meetings

For meetings that are not part of a Teams channel (such types of meetings as non-standardized meetings, one-on-one calls, group meetings, or Teams calendar-scheduled meetings, or hybrid meeting experience), the recordings are stored in the personal OneDrive account of the meeting organizer. Specifically, they are saved in the “Recordings” folder within OneDrive.

Since OneDrive is a personal cloud storage service, this Teams meeting recording location provides more control to the organizer over sharing and permissions. However, it may not be as collaborative as SharePoint, requiring users to share the recording manually.

Benefits of non-channel meeting storage in OneDrive

Better individual control. The organizer can manage access and permissions, deciding who can view or download the recording file.
Simplified sharing options. Users can share the link directly from OneDrive, making it easy to send the recording to external participants.
Private storage. Non-channel meetings are not accessible by default to an entire team, reducing accidental sharing of sensitive discussions.
Offline access. Users can sync OneDrive files folders to their devices, enabling offline viewing of recordings.
Integration with Microsoft 365. OneDrive recordings can be embedded into PowerPoint presentations, Word documents, or Outlook emails for streamlined documentation.
Retention policies and version history. OneDrive allows version tracking, meaning if a recording is accidentally edited or deleted, a previous version can often be restored.

Where to Find Teams Recordings for Channel Meetings

If you’re looking for a specific recording from a channel meeting, follow these steps:

Open Microsoft Teams and navigate to the team where the meeting was held;
Click on the channel associated with the meeting;
Select the “Files” tab at the top of the channel;
Open the “Recordings” folder;
Locate your desired meeting recording.

By using this method, you can quickly retrieve any recorded discussions without searching across multiple platforms.

How to Access Teams Recordings for Non-channel Meetings

Meeting recordings for non-channel meetings can be found in OneDrive. Here’s how you can find them:

Access OneDrive (either through the web or mobile application);
Go to the “Recordings” folder;
Identify the meeting recording by its title and date.

You can also look at the email notification that was sent after the recording was completed. That email has a recording link and was created to aid in easy access. If you cannot find the email, look for “Teams Meeting Recording” in your inbox.

Moreover, for users with OneDrive sync enabled on their devices, the recordings can be found in the file explorer in the “Recordings” folder, which is synced in real time.

<h2> Using Microsoft Stream for Older Teams Recordings

If you’re wondering “Where do Teams recordings go?” from earlier versions of Teams (before August 2021), they were typically stored in Microsoft Stream.

Microsoft Stream was the main repository for Teams recordings until OneDrive and SharePoint were made available. While having a central video storage location was Stream’s advantage, its lack of modern recording features like effortless sharing with external attendees, as well as integration with other Microsoft 365 ecosystems, was a considerable drawback.

Currently, Microsoft seems to favor new recordings being done on OneDrive or SharePoint due to their more user-friendly storage and sharing options. For organizations that still have older archival recordings on Stream, migrating these recordings to OneDrive or SharePoint is possible, too, which provides enhanced access control and collaboration functionalities.

Another option could be, for recordings that are no longer needed to be accessed, exporting and uploading them to a desired Teams recording location to help with future access and compliance requirements.

To access older recordings:

Open Microsoft Stream;
Click “My Content” and select “Videos“;
Look for your recorded meetings.

How to Change Default Storage Settings for Teams Recordings

By default, Teams automatically saves recordings in OneDrive or SharePoint, depending on the meeting type. However, IT administrators can modify this setting in the Microsoft Teams Admin Center.

To change default storage settings:

Open the Microsoft Teams Admin Center;
Navigate to “Meeting policies“;
Adjust the recording storage location settings;
Save the changes.

Individual users cannot change their Teams recording location unless granted admin privileges.

How to Download and Share Teams Recordings

Downloading and sharing Teams recordings ensures that meeting participants can review important discussions and share insights with those who couldn’t attend the meeting. Whether you need to save the file for documentation purposes or distribute it across teams, the process is simple.

To download a Teams recording

Navigate to OneDrive or SharePoint;
Locate the recording in the “Recordings” folder;
Click on the file and select “Download”.

To share a Teams recording

Click on “Share”, and create a link with the desired permissions set;
Set viewing or editing permissions accordingly.

Before sharing it externally, ensure that your organization permits accessing files outside of your network. Some companies do not permit sharing outside the Microsoft environment, thus, certain external users might need to be whitelisted by an admin.

Additionally, the recordings can also be used in emails through Microsoft Teams or Outlook, incorporated in PowerPoint presentations, or placed on SharePoint pages.

For a step-by-step guide on how to share a teams recordings check this article.

Best Practices for Organizing and Managing Teams Recordings

In order to maintain your recording workflow within Teams, and to ensure easy retrieval, effective management of the recording is essential. The following are a few recommendations:

Use a consistent naming convention

Label recordings with the date, meeting topic, and key participants to make searching easier.

Create folders for different projects or departments

Organize recordings into folders within OneDrive or SharePoint for easier categorization.

Set retention policies

Some organizations set automatic deletion policies for recordings, so ensure important meetings are backed up.

Limit access where necessary

Not all recordings need to be accessible to everyone. Adjust permissions to keep confidential information secure.

Leverage AI-powered tools for transcription and notes

Using tools like Sembly and Semblian can help get record transcripts and meetings summarizing.

Regularly clean up old recordings

Deleting older recordings or duplicate files helps in file storage management and system organization.

Optimize Microsoft Teams Meetings for Better Productivity and Organization

To make the most out of your Microsoft Teams meetings, it’s important to go beyond just recording them. There are certain AI-powered tools that can help you optimize your meetings in a more sophisticated manner while enhancing efficiency, time-saving, and documentation purposes.

AI-powered tool: Sembly plus Semblian

Sembly, along with its add-on Semblian, is an AI-powered tool that automates transcription, summarization, and analysis of your meetings, providing the user with an advanced tool that maximizes efficiency during meetings. Sembly allows you to:

automatically capture meeting discussions and generate a summary that captures the essential action items and discussions.
get insight into the meeting while it is ongoing and prepare a structured report concerning the meeting that has to be done afterward.
link to Microsoft Teams accounts seamlessly, ensuring automated meeting documentation, reducing manual workload, and improving accessibility.

By integrating Sembly with Semblian into your workflow, you can reduce time spent on note-taking and ensure that every key decision is well-documented and easily retrievable.

FAQs

Where are Microsoft team recordings stored?

Microsoft Teams recordings are stored in OneDrive for non-channel meetings and SharePoint for channel meetings. Older recordings may still be in Microsoft Stream. SharePoint recordings are accessible to all team members in the associated channel, while OneDrive recordings are private to the meeting organizer unless shared manually.

Where do recorded Teams meetings go?

The answer to “Where are recorded Teams meetings saved?” is quite simple. For private meetings, your Teams recordings will be available in the OneDrive “Recordings” folder, and for channel meetings, they will be found in the SharePoint “Recordings” folder corresponding to the channel. If you are having difficulty finding your recording, look for the meeting chat as Teams will notify you after the meeting with the file access link.

How do I change the recording location in Teams?

Adjustments to the default recording location can only be made by admins through the Microsoft Teams Admin Center under “Meeting Policies.” These settings will dictate whether the recordings are redirected to OneDrive or SharePoint. Other users individually cannot set personal Microsoft Teams recording location modification.

Can I change the default recording storage location?

No, unless you have admin privileges. Administrators can configure the storage settings for an organization through the Teams Admin Center. If your company wants to move all recordings to a different storage system, it must be handled at the administrative level.

How do I manage permissions for Teams recordings?

Permissions can be managed in OneDrive (for private meetings) or SharePoint (for channel meetings). Users can set view-only or editing permissions when sharing recordings. In SharePoint, access is automatically granted to all channel members, but owners can restrict access if needed. For OneDrive recordings, the meeting organizer must manually grant permissions by adjusting the sharing settings.

How long are Teams recordings stored?

The storage duration depends on your organization’s retention policies. If no policies are applied, the recordings remain indefinitely unless manually deleted. Some organizations implement automatic deletion after a set period, such as 30, 60, or 90 days. Always check with your IT department if you are unsure about retention policies.

How to Delete Teams Recordings?

To delete a recording:

Navigate to OneDrive or SharePoint;
Locate the recording in the “Recordings” folder;
Right-click and select “Delete”;
Confirm deletion if prompted.

In SharePoint, deleted recordings move to the Recycle Bin, where they can be recovered within a specified time frame (usually 90 days). In OneDrive, deleted files also go to the Recycle Bin, where users can restore them if needed.

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