How to Record a Zoom Meeting on Mac (Host or Participant)

To record a Zoom meeting on a Mac, the easiest way is Zoom's own recorder: as the host, click Record in the meeting toolbar and choose Record on this Computer. When the meeting ends, Zoom converts the file and saves it to Documents > Zoom. If you're a participant, you need the host's permission for that button. Without it, you can record your screen, but you need a recorder that captures your Mac's sound too, or the other people won't be in the recording.

And before any of it: tell people you're recording. More on that below.

Every way to record a Zoom meeting on Mac

Which one fits:

• You're the host: use Zoom's recorder. It records everyone, everyone sees it's on, and it's free.
• You're a participant: ask the host to let you record. It takes them two clicks.
• The host can't or won't, but everyone agrees to it: record your screen with system audio.

How to record a Zoom meeting on Mac as the host

Zoom calls this computer recording, often called local recording. It works on a free Basic account in the Zoom desktop app for macOS. It doesn't work in the iPhone or iPad apps.

1. Start the meeting in the Zoom desktop app.
2. In the meeting controls at the bottom, click Record. If you don't see it, click More first.
3. If a menu appears, choose Record on this Computer.
4. A recording indicator appears in the top-left corner for everyone in the meeting.
5. To take a break, click Pause. To finish, click Stop Recording, or just end the meeting.
6. After the meeting, Zoom converts the recording. Leave your Mac awake until it's done. The folder opens by itself when the file is ready.

Zoom's guide to starting a computer recording has the details.

Where Zoom saves recordings on a Mac

By default, recordings go to /Users/your-name/Documents/Zoom, in a folder named after the meeting's date, time and topic. Inside you'll find the video as an MP4 and the sound alone as an M4A.

To change the folder, click your profile picture in the Zoom app, then Settings > Recording, and click Change next to the storage location. Keep it on your Mac's own drive: Zoom's recording management guide says cloud-synced folders, external drives and network storage can cause saving or conversion problems.

If a recording never converted, open the Zoom app, go to your computer recordings, find the one marked Convert and click it.

Record to the cloud instead

Cloud recording saves the meeting to your Zoom account, so it doesn't use space on your Mac and you can share a link. According to Zoom's cloud recording guide, you need to be a licensed user on a Pro, Business or Enterprise account, with cloud recording enabled, and only hosts and co-hosts can start it.

1. In the meeting, click More, then Record.
2. Choose Record to the cloud.
3. Stop from the same Record icon, or end the meeting.

Zoom processes the file afterward. It usually takes about twice the meeting's length, and occasionally up to 24 hours. Then it shows up in Zoom Hub in the app, and under Recordings & Transcripts in the web portal.

How to record a Zoom meeting on Mac as a participant

Zoom's Record button only works for participants when the host allows it. Ask in the chat. The host then:

1. Clicks Participants.
2. Clicks More next to your name.
3. Chooses Allow Record.

You get a notification, the Record button starts working for you, and you follow the same steps as above. Your recording is saved on your Mac, in your own Documents > Zoom folder.

If the Record button is missing altogether, even for the host, the account's admin has probably turned recording off. Only an account owner or admin can change that in the Zoom web portal.

Consent: tell people before you record

Zoom's own recorder announces itself: a recording indicator appears for everyone, and the participant list shows who's recording. A screen recorder on your Mac is invisible to Zoom, so nobody in the meeting knows.

That's why "record a Zoom meeting without permission" really means "without the host's permission in Zoom", not "without telling anyone". Recording people secretly can be illegal: some places require everyone in a conversation to agree before it's recorded. So:

• Say at the start that you'd like to record, and why.
• Record only if everyone agrees, and keep it to what you said you'd use it for.
• When in doubt, check the recording laws where you and the other people are.

Record a Zoom meeting with your Mac's screen recorder

Once everyone has agreed, you can record the Zoom window with tools already on your Mac. The catch is the sound: the other participants' voices come out of your Mac's speakers or headphones, and that's system audio. Your macOS version decides whether the built-in recorder can capture it. Not sure which version you have? Choose Apple menu > About This Mac.

On macOS 27 Golden Gate

macOS 27 Golden Gate added Include System Audio to the Screenshot toolbar, Apple's screen recording guide says.

1. Join the Zoom meeting.
2. Press ⇧⌘5 and choose Record Selected Window, then click the Zoom window. Or choose Record Entire Screen.
3. Click Options and choose Include System Audio, so the other people are recorded.
4. Under Microphone, choose your mic, so you're recorded too.
5. Click Record. To stop, click the Stop button in the menu bar or press ⌃⌘Esc.

Turn on Do Not Disturb first, or notification sounds end up in the recording. Golden Gate runs only on Apple silicon Macs.

On macOS 15 Sequoia and macOS 26 Tahoe

Here ⇧⌘5 and QuickTime's File > New Screen Recording record a microphone only. You'll hear yourself clearly and everyone else faintly, if at all, picked up from your speakers. With headphones on, they're gone completely.

You have two choices: route the sound through a free virtual audio device such as BlackHole, or use a recorder app that captures system audio. Both are covered step by step in how to screen record on Mac with audio.

With a recorder app that records the Mac's sound

Since macOS 13 Ventura, apps can record system audio without a driver. In Smooth Recorder, for example:

1. Join the meeting, then press ⌥1.
2. Click the Zoom window, or drag an area around it.
3. On the bar under the selection, check that Mac sound is on (it is by default). That records the other participants.
4. Pick your Microphone. A level meter moves when it hears you, so you know your voice is coming through.
5. Press R to record. The controls sit in a small pill in the notch, and the menu bar icon shows a red dot and the elapsed time.

The app records the sound from apps directly, not from your speakers, so you can keep your headphones on. Afterward, Studio can trim the waiting-room minutes, cut long pauses with Trim Silences, and transcribe the meeting on your Mac, so you can cut parts by deleting words from the transcript. You can also save the sound alone as M4A or WAV. It's $19 once during early access, no subscription; see pricing.

For other options, free and paid, see the best screen recorders for Mac.

What about Microsoft Teams and Google Meet?

The same pattern applies: use the meeting app's own recorder when you can, and a screen recorder with system audio when you can't, after asking.

• Microsoft Teams records to the cloud, and everyone gets a notification when it starts. Who can record depends on the organizer's meeting options, your Microsoft 365 license and your IT admin's policy. Guests and people from other organizations can't start a recording. Microsoft's recording guide has the details.
• Google Meet recording needs an eligible Google Workspace edition or Google One plan, with recording turned on by the admin, and you have to be the host or have the right role. Recordings go to the organizer's My Drive > Meet Recordings folder. See Google's Record a video meeting page.

If the button isn't there for you, the screen recording steps above work for any meeting app, Teams and Meet in a browser included.

Troubleshooting

There's no Record button. You're not the host and haven't been allowed to record, or the admin turned recording off for the account. Ask the host for permission. Remember that computer recording doesn't exist in Zoom's iPhone and iPad apps.

"Record to the cloud" is missing. Cloud recording needs a licensed user on a paid plan, and only hosts and co-hosts can start it. On a free account, record to your computer.

The recording isn't in Documents > Zoom. Zoom may still be converting it, or the storage location was changed. Check Settings > Recording in the Zoom app to see the current folder. If a recording shows Convert, click it.

The file won't convert. Make sure the recording folder is on your Mac's own drive, not iCloud Drive, Dropbox or an external disk, and keep the Mac awake while it works.

Your screen recording only has your voice. On macOS 15 and 26, that's expected with ⇧⌘5 and QuickTime. On macOS 27, make sure Include System Audio is checked. In a recorder app, turn on its system audio option and check System Settings > Privacy & Security > Screen & System Audio Recording, then quit and reopen the app.

Everyone else is recorded, but not you. Pick your microphone in the recorder. If you use AirPods for the call, choose the Mac's built-in microphone or a USB mic in the recorder instead, since Bluetooth headsets switch to a lower-quality mode when their mic is in use.

You hear an echo in the recording. Your speakers are feeding into your microphone. Wear headphones.

Recording a talk or a lesson rather than a meeting? How to record a presentation on Mac covers Keynote, PowerPoint and recording yourself with a webcam bubble.