How to Record a Google Meet
How to record a Google Meet with the built-in feature, when it's available, the local-recording fallback, where recordings land, and why a short interactive demo often beats sending someone a 40-minute meeting video.
To record a Google Meet, open the Activities panel or the three-dot menu in the meeting and choose Record — if your Workspace plan includes it (Business Standard and up, plus some Education and Enterprise tiers) and you're the host or a co-host. Everyone gets notified. The recording lands in the organiser's Google Drive under "Meet Recordings," with a link emailed out. On a free personal account there's no built-in recording, so use your OS screen recorder against the Meet window instead. And before you send anyone a full meeting video, consider trimming it — or replacing the demo section with a short interactive walkthrough.
Built-in recording
- Join the meeting as host or co-host.
- Click Activities (bottom-right) → Recording → Start recording, or use the three-dot menu → Record meeting.
- Confirm. Everyone in the meeting sees a "recording has started" banner.
- Stop from the same menu, or it stops when everyone leaves.
Availability depends on the Workspace edition and admin settings. If you don't see the option, your plan or your org's policy doesn't allow it.
Free-account fallback
No built-in recording on personal Google accounts. Instead:
- Mac: Shift + Cmd + 5, record the screen or the Meet window. See how to record your screen on a Mac.
- Windows: the Xbox Game Bar (Win + G) or another recorder. See how to screen record on Windows.
- Chromebook: the built-in recorder. See how to screen record on a Chromebook.
With this method there's no automatic notification, so tell the other participants you're recording — it's the norm and, in many places, the law.
Where recordings go
- The organiser's Google Drive, in Meet Recordings.
- A link is emailed to the organiser and whoever started the recording.
- Long meetings take time to process before the link works.
Don't send the whole thing
A recording of a full call is a poor deliverable — the recipient has to sit through everything to reach the part that concerns them. Options, best to worst:
- Replace the demo section with an interactive walkthrough. If the useful part of the call was you demoing the product, that portion is far better as a self-paced demo the recipient controls:
- Trim to the relevant section and send just that clip. See how to trim a video online.
- Send the full recording with timestamps so at least they can jump to what matters.
Related: how to record a webinar, how to record a sales demo, how to record a Loom-style video.
Frequently asked questions
How do I record a Google Meet?
In a meeting, open the Activities panel (bottom right) or the three-dot menu and choose Record. Recording is available on Google Workspace plans that include it — Business Standard and above, and some Education and Enterprise tiers — and the host or a co-host has to start it. Everyone in the meeting is notified that recording has started.
Can you record a Google Meet for free?
The built-in recording feature is not on the free personal tier. To record on a free account, use your operating system's screen recorder or a screen-recording tool while the meeting runs — that captures the Meet window like any other. The people on the call will not be automatically notified in that case, so tell them.
Where do Google Meet recordings go?
To the meeting organiser's Google Drive, in a 'Meet Recordings' folder, and a link is emailed to the organiser and the person who started the recording. Processing can take a while for a long meeting. Recordings include the active speaker and anything shared on screen.
Should you send someone a recording of a whole meeting?
Rarely the best option. A 40-minute meeting recording asks the recipient to watch 40 minutes to get the 5 that matter. Trim it to the relevant section, or better, replace the demo portion with a short interactive walkthrough they can go through in two minutes at their own pace.