Finding and viewing local recordings

If you recorded your meeting or webinar locally to your computer, you a can access the local recordings files on the computer that recorded the meeting.

Note: If you recorded a meeting or webinar to the cloud, you can manage your cloud recordings in the Zoom web portal.

This article covers:

• How to find the default location for local recording files
• How to view or change the default file location for local recordings
• How to access and convert local recording files with the desktop client
• How to access a list of local recordings using the web portal

Prerequisites for accessing local recordings

• Previously recorded meeting
• To view a list of local recordings in the web portal, meeting/webinar must be recorded using:
  • Zoom desktop client for Windows, 4.0.25513.0228 or higher
  • Zoom client for macOS, 4.0.25513.0228 or higher

How to find the default location for local recording files

By default, local recordings will be placed in following directory:

• Windows: C:\Users\[Username]\Documents\Zoom
• Mac: /Users/[Username]/Documents/Zoom
• Linux: home/[Username]/Documents/Zoom

How to view or change the default file location for local recordings

You can find your default recording location for local recordings in your Zoom client settings. 

1. Sign in to the Zoom desktop client.
2. Click your profile picture then click Settings.
3. Click Recording.
4. Under Local Recording, click one of these options:
   
   • Click Open to open the folder where your local recordings are stored.
   • Click Change to change the default recording location for your local recordings.

The path listed within the Store my recordings at field is where your local recordings are saved.
Note: If the path listed is not physically located on your device where you perform the local recording at (for example your network drive), it will cause quality issues with your recording.

How to access and convert local recording files with the desktop client

Note: For versions 4.6.10 or higher, you can't convert local recording files by double-clicking the Zoom files. You must follow the steps below to convert the files. If you're issues converting a local recording, see our troubleshooting suggestions.

1. Open the Zoom desktop client and click the Meetings tab.
2. Click the Recorded tab and select the meeting with a local recording.
   Notes:
   • Local recordings display the file path and options to open, play, or delete the recording.
   • If you only see the Open option, it means the recording is a cloud recording.
   • If you have a local recording that hasn't been converted to a video file yet, click Convert to convert the recording to a video file and display the options below.
3. You can access these options to manage your local recordings:
   • Open: Open the folder that contains the recording files. The file format displayed in the folder indicates its type (video, audio, etc). 
   • Play Video: Play the recorded meeting using your computer's default media player.
   • Play Audio: Play the recorded meeting audio with your computer's default media player.
   • Delete: Permanently delete the recording from your computer.
   • Refresh icon : Refresh the recording list if you don't see your recording.
4. (Optional) Follow the steps to share a local recording if you want others to see your recording.

Note: If there are issues opening or playing the file, check the default recording location and ensure the files are in the correct place.

How to access a list of local recordings using the web portal

You can use the Zoom web portal to see a list of your local recordings.

Note: You can remove items from this list, which will not remove the actual local recording files on your system. As a result, this recording list may not show all your local recordings.

1. Sign in to the Zoom web portal.
2. In the navigation menu, click Recordings.
3. Click the Local Recordings tab.
   This will display the meeting topic, meeting ID, date and time, computer name, and file path for the recording.
4. Click one of the following options:
   • Open: Open the file location of your local recording. Your browser will prompt you to open Zoom so that Zoom can redirect you to the file location.
   • Delete: Remove a recording from the list. It will no longer appear in your web portal, but it will still be stored on the computer where it was recorded.