How to record Google Meet

Which Google accounts can record Meet?

Google Meet recording is a paid feature. Google's help page (checked October 2026) lists these editions:

Even on the right plan, three more things have to be true:

• Your Workspace admin has turned recording on for your account.
• You're on a computer or an Android device. The iPhone and iPad apps can't record.
• The host has permission to record. Participants can only record if the host could. If Host management is on, recording is normally limited to the host and co-hosts.

How to record a Google Meet meeting, step by step

1. Open the meeting in Google Meet on your computer and click Join (or Start).
2. At the bottom right, click Meeting tools, then Recording.
3. Optional: tick Record captions to include captions, and choose the caption language.
4. Click Start recording, then Start in the pop-up. Everyone is notified.
5. To stop, open Meeting tools > Recording > Stop recording and confirm.

Recording also stops on its own when everyone leaves or after 8 hours. Want text as well as video? Meet's separate transcript feature is covered in Google Meet transcription.

Where do Google Meet recordings go?

• Google Drive: the organizer's Drive, in a Google Meet folder with a sub-folder for each meeting. If you're not the organizer, the file isn't in your Drive unless they share it.
• Email: the organizer and whoever started the recording get an email with the link once processing finishes.
• Calendar: the link is added to the meeting's Google Calendar event.
• Older recordings: from July 2026 Google is renaming the old "Meet Recordings" folder to "Legacy Meet Recordings" and moving it inside the Google Meet folder.

Processing can take a while for long meetings. If the email hasn't arrived, check the Google Meet folder in the organizer's Drive.

How to record Google Meet on a free account

"Google Meet recording" is one of the most searched Meet questions largely because free accounts don't have it. You have three realistic options:

1. Ask a host on a paid plan to organize and record the meeting, then share the file from their Drive.
2. Upgrade to a plan that includes recording, such as Google One with 2 TB or more, or a Workspace edition from the list above.
3. Record on your own computer. Meet runs in your browser, so any recorder that captures your computer's audio can record the call: OBS for screen and sound, Audacity for audio, or a meeting recorder like Hark that also transcribes. The steps for each system are in how to record computer audio.

Recording Google Meet with Hark

Hark is a free desktop app for Windows, Mac and Linux. It doesn't connect to Google at all: it records your microphone and the sound your computer plays, so it records Meet on a free Gmail account just as well as on Workspace. No bot joins the meeting, and the recording and transcript stay on your computer instead of in someone's Drive.

1. Download Hark and sign in with a free account (an emailed code, no card needed).
2. Press record in Hark, then join the Meet call in your browser.
3. Watch the live transcript and type notes as you go.
4. Stop recording when you hang up. Hark builds a more accurate transcript and separates the speakers by voice.
5. Name each voice once. Next time, Hark suggests the names for you to confirm.

What to expect

• Windows and Linux: both sides of the call are recorded (your mic and the computer's audio as separate tracks).
• Mac: Hark records the microphone only for now, so other people are captured only if they play out of your speakers.
• Audio, not video: Hark records sound plus screenshots you take (on Windows, Ctrl+Alt+S). If you need a video of the screen, use OBS or Meet's recorder.
• English only: transcription runs locally and supports English.
• Price: recording, transcription and speaker names are free forever. AI meeting notes by Claude are $12/month, with a 2-day preview for new accounts; they send the transcript text (not audio) to Claude.

Google Meet recording vs. recording on your computer

Meet's recorder is the better choice when you need video and your plan includes it. A desktop recorder makes sense on a free account, when you're a guest in someone else's meeting, or when you want the files on your own computer. See also how to record a Zoom meeting and AI note takers without a bot.