Teams saves recordings in two places depending on who started the meeting

When you record a Microsoft Teams meeting, the video file goes to one of two locations: either to OneDrive (if you started the meeting) or to Microsoft Stream (if someone else started it). This matters because you look in different places to find the recording, and the people who can see it are different too. Understanding which location your recording ended up in is the first step to finding it.

The location also determines how long the recording stays available. OneDrive recordings stay as long as you keep them there. Stream recordings are kept for 21 days by default, though your organization can change that number. If you need a recording that's older than 21 days and it went to Stream, you may not be able to find it anymore.

Key Takeaways

  • Recordings you started go to your OneDrive; recordings someone else started go to Microsoft Stream.
  • OneDrive recordings are private to you unless you share them, while Stream recordings are visible to everyone who was in the meeting.
  • Stream recordings delete after 21 days unless your organization changed that setting, so download them if you need to keep them longer.
  • You can find the recording link in the meeting chat immediately after the recording finishes processing, usually within a few minutes.

Finding a recording you started (in your OneDrive)

If you started the Teams meeting and hit the record button, your recording went to OneDrive. The fastest way to find it is to look in the Teams chat for that meeting. Right after the recording finishes processing — usually two to five minutes after the meeting ends — Teams posts a message in the chat with a link to the file. Click that link and it opens the recording.

If you can't find the link in chat, go to your OneDrive directly. Open OneDrive in a web browser or the OneDrive app on your computer. Look for a folder called "Recordings" at the top level of your OneDrive. Your Teams recording will be there as an MP4 file with a name like "Meeting recording — [date and time]". The file is private to you until you share it with someone else.

If the recording doesn't appear in OneDrive after 24 hours, the recording may have failed. This sometimes happens if the meeting was disconnected abruptly or if there were network problems. Check your Teams settings to make sure recording is turned on for your account — your organization may have disabled it.

Finding a recording someone else started (in Microsoft Stream)

When someone else started the meeting and recorded it, the file goes to Microsoft Stream instead of OneDrive. Stream is a separate video service inside Microsoft 365. The person who recorded it can see it immediately, but you have to wait for them to share it with you or for it to be published to a channel.

The easiest way to find it is to check the Teams chat for that meeting. The person who recorded it (or a meeting organizer) will post a link to the Stream recording there. Click the link and you can watch it. If no link appears in chat after the meeting ends, ask the person who recorded it to share the link with you.

If you were in the meeting and the recording was started, you should have permission to watch it even if no one explicitly shared it with you. Go to Microsoft Stream directly (stream.microsoft.com) and look for the recording in your "My content" section or search for the meeting name. Stream recordings stay available for 21 days unless your organization set a different retention period.

Downloading a recording so you keep it permanently

If the recording is in your OneDrive, you already own it and it stays there as long as you want. Right-click the file and select "Download" to save a copy to your computer as backup.

If the recording is in Stream, you should download it if you need to keep it longer than 21 days. Open the Stream recording, click the three dots menu in the top right, and select "Download video". The file downloads to your computer as an MP4. This is especially important if the recording contains information you need to reference later — once Stream deletes it after 21 days, it's gone.

Some organizations disable downloading for security reasons. If you don't see a download option, contact your IT department or the person who recorded the meeting to ask if they can download it for you.

Sharing a recording with other people

If your recording is in OneDrive, you control who sees it. Right-click the file, select "Share", and choose whether to share with specific people or create a link anyone with the link can view. You can also set whether people can edit the file or only view it.

If the recording is in Stream, the person who recorded it controls sharing. They can change the permissions in Stream to make it visible to the whole organization, to specific people, or to just the people who were in the original meeting. If you need to share a Stream recording and you're not the person who recorded it, ask the recorder to adjust the sharing settings.

What to do if you can't find a recording

First, check whether you started the meeting or someone else did. If you started it, look in your OneDrive Recordings folder. If someone else started it, ask them for the link or check Stream. If you still can't find it after checking both places, the recording may have failed to save or been deleted.

If the recording was in Stream and more than 21 days have passed, it may have been automatically deleted. Your organization's IT department can sometimes recover it, but there's no may provide. This is why downloading important Stream recordings right away is important.

If the recording should exist but you genuinely can't locate it anywhere, contact your organization's IT support or the person who recorded the meeting. They can check the Teams admin center to see whether recording was enabled for that meeting and whether the file was created.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I record a Teams meeting on my phone?

You can start a recording from the Teams mobile app, but the recording quality is lower than from a computer. The recording still goes to OneDrive or Stream depending on who started the meeting. For important meetings, record from a computer if you can.

What if someone recorded the meeting without telling anyone?

Teams notifies everyone in the meeting when recording starts — a message appears in the chat and a red "Recording" indicator shows at the top of the screen. If you see that indicator, the meeting is being recorded. You can't prevent someone from recording if they started the meeting, but you can leave if you don't want to be recorded.

Can I edit a Teams recording after it's saved?

Teams recordings are saved as MP4 video files, so you can edit them with any video editor on your computer. However, you can't edit them directly in Teams or Stream. Download the file first, then use video editing software like Windows Photos, iMovie, or a more advanced tool like Adobe Premiere.

Why does my recording say "processing" and I can't watch it yet?

Teams needs time to convert the raw recording into a playable video file. This usually takes two to five minutes, but can take longer if the meeting was very long or your internet connection was slow. Check back in a few minutes and the recording should be ready to watch.

What happens to recordings if I leave my organization?

Recordings in your OneDrive stay in your account until you delete them or your account is closed. Recordings in Stream may be deleted depending on your organization's retention policy. If you're leaving a job, download any important recordings to your personal computer before your account access ends.