Have you ever found yourself asking ‘where do Google Meet recordings go post-meeting’? Let me assure you, you’re not alone.

The reality is that when conducting video calls on Google Meet, recording meetings is essential for future reference, and represents good virtual meeting etiquette. However, recording the meeting is no good if you are clueless as to its whereabouts once the recording comes to an end.

After this, you will no longer find yourself pondering over where you can find the Google Meet recordings. We are here to clarify and simplify Google Meet recording and storage for you.

Let’s get started.

Where Are Google Meet Recordings Stored?

You actually have many options for your Google Meet recording storage. I’m going to break them down individually to spare any confusion.

First off, a Google Meet recording is automatically stored in the Google Drive of the meeting organizer. This centralized system ensures that the recording is accessible to the person who scheduled the meeting and, depending on settings, to other participants as well.

Here’s some more details about this storage method, as well as other ways to store and locate Google Meet recordings:

Google Drive

For organizers of a Google Meet call, the recordings will appear in their Google Drive account, specifically in a folder called "Meet Recordings." This folder is automatically created once you start recording meetings through Google Meet’s own recording feature, making it easy to find Google Meet recordings without needing to sift through all your other files.

How to Find Google Meet Recordings in Google Drive:

1. Open Google Drive: Log in to your Google Drive account. On the left side, click on "My Drive."
2. Find the Meet Recordings Folder: Inside "My Drive," there will be a folder labeled “Meet Recordings.” Open this folder to see all your recorded meetings.
3. Access Your Recording: Inside the folder, locate the desired recording by date and meeting title. From here, you can view or download the recording.

Google Meet recordings usually take some time to process, often up to 24 hours, depending on the length of the meeting. Once the recording is processed, it will automatically appear in the organizer’s Drive.

This processing delay can be restrictive to progression, and has led us to find alternatives that we can suggest for Google Meet recording, processing and storage. 

Additionally, we wanted to find an option that is available on a free plan, as Google Meet’s recording option is only available within paid subscription plans such as Google Workspace Essentials.

Efficient Alternative for Google Meet Recording & Storage

Because of the drawbacks mentioned just above, I want to introduce you to a new way of managing Google Meet recordings, Bubbles.

Bubbles is a platform that facilitates Google Meet management from recording to storage, and more. This method allows you to record and transcribe your meeting in full. Post-meeting, you will also be assigned action items that are personalized to you, alongside a detailed summary of what was discussed.

Your Google Meet recording will be stored in your Bubbles Notetaker area, as shown here:

To get started, you simply need to sign up to Bubbles (for free), and connect a calendar that has your upcoming Google Meet meetings on it. From here, Bubbles Notetaker will automatically join your Google Meet meetings and get to work recording the meeting.

Once your Google Meet meeting draws to a close, Bubbles will automatically process the recording (within minutes). Once complete, you will be able to find your recording in the “Live meetings” area of Bubbles, as shown above. FYI, you will also receive a follow-up email from Bubbles, which will contain a link to your recording, as well as a summary and action items.

Select the meeting recording you would like to view, and click on it. This will bring you to your meeting recording, where you will be able to see the recording, transcription, summary and action items. As you can see below, you will also have the ability to comment, invite teammates, and download the Google Meet meeting recording.

By using Bubbles, this is how your Google Meet meeting will look post-meeting:

In order to view your Google Meet meeting transcription, select the “Transcript” tab, next to the “Conversation” tab that is selected in the screenshot above.

So, that is our recommendation for how best to record and store your Google Meet meetings. 

Now, let’s continue with some more tips for doing it the traditional way, in case you, for some reason, want to stick with that.

Where Are Google Meet Recordings Stored?

Google Calendar

If you scheduled the Google Meet meeting using Google Calendar, the recording will automatically be linked to the calendar event. 

This integration makes it easy for anyone who was invited to the meeting to access the recording directly from their calendar. The result is an increased ease in the process of sharing and retrieving video files, in comparison to Google Drive, where the organizer must allow access to the other attendees.

Steps to Access Google Meet Recordings in Google Calendar:

1. Open Google Calendar: Head to your Google Calendar and locate the calendar event for which the meeting was recorded.
2. Find the Recorded Meeting: Click on that event. Under the event details once you click “More”, you’ll find a link labeled "Meeting Recordings." Click the link to open or download the recording, which will be at the top of a list of all previous meetings.
3. Play the Recording: From here, you can directly play the Google Meet call recording in your browser by clicking on the three dots at the top and then “Play”. Otherwise, download it for future use.

Email Notifications

As the meeting organizer or the person who initiated the recording, Google will automatically send you an email once the recording has been processed and saved. This email will contain a link to the recording stored in your Google Drive.

Again, there are pitfalls here. If you are a team of people, you might want this email to be distributed to everyone, so that they can quickly align on next steps. A follow-up email that only goes to the organizer is restrictive to progress.

With Bubbles, the meeting recap is sent to all attendees, as teamwork facilitation is highly valued.

How to Access Your Recording via Email:

1. Check Your Email: After the meeting ends, look for an email from Google Meet with the subject line indicating that your meeting recording is ready.
2. Open the Email: Inside the email, you’ll find a link to the recorded video file.
3. Access and Share: Click on the link to play the recording. From here, you can share the recording by forwarding the email to other participants or copying the provided link.

Google Workspace and Google Admin Console

As I have stressed, you need to pay to record a Google Meet call via their own built-in recorder. Obviously, this is less than ideal, hence why I have suggested using Bubbles to record the meeting instead.

However, for users who already have a Google Workspace account, recording meetings is an exclusive feature available on paid plans such as Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise, and Education. As we know, the recordings are saved to the organizer’s Google Drive and are accessible through their Google Workspace account.

You might wonder why I am repeating myself, but this is to point out that if you have a Google Workspace account, you might still need to allow access to team members so that they too can record their video calls on Google Meet.

If you’re an administrator, you can control who has access to recording meetings by managing permissions in the Google Admin Console. Administrators can enable or disable recording privileges for specific users or organizational units within Google Workspace. Here's how you can do this:

Enabling Recording in the Google Admin Console:

1. Open Google Admin Console: Sign in to your Google Admin Console account.
2. Go to Apps: Navigate to "Apps," then select "Google Workspace" and "Google Meet."
3. Manage Recording Settings: In the Meet video settings, toggle on the recording feature for specific users or groups. Check the box that says "Let people record their meetings".

By doing this, you make sure that only authorized users within your organization can record meetings.

But, hear me out, wouldn't it be easier to create a free Bubbles workspace, where every participant and invitee can record, view, and comment on your recorded video calls?

It most definitely would.