Local recording
Prerequisites
- Basic (Free) account or above
- Zoom desktop client for Windows, macOS, or Linux, version 2.0 or higher
Starting a local recording
- Start a Zoom meeting as the host
- Click the option to Record.
- If there is a menu, select Record on this computer. Hosts will see the following recording indicator in the top-left corner while recording is active.
- After the meeting has ended, Zoom will convert the recording so you can access the files.
- Once the conversion process is complete, the folder containing the recording files will open. Note: By default, the audio/video file (MP4) will be named Zoom_0.mp4. The audio only file (M4A) is named audio_only.m4a.
Note:
- If the meeting unexpectedly shuts down or if the conversion process is interrupted, the recording files could become corrupted and non-recoverable. Restarting or shutting down your computer, putting the hard disk to sleep, or closing your laptop will interrupt the conversion process.
- If the conversion process is not successful after the meeting has ended, you can try to convert the files again by navigating to the recording location and double-clicking the recording files.
- You can record the meeting in different layouts including Active Speaker, Gallery View, and shared screen.
Stopping or pausing a local recording
During a Zoom recording, you can Stop or Pause recording. If you stop recording and start it again, a new video file will be created for the next recording segment. If you pause the recording and start it again, Zoom will record to the same file for the recording segment.
- After a recording has been started, click Pause or Stop Recording at the bottom.
The recording can also be stopped or paused by clicking the indicator in the top left corner. 
- When a recording is paused, the following indicator will be displayed in the meeting.
- To resume the recording, click Resume Recording at the bottom.
The recording can also be resumed by clicking the indicator in the top left corner. 
- After you stop the recording, you can access the local recording files on your computer.
Changing local recording settings
To change local recording settings in the Zoom client:
- Open the Zoom client and click Settings.
- Click the Recording tab.
This will open your recording options that you can change using the client.
Note: Setting the default location to a cloud syncing folder (such as Dropbox, Google Drive, or One Drive), an external drive, or network storage device may cause issues with saving and converting the local recording. Zoom strongly recommends keeping the default location on a local drive for recordings.