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Screen recorder · Zoom

Record a Zoom Meeting in Your Browser

Capture a Zoom call as a participant when the built-in record button is greyed out, then cut it down before anyone sees it.

Record a Zoom meeting
  • Free, no time limit
  • Nothing to install
  • Editor built in
How it works

How to record a Zoom meeting

  1. Open the recorder

    Open REQO in Chrome or Edge with a Zoom meeting on screen and press record. Nothing to install, no extension to approve, and no admin rights to ask IT for.

  2. Share the Zoom tab or screen, with audio

    In the web client, share the Zoom tab and leave "Also share tab audio" on. In the desktop app, share the entire screen and, on Windows, switch on "Also share system audio"; a single window shares no sound. Turn your microphone on for your own side.

  3. Stop, cut, share

    The recording opens in the editor the moment you stop. Trim the joining-and-waiting at the front, delete a sentence by deleting it from the transcript, add captions, then download it or send a link.

Why the record button is greyed out, and what to do instead

Zoom gives the host a switch that decides whether participants may record at all. When it is off, the Record button in your toolbar is greyed out and there is no setting on your side that turns it back on. Local recording is also a desktop-client feature, so anyone on the web client never had the button in the first place.

The workaround is not a Zoom workaround: you record your own screen. The meeting is on your display, so a browser recorder captures the video tiles, the shared screen and, through your microphone, the conversation. It works the same whether you are the host, a guest, or on the web client.

The one thing to understand up front is the audio. A screen recording carries your microphone. If you want the other participants audible, share the tab the call runs in (Chrome and Edge share its sound by default, with an "Also share tab audio" switch that starts on), or on Windows share the entire screen and switch on "Also share system audio", which starts off.

Needs host permission

Zoom's own recordingYes
Recording your screenNo, it is your screen

Works on the web client

Zoom's own recordingNo, desktop only
Recording your screenYes

Everyone sees a recording banner

Zoom's own recordingYes
Recording your screenNo, so say it out loud

Where the file lands

Zoom's own recordingCloud or a local folder
Recording your screenStraight into an editor

Trim and caption afterwards

Zoom's own recordingNo
Recording your screenYes

Say that you are recording

Tell the room you are recording. In two-party-consent places, and in most workplaces, that is a legal requirement rather than a courtesy, and REQO is not the right tool for recording anyone who has not agreed to it.

Cutting a 40-minute call into something watchable

Nobody watches a whole recorded meeting. The value is in the four minutes where the decision happened, and the point of the recording opening in an editor is that you can get to those four minutes immediately.

The recording is transcribed, so the fastest route is to read the transcript, delete the paragraphs that are joining-and-waiting or small talk, and let the video follow the cut. Then add captions, because most people watch a shared recording on mute, and send a link rather than a 900MB file.

FAQ

Recording a Zoom meeting: questions

Can I record a Zoom meeting if I am not the host?

You can record your own screen, yes, and that does not depend on being the host or on the host enabling recording for participants. What you should not do is record people who have not agreed to it: tell the room first.

How do I record a Zoom meeting with the other people audible?

Join in Zoom's web client and share that tab: in Chrome and Edge the picker's "Also share tab audio" switch starts on. A desktop app window shares no sound, so for the Zoom app share the entire screen and, on Windows, switch on "Also share system audio". Your microphone is mixed in with the call, so both sides are captured.

Do I need to install anything to record a Zoom meeting?

No. The recorder runs in Chrome or Edge, so there is nothing to download and no extension to approve. That is usually the deciding factor on a work laptop you cannot install software on.

Is there a time limit?

No. Recording is free with an account and there is no cap on how long a recording runs. Free exports carry a small REQO badge; Pro removes it.

Will Zoom tell the other people that I am recording?

No. Zoom raises its own banner when Zoom is doing the recording. A browser recording happens on your machine and is invisible to it, which is exactly why saying so out loud is on you, and why in two-party-consent places it is required.

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Record a Zoom meeting now

Free, no install, and the recording opens straight in a full editor.

Record a Zoom meeting