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If the Download command is missing, ask the recording owner or an administrator to check access and download restrictions.
Where Microsoft Teams saves recordings
For Microsoft 365 work or school accounts, Teams stores new meeting recordings in OneDrive or SharePoint. Use the table to determine where to look.
| Meeting type | Recording location |
|---|---|
| Scheduled, private, Meet now, recurring, Outlook-scheduled, or event meeting | The organizer’s OneDrive for work or school, in the Recordings folder |
| Channel meeting | The team’s SharePoint site, in the channel’s Documents/Recordings folder |
| One-to-one or group call | The OneDrive account of the person who selected Record |
| Shared-mailbox meeting | The shared mailbox’s OneDrive, if it has one; otherwise a co-organizer’s or recording initiator’s OneDrive |
| Organizer without OneDrive | First an available co-organizer’s OneDrive, then the recording initiator’s OneDrive; if neither is available, temporary async media storage |
This storage model replaced the old Stream Classic arrangement on August 30, 2021. Some Microsoft help pages still say “Open in Stream” because Stream terminology is used for the current video-player and sharing experience. New work or school recordings should not be searched for in Stream Classic.
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Find and play a Teams recording
From the meeting chat
- Open Chat in Teams.
- Open the chat for the meeting.
- Select the Shared tab.
- Select the recording.
- Select Play if the video does not start automatically.
From the calendar
- Open Calendar.
- Select the past meeting.
- Select Recap.
- Find the recording and select Play.
From a channel
- Open Teams.
- Choose the team and channel where the meeting took place.
- Select Shared.
- Find the recording, usually shown as an .mp4 file.
- Select the file to play it.
How to download a Teams recording
Download from a meeting chat or channel
- Open the meeting chat or channel.
- Select Shared.
- Find the recording.
- Select More options (…).
- Select Download.
Teams downloads the recording as an .mp4 file. The command appears only when your permission on the underlying OneDrive or SharePoint file allows downloading and no organizational policy blocks it.
Download from OneDrive inside Teams
- Select OneDrive in Teams.
- Select My files.
- Find the recording in the Recordings folder.
- Select More actions (…) and choose Download.
If the recording opens in the Teams file viewer instead, select File, then Create a Copy, then Download a Copy. This option can also be disabled by the file owner or administrator.
For more details, see Microsoft Support: Download a file from Microsoft Teams.
Why the Download option is missing
A missing Download command is normally a permissions or policy issue, not a Teams interface error. Common causes include:
- The sharing link grants viewing access but uses Can’t download or Block download.
- A channel recording policy allows members to watch but not save the file.
- You are an external attendee or guest who was not explicitly granted access.
- The recording is still processing or has expired.
- The recording was moved, deleted, or stored under a different owner’s OneDrive.
- Your organization has enabled tenant-wide download blocking.
A viewer generally cannot bypass a missing download command. Ask the recording owner to change the sharing permission or download the file and send it to you. If the restriction is organization-wide, a Microsoft 365 administrator must review the applicable policy.
Who can download or share a recording?
For a regular, non-channel meeting:
- The organizer owns the recording.
- Co-organizers receive editing permissions under Microsoft’s recording-permission model.
- Internal invitees generally receive viewing access automatically.
- External participants and guests do not automatically receive access.
- Attending the meeting does not automatically give someone permission to change the file’s sharing settings.
For a channel meeting, access is inherited from the channel’s SharePoint permissions, subject to the organization’s channel-recording policy. The actual file permissions—not simply the fact that someone attended—determine whether that person can download or share the recording.
Microsoft’s user-facing support page says only the organizer can download, while its newer storage and permissions documentation says co-organizers have the same editing permissions as organizers. In practice, download availability depends on the file’s OneDrive or SharePoint permission and administrator policy.
How to share a Teams recording link
Share from the meeting chat
- Open Chat.
- Open the meeting chat.
- Select Shared.
- Hover over the recording.
- Select More options (…) and then Copy link.
- In the link dialog, select Settings if you need to change access.
- Paste the link into a Teams message, email, or another post.
Copying the link does not automatically grant access to everyone who receives it. External attendees and guests must be explicitly added by the owner, if the organization permits external sharing.
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Share from the recording player
- Open Calendar and select the past meeting.
- Select Recap.
- Open the recording or transcript.
- Select Open in Stream in the upper-right corner, if that option appears.
- Select Share and then Share.
- Select Link settings.
- Under The link works for, choose the intended audience.
- Under More settings, choose an available permission: Can’t download lets recipients view without saving a local copy; Can view lets them view, though organizational policies may still prevent downloads; Can edit lets them modify, delete, or move the file.
- Select Apply, enter a name, group, or email address, and select Copy link.
Sharing choices depend on your organization’s OneDrive, SharePoint, and external-sharing configuration.
Share from OneDrive or SharePoint
- Open the recording in OneDrive, or open the channel’s SharePoint document library.
- Select the recording.
- Select Share.
- Select Link settings or the settings gear.
- Choose an audience, such as People in your organization or Specific people. Anyone with the link may be available if enabled by the administrator.
- Set the permission to Can view or Can edit.
- Enable Block download or choose Can’t download if viewers should not receive local copies.
- Select Apply, then select Copy link or send the invitation directly.
For confidential meetings, use Specific people or People in your organization rather than an unrestricted Anyone with the link URL. An administrator may disable anonymous links.
Channel recordings and download policies
Administrators can control whether channel members may download recordings. The policy is controlled by the user policy of the person who selected Record.
Allow channel downloads
Set-CsTeamsMeetingPolicy -Identity Global -ChannelRecordingDownload Allow
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With Allow, the recording is saved in the channel’s normal Recordings folder and permissions follow the channel’s SharePoint permissions.
Block channel downloads
Set-CsTeamsMeetingPolicy -Identity Global -ChannelRecordingDownload Block
With Block, Teams saves the file in a Recordings/View only folder. Channel owners retain full rights, while channel members can watch without downloading.
See Microsoft Learn: Set-CsTeamsMeetingPolicy and Microsoft Learn: Manage Teams recording policies.
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Organization-wide download blocking
Organizations using Microsoft Syntex—SharePoint Advanced Management can block downloads of Teams meeting recordings and transcripts stored in OneDrive or SharePoint.
Set-SPOTenant -BlockDownloadFileTypePolicy $true -BlockDownloadFileTypeIds TeamsMeetingRecording
This policy is designed for browser-only playback and can also prevent syncing and access through certain apps. It applies to new Teams-created recordings and transcripts; it does not retroactively block files uploaded by users or recordings created before the policy was enabled. See Microsoft Learn: Block downloads of Teams meeting recordings.
Recording expiration and recovery
Recording expiration is controlled by the organization’s Teams meeting policy. Microsoft documents a default of 120 days for new recordings when automatic expiration is enabled. Administrators can set a value from 1 to 99,999 days; PowerShell value -1 means the recording never expires. The maximum default expiration period for A1 users is 30 days.
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Set-CsTeamsMeetingPolicy -Identity “<policy name>” -NewMeetingRecordingExpirationDays <days>
A user with edit permission can change an individual recording’s expiration from its browser video-player page:
- Open the recording.
- Select the expiration countdown beneath the video.
- Choose a new timeframe or select Remove expiration.
When a recording expires, it moves to the OneDrive or SharePoint recycle bin. The owner receives an email and can generally recover it for up to 90 days, although retention and compliance policies can change that period.
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What to do when a recording cannot be found
The recording is in the wrong OneDrive
Check the meeting type first. Channel meetings use SharePoint, calls use the recorder’s OneDrive, and shared-mailbox or organizer-without-OneDrive meetings may use a co-organizer’s or recording initiator’s OneDrive.
No recording message appeared
If Teams never posted a message saying that recording started, the recording probably did not start. Selecting Start recording is not enough in every interface; complete the confirmation dialog by selecting Confirm.
The recording is still processing or failed to upload
If the organizer, co-organizers, and recording initiator have no usable OneDrive account, or available storage is full, Teams can place the file in temporary async media storage. Teams does not automatically retry the upload. The organizer must download the file or fix the licensing or storage issue and upload it manually.
A recording left in async media storage is deleted after 21 days if it is not downloaded.
The recording expired or was deleted
Check the relevant OneDrive or SharePoint recycle bin. Also verify that another user did not move the file or that it was not saved under a different owner’s account.
External attendees cannot open the link
Meeting invitations do not automatically give external participants access to ordinary meeting recordings. The owner must share the file explicitly, usually with Specific people or another link type allowed by the organization.
Some invitees cannot access a large-meeting recording
For non-channel meetings with more than 250 participants, some participants may not automatically receive file permissions. They must ask the recording owner to add them to the recording’s sharing list.
Forwarding a meeting invitation can also affect access: people forwarded an invitation may not be added to the meeting chat, and only chat members may automatically receive the recording link. Forwarding to a group may add only some group members; a person forwarded an invitation is generally added to the chat unless the chat already has more than 1,000 users.
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Captions are not included in the downloaded video
Live captions are not captured in the recording or downloaded .mp4. Captions may appear during playback if transcription was enabled, but may not remain fully supported if the recording or transcript is moved or copied away from its original OneDrive or SharePoint location.
Microsoft Teams Free recordings
Teams Free uses a separate storage and expiration model. A Teams Free recording appears in the meeting chat, can be downloaded from the chat, and expires after 30 days. These rules do not describe Microsoft 365 work or school accounts. See Microsoft Support: Manage recordings in Microsoft Teams Free.
Useful Microsoft documentation
- Microsoft Support: Play, share, and download meeting recordings
- Microsoft Learn: Teams meeting recording and transcript storage and permissions
- Microsoft Learn: Block downloads of Teams meeting recordings
- Microsoft Support: Share files and folders in OneDrive
- Microsoft Support: Download a file from Microsoft Teams
FAQ
Where is a Microsoft Teams recording saved?
A regular meeting recording is usually in the organizer’s OneDrive Recordings folder. A channel meeting is stored in the team’s SharePoint Documents/Recordings folder. A one-to-one or group call is stored in the OneDrive of the person who selected Record.
Why can I watch a Teams recording but not download it?
Your file permission may be view-only with downloads blocked, a channel recording policy may prevent downloads, or an administrator may have enabled organization-wide download blocking. Ask the recording owner or Microsoft 365 administrator to review the file permissions.
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Yes, if external sharing is allowed by the organization and the recording owner explicitly shares the file with the guest or external attendee. A meeting invitation alone does not grant access.
How long do Teams recordings remain available?
For Microsoft 365 work or school accounts, the expiration period is controlled by a Teams meeting policy. Microsoft documents a default of 120 days when automatic expiration is enabled. Teams Free recordings expire after 30 days.
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No. Live captions are not captured in the recording or downloaded MP4. Captions may be available during online playback when transcription was enabled.
The Bottom Line
For most work or school meetings, open the meeting chat or calendar Recap, select the recording, and use More options > Download. To share it, copy the recording link and choose the correct audience—preferably Specific people or People in your organization for sensitive content.
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If the file is missing or Download is unavailable, check whether it belongs in SharePoint instead of OneDrive, whether it has expired, and whether the owner or administrator has blocked downloads.
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