Recording Microsoft Teams Meetings Saving and Distributing Recordings via OneDrive

 

Category	Collaboration Tools > Microsoft Teams
Audience	All University of Pittsburgh Staff and Faculty
Last Reviewed	June 2026
Owner	Pitt Digital IT Services
Related Articles	KB-TEAMS-001 (Getting Started with Teams), KB-OD-001 (OneDrive Basics)

 

This article explains how to record Microsoft Teams meetings, where recordings are automatically saved, and how to share or distribute them with colleagues using OneDrive and SharePoint. Following these steps ensures recordings are stored securely within the university's Microsoft 365 environment and shared appropriately.

 

NOTE	Recording a meeting captures audio, video, and shared screen content. Always inform all participants that the meeting is being recorded before you begin. Consent requirements may apply under university policy.

 

Before recording, confirm the following:

 

•  You have an active University of Pittsburgh Microsoft 365 account.

•  You are the meeting organizer or have been granted co-organizer/presenter rights. Attendees cannot initiate recordings by default.

•  OneDrive for Business is activated on your account (first sign-in at onedrive.pitt.edu activates it).

 

⚠ IMPORTANT

Guest users and external participants cannot start or stop recordings. All Pitt Microsoft 365 account holders may record meetings; guests and externals cannot.

 

During a Scheduled or Ad-Hoc Meeting

Once the meeting is underway, follow these steps to begin recording:

 

1.  Join the meeting and wait until all required participants have joined.

2.  Notify all participants verbally or via the meeting chat that the session will be recorded.

3.  In the meeting controls toolbar at the top or bottom of your screen, click the More (…) icon.

4.  Select Start recording from the dropdown menu.

5.  A recording indicator (red dot) will appear in the meeting controls and a banner will notify all participants that the recording has started.

 

TIP	You can also start a recording from the meeting toolbar by clicking the Record & Transcribe button (if visible) and selecting Start recording.

 

Enabling Transcription (Optional)

Teams can automatically generate a live transcript alongside the recording, which is useful for accessibility and reference. To enable:

 

1.  Click the More (…) icon in the meeting controls.

2.  Select Start transcription.

3.  The transcript will be saved alongside the recording in OneDrive when the meeting ends.

 

1.  Click the More (…) icon in the meeting controls during the meeting.

2.  Select Stop recording.

3.  Confirm the prompt to end the recording.

 

The recording will stop immediately. Teams will display a notification that the recording is being processed and saved to OneDrive. Processing can take several minutes depending on the length of the meeting.

 

NOTE	If the meeting ends while a recording is still active, Teams will automatically stop and save the recording. It is best practice to manually stop the recording before ending the meeting to avoid any potential processing issues.

 

The save location depends on the meeting type:

 

Meeting Type	Save Location	Who Has Access
Scheduled Channel Meeting	SharePoint – Team's channel folder under Recordings	All channel members
Scheduled (non-channel) Meeting	Organizer's OneDrive > Recordings folder	Meeting invitees
Meet Now / Ad-Hoc Meeting	Organizer's OneDrive > Recordings folder	Participants at time of recording start
Webinar / Town Hall	Organizer's OneDrive > Recordings folder	Organizer and co-organizers

 

1.  Open a web browser and navigate to onedrive.pitt.edu and sign in with your Pitt credentials.

2.  In the left navigation pane, click My Files.

3.  Open the Recordings folder. Your meeting recording will appear here, named with the meeting title and date/time.

4.  Click the recording file to preview it in the browser, or right-click to see options such as Download, Share, or Move.

 

TIP	You can also access the recording directly from the Teams meeting chat. After processing, Teams posts a link to the recording in the meeting's chat thread for all participants.

 

Once the recording has been processed and saved to OneDrive, you can distribute it to others using the following methods.

 

Method 1: Share Directly from Teams Chat

1.  Open the meeting chat in Teams (from the Chat tab or Calendar).

2.  Locate the recording link posted automatically in the chat.

3.  Click the More options (…) next to the recording and select Share.

4.  Enter the names or email addresses of the people you want to share it with and set permission levels (View or Edit).

5.  Click Send.

 

Method 2: Share from OneDrive

1.  Navigate to onedrive.pitt.edu and locate the recording in the Recordings folder.

2.  Right-click the recording file and select Share, or select the file and click the Share button in the toolbar.

3.  In the sharing dialog, choose one of the following options:

◦  People in University of Pittsburgh – Restricts access to anyone with a Pitt Microsoft 365 account (recommended for most cases).

◦  Specific People – Restricts access to only the individuals you name. Best for sensitive meetings.

◦  Anyone with the link – Allows access without sign-in. Use with caution and only for non-sensitive content.

4.  Set the permission to View (Can view) to prevent recipients from editing or deleting the recording.

5.  Optionally set a link expiration date to limit access duration.

6.  Click Copy Link or Send to distribute.

 

⚠ IMPORTANT

Avoid sharing recordings externally (outside Pitt) unless explicitly authorized. If a recording contains FERPA-protected student information, HIPAA data, or other sensitive content, do not use 'Anyone with the link.' Contact the Office of Information Security if you have questions.

 

Method 3: Move or Copy to a SharePoint Site

If a recording should be accessible to a broader team or stored as a permanent resource, move it to a SharePoint document library:

 

1.  In OneDrive, right-click the recording and select Move to or Copy to.

2.  Browse to the destination SharePoint site and document library.

3.  Click Move here or Copy here.

4.  Adjust the sharing permissions on the SharePoint library as needed.

 

 

Action	Steps
Download	In OneDrive, right-click the recording > Download. The file saves as an .mp4 to your local machine.
Rename	Right-click the recording > Rename. Enter a descriptive name (e.g., 'PSEM Monthly All-Hands 2025-06-04') and press Enter.
Delete	Right-click the recording > Delete. Deleted files move to the OneDrive Recycle Bin and are permanently removed after 93 days. Channel meeting recordings deleted from SharePoint follow the site's recycle bin policy.
Restore	To recover a deleted recording within the retention window: In OneDrive, click Recycle Bin in the left panel, locate the file, and click Restore.

 

Be aware of the following storage and retention considerations at the University of Pittsburgh:

 

•  Meeting recordings stored in OneDrive count against your personal OneDrive storage quota (1 TB per user at Pitt).

•  Recordings stored in SharePoint count against the site's storage allocation.

•  There is no automatic expiration of recordings by default. You are responsible for managing recordings in accordance with university record retention policies.

•  If a user's Microsoft 365 account is deactivated (e.g., upon separation from the university), recordings in their OneDrive will be subject to the university's account offboarding process. Ensure important recordings are moved to a shared SharePoint library before departure.

 

NOTE	For guidance on university record retention schedules, visit the Office of University Counsel or contact your departmental records officer.

 

I don't see the Start recording option	You may not have sufficient meeting rights. Confirm you are the organizer or have been granted presenter/co-organizer rights. Attendees cannot initiate recordings by default.
The recording doesn't appear in OneDrive	Processing can take 10–30+ minutes for long recordings. Refresh your OneDrive Recordings folder. If it still does not appear after 24 hours, check the meeting chat in Teams for a processing error message and contact the Help Desk.
The recording link in Teams chat says 'Permission denied'	The organizer may not have shared the recording with you. Ask the meeting organizer to share the file from OneDrive using Method 2 above.
Channel meeting recording is missing	Channel recordings are saved to the SharePoint library, not OneDrive. Navigate to the channel in Teams, click Files, then open the Recordings folder. You must be a member of the Team to access it.
Recording is missing audio or is corrupted	Download the .mp4 file and test locally. If the issue persists, open a support ticket at technology.pitt.edu with the meeting date/time and recording filename.
I need to share with someone outside Pitt	External sharing must comply with university data classification policies. For non-sensitive content, use 'Specific People' sharing with the external user's email. For sensitive content, contact the Office of Information Security for guidance before sharing externally.

 

•  Always announce at the start of the meeting that it is being recorded.

•  Use a descriptive meeting title so recordings are easy to identify in OneDrive (e.g., 'Department Budget Review Q3 2025').

•  Set an expiration date on shared links for time-sensitive recordings.

•  Move recordings to a shared SharePoint library if they need to persist beyond an individual's tenure at Pitt.

•  Delete recordings you no longer need to conserve your OneDrive quota.

•  If recording a meeting that will be shared broadly (e.g., an all-hands), consider enabling transcription for accessibility compliance.

•  Do not record meetings that include personal health information, student academic records, or other highly sensitive data without consulting the Office of Information Security.

 

•  Pitt IT Service Catalog: technology.pitt.edu

•  Microsoft Teams Help Center: support.microsoft.com/teams

•  OneDrive for Business at Pitt: onedrive.pitt.edu

•  Microsoft 365 Sharing & Collaboration Policies (Pitt Internal): my.pitt.edu

•  Help Desk: 412-624-HELP (4357) | help@technology.pitt.edu

 

For technical assistance, contact the Pitt IT Help Desk at 412-624-HELP (4357) or submit a ticket at technology.pitt.edu Pitt Digital IT Services  |  University of Pittsburgh  |  KB-TEAMS-REC-001