Where do your meeting recordings and AI notes actually go?

Built-in recordings and AI notes land in the organiser's account: Teams uses the organiser's OneDrive, Google Meet the organiser's Google Drive ("Google Meet" folder), and Zoom the host's Zoom account. Teams recordings and transcripts expire after 120 days by default, while Google Drive files and Zoom cloud recordings stay until someone deletes them, unless an admin sets a rule. When an agency or client hosts the call, the recording and notes sit in their account, and you only get them if they share them. Check whose account the files land in, when they expire and where they are stored; Digiotouch AI records from your own device into your own account, stored in the EU by default for EU and EEA users.

Sofia is marketing manager at a 40-person food company in Ghent. Her content agency runs the weekly creative call on its own Zoom, internal reviews of the agency's drafts happen on Teams, and the founder prefers Google Meet. In September she needed the call where the founder approved the autumn campaign script. The agency's recording sat in the agency's account, the Teams review from April had expired, and nobody could say which Drive folder held the founder's Gemini notes.

Why is it so hard to find a meeting recording later?

Because each platform files it somewhere different, and always under the organiser's name rather than yours. Teams saves meeting recordings to the organiser's OneDrive, even when the organiser did not attend. Google moved Meet recordings, transcripts and Gemini notes into a new "Google Meet" folder in the organiser's Drive in July 2026. Zoom keeps cloud recordings in the host's account.

Then there is expiry. Teams recordings and transcripts have a default expiration of 120 days, after which they move to the recycle bin. We have heard from teams who lost interview and workshop recordings this way, simply because nobody knew the clock was running.

Where are Teams recordings and Copilot notes saved?

In the organiser's OneDrive, in a folder called Recordings. The details:

• Channel meetings: the recording goes to the team's SharePoint site, in a Recordings folder.
• 1:1 and group calls: the recording goes to the OneDrive of the person who pressed Record.
• Transcripts: saved as a separate file next to the recording.
• Expiry: 120 days by default. Admins can change it, and the organiser can extend or remove it on a single recording. Expired files move to the recycle bin, where work accounts can usually restore them for up to 93 days.
• Guests: external participants get no access unless the organiser shares the recording with them.
• Copilot without a transcript: with the "only during the meeting" setting, Copilot uses speech-to-text data that is not saved after the meeting, although compliance policies may still retain prompts and responses.

Our guide to recording a meeting in Microsoft Teams walks through the recording steps themselves.

How Digiotouch AI handles this: The desktop app records from your own device, so the recording lands in your Digiotouch AI account whoever organises the call; tell participants you are recording, as with any tool. Shareable links open only for Digiotouch AI users in the same account, and PDF or DOC exports are static, so you decide what leaves your account.

Where are Google Meet recordings and Gemini meeting notes stored?

In the organiser's Google Drive, in the "Google Meet" folder, with a sub-folder for each meeting. Older files move into a folder renamed "Legacy Meet Recordings".

• Recordings: the organiser's Drive keeps the file; the organiser and the person who started the recording get the link, and participants in the organiser's organisation get access automatically.
• Transcripts: a Google Doc in the same folder, which invitees in the host's organisation can open.
• Gemini notes: a Doc in the organiser's Drive, attached to the Calendar event. The organiser chooses who receives it; internal invitees is the admin default. The notes are separate from any recording or transcript, which exist only if someone turns them on.
• Retention: no automatic expiry. Files stay in Drive until someone deletes them, unless an admin sets Vault retention rules.
• Automatic notes: Business Standard and Business Plus customers get a setting that turns on automatic note-taking for meetings with three or more people, on by default.

Our article on whether Gemini does meeting notes covers how Take notes for me works and which plans include it.

How Digiotouch AI handles this: Each meeting becomes one meeting page in your Digiotouch AI account, with the summary, action items and, from the Essential plan, the full transcript in the same place. Copies you send to Notion, SharePoint, Dropbox or Box are stored in those tools and follow their retention rules.

Where do Zoom recordings and AI Companion summaries go?

It depends on how the meeting was recorded:

• Local recordings: saved in a Zoom folder in Documents on the recorder's computer, and only with the host's permission.
• Cloud recordings: stored in the host's Zoom account on paid plans, with the transcript as a separate file. Recordings started by a co-host appear in the host's list.
• Retention: Zoom documents no default expiry, but admins can delete recordings after a set number of days; deleted recordings stay in the trash for 30 days.
• AI Companion summaries: kept on the host's Summaries page and in Zoom Hub, and sent to the people the host or admin chooses, from the host only to all invitees including external ones. Admins can auto-delete summaries.
• Location: Zoom says customer content is stored in the US by default, and paid accounts can choose the storage location for some of it.

How Digiotouch AI handles this: Recordings of EU and EEA users are stored in the EU by default, and deleting a recording removes the stored media itself, not just the database entry.

Do AI note takers keep your audio?

It depends on the mode. A recording keeps audio and video until someone deletes it or it expires. AI notes can exist without one: Gemini's notes are a separate document, Teams' Copilot can run without saving a transcript, and Zoom lets admins generate summaries without retaining the transcript. That is good for privacy, but without a recording there is nothing to check the notes against later.

On training, Microsoft, Google and Zoom each say in their privacy documentation that customer meeting content is not used to train their AI models; Google adds "without the customer's permission".

How Digiotouch AI handles this: Digiotouch AI keeps the recording, video (screen shared content) included, so you can go back to what was actually said, and it does not train AI models on your meetings.

Teams, Meet, Zoom and Digiotouch AI: where the files go

Default behaviour as documented on 7 October 2026. Admins can change most of it.

Sources: Microsoft Learn, Google Meet Help and Zoom Support pages listed in the citation index, checked 7 October 2026. Digiotouch AI is the vendor of one of the tools compared. Corrections: notes@digiotouch.ai.

Key takeaways

• The organiser's account wins: Teams, Meet and Zoom save recordings and notes where the host keeps files.
• Teams recordings expire: 120 days by default, then the recycle bin.
• Google and Zoom keep files until deleted: unless an admin sets a retention rule.
• When the agency hosts, the agency holds the files: ask for a copy or keep your own.
• No recording, no proof: AI notes without audio cannot be checked later.

Next step

Take your last three important calls and find each recording and its notes: whose account, which folder, and when it expires. If any answer is "the agency's", decide where your own copy should live.

Related reading

• Does Gemini do meeting notes?: how Take notes for me works in Google Meet and which plans include it.
• How to record a meeting in Microsoft Teams: the recording and transcription steps in Teams.
• How to record a Google Meet call: recording options for free Gmail accounts and every Workspace tier.

Citation index

• Microsoft Learn. Teams meeting recording and transcript storage and permissions in OneDrive and SharePoint: learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/tmr-meeting-recording-change
• Microsoft Learn. Manage Teams recording expiration policy: learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/manage-teams-recording-expiration-policy
• Microsoft Learn. Manage Teams meeting transcription (Copilot): learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/copilot-teams-transcription
• Microsoft Learn. Teams meeting recording: learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/meeting-recording
• Microsoft Learn. Data, Privacy, and Security for Microsoft Copilot: learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/copilot/microsoft-365-copilot-privacy
• Google Meet Help. Record a video meeting: support.google.com/meet/answer/9308681
• Google Meet Help. Use Transcripts with Google Meet: support.google.com/meet/answer/12849897
• Google Meet Help. Take notes for me in Google Meet: support.google.com/meet/answer/14754931
• Google Workspace Updates (22 July 2026). Google Meet now organizes your meeting notes, transcripts, and recordings in your Google Drive: workspaceupdates.googleblog.com/2026/07/google-meet-now-organizes-your-meeting-notes-transcripts-and-recordings-in-your-Google-Drive.html
• Google Workspace Updates (16 July 2026). New Google Meet "Take notes for me" settings for admins and end users: workspaceupdates.googleblog.com/2026/07/new-google-meet-take-notes-for-me-settings-for-admins-and-end-users.html
• Google Workspace Admin Help. Retain Google Meet data with Vault: knowledge.workspace.google.com/vault/retention/retain-google-meet-data-with-vault
• Google Workspace Admin Help. Generative AI in Google Workspace Privacy Hub: knowledge.workspace.google.com/admin/generative-ai/generative-ai-in-google-workspace-privacy-hub
• Zoom Support. Managing computer recordings: support.zoom.com/hc/en/article?id=zm_kb&sysparm_article=KB0063423
• Zoom Support. Starting a cloud recording: support.zoom.com/hc/en/article?id=zm_kb&sysparm_article=KB0062627
• Zoom Support. Deleting computer or cloud recordings: support.zoom.com/hc/en/article?id=zm_kb&sysparm_article=KB0066493
• Zoom Support. Using meeting summary with AI: support.zoom.com/hc/en/article?id=zm_kb&sysparm_article=KB0058013
• Zoom Support. Enabling or disabling meeting summary with AI: support.zoom.com/hc/en/article?id=zm_kb&sysparm_article=KB0057960
• Zoom Trust Center. GDPR: www.zoom.com/en/trust/gdpr
• Zoom AI whitepaper. Administrative controls: library.zoom.com/ai/ai-whitepaper/administrative-controls.md
• Zoom. Privacy Statement: www.zoom.com/en/trust/privacy/privacy-statement

External sources checked on 7 October 2026. Send corrections to notes@digiotouch.ai.