There are three ways to record a Google Meet call: Meet's built-in recording, a screen recorder on your computer, or a notetaker that joins the call. Which one works for you mostly depends on your Google account.
1. Google Meet's built-in recording
Who can use it: only certain paid accounts. Per Google's help page, recording is available on Google Workspace Business, Enterprise and Essentials editions, some Education editions, Workspace Individual, and Google One plans with 2 TB or more. A Workspace administrator also has to turn recording on for your account. A free personal Gmail account does not have the option.
How:
- Join the meeting from a computer.
- Open Meeting tools (or the activities menu), choose Recording, then Start recording.
- Stop it the same way, or it stops when everyone leaves.
Where it goes: to the meeting organiser's Google Drive, in a Google Meet folder. The organiser and the person who started the recording get an email with the link.
Good to know: everyone in the call is told when recording starts and stops. Generally only the host (or someone in the host's organisation) can start it, so as a guest in a client's meeting you usually cannot.
2. A screen recorder
Who can use it: anyone, on any account.
- Mac: press Shift + Command + 5, choose to record the screen or a window, and turn on the microphone in Options.
- Windows: the Snipping Tool has a Record mode, and the Xbox Game Bar (Windows + G) can record a window.
- Any computer: OBS Studio is free and can record the screen with both your microphone and the call's audio.
The catches: you have to remember to start it, the file sits on your laptop, and nobody in the call is told automatically, so you have to tell them yourself. On many setups it only captures the other side's audio if you configure system audio, which is easy to get wrong and only discover afterwards.
3. A notetaker that joins the call
Who can use it: anyone. The notetaker joins as a participant, so it does not depend on your Google plan or on being the host. The host admits it like any other guest.
This is how EchoBrief works. You paste the meeting link, or connect your calendar and it joins the meetings you choose. When it joins, it posts a message in the meeting chat saying the call is being recorded, and anyone can type /stop in the chat to make it leave. After the call you get:
- the recording, with the transcript beside it;
- English notes, even when the call was in Hindi or Hinglish;
- the decisions, action items and next steps, each linked to the second it was said.
It works the same way on Zoom and Microsoft Teams.
Whichever way you record, tell people first
Recording a call without telling the other side is a bad way to start a business relationship, whatever the law in your country says. Say it at the start of the call ("we record our calls so I can focus on you instead of taking notes; is that okay?"), and stop if anyone objects. Meet's built-in recording and EchoBrief both announce themselves in the call. With a screen recorder, the announcement is up to you.
Which one should you use?
| Built-in recording | Screen recorder | Notetaker (EchoBrief) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Works on a free Gmail account | No | Yes | Yes |
| Works as a guest in someone else's meeting | Usually not | Yes | Yes, once admitted |
| Tells participants automatically | Yes | No | Yes, in the chat |
| Transcript and notes | Transcript on some plans | No | Yes, in English |
| You have to remember to start it | Yes | Yes | No, with calendar auto-join |
If you only need a video file once in a while and you have a Workspace plan, the built-in button is fine. If you record client calls every day and need notes from them, a notetaker saves the most time. EchoBrief is in invite-only beta: request access to try it on your next Meet call.