How to Share a Zoom Meeting Recording

Zoom recordings are useful in several ways. Whether it’s for the sake of future training, to keep perfect meeting notes, or for any other reason, people are finding several cases where they want to not only save but share their Zoom meeting recordings. Fortunately, there are also several ways that you can share your recordings. 

Of course, the sharing options and steps are a bit different depending on whether you’re sharing from the Zoom cloud or you’re a local user. Fortunately, Zoom makes it all relatively easy to learn as you go, and they have a lot of helpful support guides and resources too. To save you the trouble, we’ve gone through and collected all the information that you need to know about sharing Zoom meetings that you have recorded. 

Whether you’re just getting started with Zoom or you’ve been using it for some time, but sharing is a new need, we’ve got you covered. There are a lot of different options and variables involved here, but it’s just a process that you need to take a little time to learn. 

What is Zoom?

Zoom is one of the most popular video-conferencing tools available today. It offers video and audio conferencing and calling, as well as a chat feature and the option to create webinars that you can share with your employees, clients, or the entire world. 

This application got its start in 2011, and the software was launched in 2013. Still, it remained largely under the radar as far as conferencing tools went until the pandemic hit in 2020. When the world was suddenly stuck at home, Zoom came to the rescue, providing virtual offices, classrooms, and family gathering places so that people didn’t have to be alone even if they were apart. 

Today, it remains one of the most popular tools used for business meetings, as well as for schools and personal communications. Participants can use the platform for free. Users can host meetings of up to 100 participants without paying, but meetings of more than three people will be limited to 40 minutes. Fortunately, you can get unlimited access for less than you expect, so it’s worth the investment if you use it often enough. 

Is Zoom easy to use?

Before we run all the way to the sharing part, let’s talk about setting up Zoom and using it to record and share meetings. Zoom has become quite popular in the past year or two, and for good reason. It offers a simple platform for video and audio meetings, free access for participants, and the chance to create custom meetings, webinars, and other content for businesses, schools, and even personal users. 

Zoom is one of the easiest video conferencing tools to use that is available today and it offers something for all kinds of needs. Plus, Zoom even has its own robust Learning Center where you can get insight and tips on how to do everything and anything with your Zoom account, no matter what you’re using it for. 

Sharing a Zoom meeting from local files

The instructions below are designed for those who are sharing local recordings since they aren’t already stored in the cloud. Cloud users can scroll down to the section below that covers cloud sharing, including how to manage the settings and other things you need to know. Local sharing is a matter of finding the recording, uploading it to your choice of platforms, and then sharing it wherever you’d like. 

We’ll break it down for you in the steps below. 

Step 1: Locate the recording

You need to know where the recording is saved on your local drive. This should have been set up for a default location when you installed Zoom. You may also change it at the time of every meeting when you decide to record and save the file. In any case, find your video file, which will be in MP4 format, and make sure that you know exactly where it is located. You’ll need that for the next step. 

Step 2: Upload the MP4 file

Choose your client here—you can use Google Drive, Dropbox, YouTube, or any other video hosting service that will allow you to share your Zoom meeting or webinar. Using the client, you can click the “upload” button and locate your recording. Then, upload it to the platform and wait for it to finish. This may take a few minutes, so be patient. 

Step 3: Share away 

Once you’ve uploaded the video to the platform of your choice, you’ll be able to share the link that it creates when you publish it. You can share the link with your team via email, post it on the company message board, and even share it on social media if it’s something that you want to share with your entire audience. Zoom makes it simple to share with just about any service that you want and create dynamic meetings that last as long as you need them to. 

Sharing Zoom meetings stored in the Zoom Cloud

If you’re a cloud user, you can share your recordings a lot easier than local users. For one, you don’t have to go hunting for your files. You can simply go to your Zoom client and find your recorded meetings. Then, click on the recording that you want to either download, share, or delete. Click the “Share” button and then adjust the settings as you like.

Once you’re done, click the “Copy Sharing Information” button and navigate to your website, email, or social media (or anywhere else you want to share), and paste the shared information. Your video will now be available to everyone that you’ve shared it with. 

The other option here, of course, is to download your cloud recordings to your local drive, edit or otherwise modify them, and then upload them to a client as you do with local recordings. You can download your cloud recordings by clicking on the three dots that say “More” and selecting the “Download” button. 

Then, you’ll be able to upload your video to YouTube, directly to social media, or even right to your website without having to generate an elaborate embed code. In either case, sharing is as simple or as customized as you want it to be. 

Pro Tip: If you want to get more details, go straight to the source. You can also find information on sharing local and cloud recordings from Zoom’s support center. 

Why would you need to share Zoom meetings?

There are several different instances where sharing a meeting that was recorded on Zoom could come in handy. You can use them to follow up on plans and projects, take notes for future needs, and keep accurate records of the meetings that you’ve had. You can also use these recordings for things like training, client education, and more. 

In any case, you’d need to know how to record and share these meetings before you could actually do so. Fortunately, you now have that information, so you can do whatever you want with your Zoom meetings. It’s less about why you’d need to share them and more about what you can gain from embracing this asset for your business. 

People share Zoom meetings because:

• They contain valuable information for customers or other employees
• They can provide training and support
• The meetings are public information (such as in the case of shareholder meetings, etc.)
• They educate people or offer insight about your company
• Sometimes, people miss meetings so you want to share the content with those who couldn’t attend
• You can repurpose these recordings and meetings to create content for your social media or your website

The list could go on for days. Sharing meetings is something that is done for any number of reasons. It’s less about why you’re sharing them and more about making sure that you’re sharing them correctly. 

How should I edit my recordings?

Often, people are worried about editing their recordings before they’re shared. That’s always a good way to make small improvements that can add up to a big impact, and it’s worthwhile with the easy-to-use modern editing tools. The question becomes, of course, which tools should you use to edit your videos?

Zoom has its own features included but they are limited unless you have an Enterprise account that comes with unlimited editing tools and features. You can also use a third-party editor that you have on your computer or smartphone, and then upload the video to a platform for sharing from there. 

You can also download them to your local drive, upload them to a digital video editor that you find online, and then create shareable links or embed codes from the edited videos that come out of your efforts. The biggest thing is that you at least consider taking the time to edit your videos by watching them before just sharing them with the world. 

Other Zoom FAQs

To wrap up, we want to make sure that you’re capable of making the most of Zoom and the other tools that you use. To do that, we’re going to provide some common questions and answers, most of which we haven’t covered yet. Some of it is a refresher, but it’s important information to know. 

Is Zoom free?

Zoom can be used for free by anyone who wants to attend meetings. However, hosts have limitations on their meetings when they use the free Zoom platform. Paid plans offer more features and meeting options and are often the better choice for business. Whatever you decide, make sure that you choose the right platform, not just what’s cheap. 

How do I know if my files are saved locally or in the cloud?

When you set up Zoom, it will generally tell you where your files are saved. Free users will only be able to save locally, while paid accounts will have access to the Zoom cloud to save and store their meeting files. You can also check this in the Zoom settings to ensure that your recordings go where you want them to be. 

Can I share Zoom meetings if I’m not the host?

If you get permission from the host, you can absolutely share meetings. Some meetings are left public and shareable, so you might not have to get permission. However, if you want to share something and you aren’t sure whether you have permission, it’s always safer to ask before you go ahead and do so. Your boss might want to edit the meeting before publishing it for sharing, for example, so you’ll have to wait. 

Is Zoom the best meeting tool out there?

There are a lot of different digital meeting tools out there today and they each have their own pros and cons to consider. Zoom is certainly among the most popular and the fact that it’s free (or relatively cheap) to use makes it a big hit. It also has plenty of features that make it worthwhile, but ultimately, you’ll have to decide what’s the “best meeting tool” for your needs. 

While you’re sharing files, who is sharing the responsibility of answering the phones?

Business logistics are a large part of your day-to-day. Of course, that doesn’t mean that you have to handle them all. When you partner with the dedicated virtual receptionists at Smith.ai, you’ll get a lot taken off your plate, including everything from answering phones to scheduling meetings, and even your live website chat. Ask how we can assist with things like lead intake and payment collection, too. 

Perhaps you just need a temporary receptionist to fill the gaps while someone is out of the office. No matter what it might be, we’ve got you covered. We’ll deliver all the solutions you need and a custom strategy to manage it all seamlessly so that your business never misses a beat. 

To learn more, schedule a consultation to discuss what the 24/7 virtual receptionists at Smith.ai can do for your business when you share the responsibilities. You can also reach us at hello@smith.ai or (650) 727-6484.